Brian A.: There is no opportunity here and it’s getting more expensive to live here.

Brian A. owns a New Windsor home that is currently assessed at $262,440.

“The house value has gone down, yet the property taxes have gone up,” Brian said. “We should not be paying for all these retirements.”

Brian took possession of the home in 2003. He has paid $61,936 in property taxes since 2003.

“We’ve lost one-fourth of our population since 1980 [in Mercer County],” Brian said.

“We’ve lost one-fourth of our population since 1980 [in Mercer County],” Brian said.

Brian is currently paying $7,175 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.7 percent of the Mercer County Assessor claimed value of $262,440.

“There is no opportunity here and it’s getting more expensive to live here,” Brian said.

Indiana has a hard 1 percent cap on property taxes. This means local governments are not allowed under state law to charge homeowner’s more than 1 percent of their home’s assessed value per year. The average property tax rate for the state of Indiana is 0.89 percent. Meanwhile, the average property tax rate in Illinois is 2.3 percent.

“A lot of people are moving,” Brian said. “I know several have moved to Missouri and Tennessee.”

If Brian lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $2,624 per year or $4,551 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

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