Richard M.: I’m homeless—that’s how it’s impacted my life.

Richard M. owns a 1,126 square foot, 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom Chicago home that is currently assessed at $113,280.

Richard took possession of the home in 1982. He paid $27,874 in property taxes since 2000. He sold the home in 2017.

“I’m homeless—that’s how it’s impacted my life,” Richard said. “I’m out of the homeownership business now and I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Richard paid $1,991 per year in property taxes on his home, about 1.7 percent of the Cook County Assessor claimed value of $113,280.

Richard paid $1,991 per year in property taxes on his home, about 1.7 percent of the Cook County Assessor claimed value of $113,280.

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.

“Property taxes were the sole factor in my decision to get out of the homeownership business,” Richard said. “It would be nice to have a place to go and call our own. All of our belongings are in a storage shed that we pay $220 a month for. Thirty-some years of stuff in a storage shed.”

If Mike lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be 1,132 per year or $859 less than what he paid in Illinois.

“The 1 percent cap would be great,” Mike said. “Also, punishing people punitively for paying their taxes [is a policy that needs to be changed]. Give them a break on their taxes or lower the taxes. A lot of them are older or senior citizens—we’re not talking about people taking advantage over anything. Charging people more money when they can’t afford to pay it is terrible.”

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