Todd A.: My wife and I are strongly considering a big move.
Todd A. owns a Swansea home that is currently assessed at $517,425.
“My wife and I are strongly considering a big move,” Todd said. “Or at least a move across the river because the taxes are so outrageous.”
Todd took possession of the home in 2015 when it was worth around $500,000, or $532,533 in today’s dollars. He has paid $39,645 in property taxes since 2015, more than 7 percent of the original value of his home.
“I gave up my small family landscaping business and took a job as a pool salesman because everywhere you turn you’re getting squeezed for one thing or another,” Todd said. “They make it hard for a small business to thrive.”
“I gave up my small family landscaping business and took a job as a pool salesman because everywhere you turn you’re getting squeezed for one thing or another,” Todd said. “They make it hard for a small business to thrive.”
Todd is currently paying $14,588 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.8 percent of the St. Clair County Assessor claimed value of $517,425.
“It’s so corrupt,” Todd said. “I don’t know where the money is getting spent. It doesn’t seem there are any checks and balances. They need to do something to keep people to stay here.”
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.
“The hard cap would stay with inflation,” Todd said. “You get a tax assessment every year, and if they’re assessing things annually there is no reason for things to jump up 45 percent as mine did.”
If Todd lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $5,174 per year or $9,414 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.
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