Larry C.: If I didn’t have my kids here, I would’ve left a long time ago.

Larry C. owns a 1,634 square foot, 4-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom Wilmette home that is currently assessed at $482,480.

Larry took possession of the home in 1975. He has paid $133,712 in property taxes since 1999.

“I was staying because I had two kids here and a grandkid,” Larry said. “If I didn’t have my kids here, I would’ve left a long time ago.”

Larry is currently paying $9,756 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2 percent of the Cook County Assessor claimed value of $482,480.

Larry is currently paying $9,756 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2 percent of the Cook County Assessor claimed value of $482,480.

“Most of the property taxes go for local things,” Larry said. “I understand they have ways of abusing that. For example, the pension fund. The biggest problem in Illinois in the pension fund. We need to fix the Constitution.”

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.

If Larry lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $4,824 per year or $4,932 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

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