Louis B.: I’m going to put it on the market and sell it.

Louis B. owns a 3,422 square foot Grayslake home that is currently assessed at $435,159.

“I think in Lake County, the property taxes are being wasted,” Louis said.

Louis B. took possession of the land on which the home was built 2002 when it was worth around $62,000, or $86,898 in today’s dollars. He has paid$156,759 in property taxes since 2004, more than 250% the original value of the purchase price of the land.

“I don’t have a mortgage on the house—I have everything paid off,” Louis said. “But, I’m still paying $1,500 a month in taxes, which is ridiculous.”

“I don’t have a mortgage on the house—I have everything paid off,” Louis said. “But, I’m still paying $1,500 a month in taxes, which is ridiculous.”

Louis is currently paying $15,347 per year in property taxes on his home, about 3.5 percent of the Lake County Assessor claimed value of $435,159.

“I might look for a place in Wisconsin,” Louis said. “There is a good possibility I would leave Illinois. I’m only about 10 miles from the border.”

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.

“It’s ridiculous,” Louis said. “I’m not going to keep paying $17,000 a year in taxes. I’m going to put it on the market and sell it. But in Grayslake, it’s hard to sell because of the high taxes, so it’s a vicious circle.”

If Louis lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $4,351 per year or $10,996 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

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