Kelly C.: I would never reconsider moving back to Illinois.

Kelly C. owned a $1,008 square foot, 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom Milan home that is currently assessed at $118,149.

“It’s very disappointing [how things are going in Illinois],” Kelly said. “It makes me happy that I made the choice to move for a better life for my family and I. It was disappointing to leave, but I’m glad it’s worked out for my family.”

Kelly took possession of the home in 2006 when it was worth around$102,000, or $127,573 in today’s dollars. She paid $1,262 in property taxes since 2013 until she moved to Indiana in 2014, more than 1.2 percent of the original value of her home.

“My husband passed away and the cost of living was just too expensive for me to live single there with five kids,” Kelly said. “Property taxes being the highest [reason we left].”

“My husband passed away and the cost of living was just too expensive for me to live single there with five kids,” Kelly said. “Property taxes being the highest [reason we left].”

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.

Kelly now lives in Indiana the most she could be charged in property taxes would be $1,181 per year or $1,373 less than what she paid in Illinois.

“I would never reconsider moving back to Illinois,” Kelly said. But, I think a property tax cap similar to what we have in Indiana would be great [for Illinois].”

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