Suki B.: I can’t even save for my own retirement.

Suki B. owns a 1,656 square foot, 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom Bolingbrook home that is currently assessed at $191,844.

“It makes me mad that I’m put money into all of these pensions. I can’t even save for my own retirement,” Suki said. "It’s ridiculous. The money isn’t being spent that well.”

Suki took possession of the home in 2004 when it was worth around $207,900, or $277,829 in today’s dollars. She has paid $51,449 in property taxes since 2008, more than 24 percent of the original value of her home.

“You shouldn’t spend money you don’t have and you shouldn’t be taking money just because you can,” Suki said.

“You shouldn’t spend money you don’t have and you shouldn’t be taking money just because you can,” Suki said.

Suki is currently paying $6,087 per year in property taxes on her home, about 3.1 percent of the Will County Assessor claimed value of $191,844.

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 it was just the property tax bill, we’d probably go to Indiana,” Suki said. “But, we’re saying here because our kids are here. If we can get everybody to move to Indiana, we’ll go. We’re also looking at small houses since our children have their own homes and that would have much lower property taxes.”

If Suki lived in Indiana the most she could be charged in property taxes would be $1,918 per year or $4,169 less than what she currently pays in Illinois.

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