Jim O.: The financial condition of the state is a disaster.

Jim O. owns a 1,658 square foot, 4-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom Park Ridge home that is currently assessed at $360,210.

“I balance my checkbook each month and I don’t spend more money than what I have,” Jim said. “Until we elect officials who understand that, I don’t hold out much hope for what’s happening in this state. The people in charge don’t seem to understand that.”

Jim took possession of the home in 1979. He has paid $140,572 in property taxes since 1999.

“I’m very fortunate in that it hasn’t had a terrible impact on me like it does on some people,” Jim said. “I’ve thought about leaving Illinois for a number of reasons. The financial condition of the state is a disaster. For some reason, voters keep returning the same knuckleheads into office who caused this problem.”

“I’m very fortunate in that it hasn’t had a terrible impact on me like it does on some people,” Jim said. “I’ve thought about leaving Illinois for a number of reasons. The financial condition of the state is a disaster. For some reason, voters keep returning the same knuckleheads into office who caused this problem.”

Jim is currently paying $8,533 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.3 percent of the Cook County Assessor claimed value of $360,210.

“I don’t think it’s been well spent at all,” Jim said. “The biggest portion of the property tax bill goes to the schools and I don’t have a problem with teachers being well-paid, but I do have a problem with all of the administrative staff that’s been added and the amount of money being paid on things that are not teaching kids.”

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.

“I understand the proposal [about a one percent hard cap], but I think it needs to come with other reforms as well,” Jim said. “In order to do that, I think the total reform of how it all works. I’m in favor of [the cap] but it needs to be more than just that.”

If Jim lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $3,602 per year or $4,931 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

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