Stephen D.: The 1 percent hard cap would be awesome.

Stephen D. owns a 3,903 square foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom Wayne home that is currently assessed at $627,270

“If my business hadn’t been as successful as it’s been, my wife, who is a stay at home mom, would’ve had to go to work,” Steven said. “We would’ve had to make adjustments to afford the taxes.”

Stephen built the home in 1996. He has paid $295,811 in property taxes since 2000.

Stephen is currently paying $18,155 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.8 percent of the DuPage County Assessor claimed value of $627,270.

Stephen is currently paying $18,155 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.8 percent of the DuPage County Assessor claimed value of $627,270.

“I’m not thinking about [moving out of state] now, but in the future, maybe once I retire,” Stephen said. “Moving to a state with no state income tax, lower property taxes and lower overall taxes would be very interactive.”

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.

“The 1 percent hard cap would be awesome,” Stephen said. “I also think it would be fair if your real estate taxes were based on your purchase price and they would stay that way until the house is sold again.”

If Stephen lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $6,272 per year or $11,883 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

To share your story with us, please send an email including your full name, address, phone number and email address to news@saveyourhomenow.org.