Illinois #3 state where no one wants to buy a new home (Chicago: property tax, live)

[Central Illinois 1]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

Half of its just the media frenzy

People keeping theirt heads in the sand is what allows all of this to continue to go on in Illinois and elsewhere.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by Central Illinois 1

People keeping theirt heads in the sand is what allows all of this to continue to go on in Illinois and elsewhere.

Yes, that is true - How can we change if we dont confront the problem head on?

Seems to me there is an awakening going on right now in this state and in this country.

Let's just hope it is for the better.

[debbie at bouontiful]

Originally Posted by vandre

I don't complain about income taxes, as other mentioned, it is still one of the lowest in the nation. My pet peeve is how education is funded in Illinois, via high property taxes (compared to other states) where there are many overpaid administrators ruling over tiny small school districts. Also:

1) Because of this poor areas have less funding, hence it is more difficult for them to 'catch-up' with more affluent school districts. Economic discrimination

2) High Property taxes are specially hard on senior citizens, who don't use as much of the services. I know there is a 'circuit-breaker' tax break for senior citizens, but it only prevents the assessment value to go higher, it doesn't allow it to go lower. As you know property values have been decreasing for the last couple of years, not increasing. Because of the demographic composition of the US, senior citizens will become a higher % of the population as a whole. I just don't see them staying in Illinois where they can get more 'bang for the buck' for their retirement money. Illinois should be courting that money.

3) In a similar position are real estate investors. They get screwed up with property taxes for services they don't receive (Especially for vacant land, where you can't even have renters). We own property in Cook, Dupage and Kane. We pay as much in property taxes for a rental property in Cook than for a piece of dirt in Geneva.. Is crazy!

You are so correct. I would love to move back to the Northwest corner of the State but your property taxes is like a mortgage. No complaint of your income tax but your property taxes are way to high. They are double more on the same price everywhere else I would think of moving to.

[linicx]

There is a real disconnect between what the average taxpayer understands about real estate taxes that support schools and the actual funds a school receives per student with the added state and federal monies. If you listen to school boards and school administrators there is never enough money

If schools in poor areas had to rely solely on real estate taxes there would be few teachers and very large, over-crowded classrooms.

Counties like WILL receive very few federal or state funds for schols. KANKAKEE County receives nearly 100% state and federal funding in some of their schools; it's a much poorer county compared to WILL. .

Circuit Breaker did many things: helped with prescription cost, reduced license fees and provided some other things. Circuit Breaker was never designed to impact real estate taxes. It was created to help struggling seniors.

There are many ways to get a real estate tax break in Illnois. Age, income, military service, chronic illness, and an Appeal before the County Board - especially if the house was appraised for more than what you payed for it. You can also ask to have your taxes frozen.

Note: County taxes are generally much less than city taxes. It is very difficult to do in Cook County, but not so in Bureau or a county that relies heavily on farming. RE Taxes are also less south of 1-80.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

http://tax.illinois.gov/publications...t/ptax1004.pdf

[AuDiBelle]

I'd just like to make the clarification that while our schools are primarily funded through property taxation, schools in more affluent areas receive very little to no state funding while poorer districts receive the bulk of their funding from the state. It does even itself out through this process. Just look at the $$ spent per pupil across districts. Poor districts aren't spending any less than affluent ones, they just get state aid whereas the affluent districts don't.

[augiedogie]

Housing is dead because more people are leaving than coming. That tax increase awhile ago gave many business's the message. Time to go.

[linicx]

Why would anyone with a modicum of intelligence believe what Wall Street says? It's a broad brushed article The people that spin this stuff never set foot in Illinois. It is another one of those boring "if it bleeds red ink it leads." The writer obviously doesn't understand Illinois construction, either. Not only is it a short building season that got a late start because of foul weather, a great deal of the stimulous money put people to work in roads, infrastructure, and bridges, and also weatherizing and improving the homes of poor seniors in every county. There is also a percentage of new homeowners who are buying in historic areas and rehabing a well constructed older home. Also there there are builders who are concentrating on converting historic 100-year old buildings in the warehouse district to green energy efficient work and living spaces.

Just because Wall Street spins housing "stats" -- doesn't mean we should count Illinois out yet. There is a reason new business is moving in Central Illinois. (I can't speak for any other region of Illinois.)

[JustJulia]

Looking around where I live, it makes sense that not many people are buying new homes. This is an established (i.e., already built) area with good schools. There are half-finished homes sitting around from the market collapse with developers desperate to sell them. The newer homes around here are the McMansions that people either can't afford or no longer want. I literally cannot think of a single "regular-sized" house that I have seen being built in my city since we moved here in 2008. There's a little pocket of new homes in my neighborhood, and the developer is bankrupt. If you want to live in my school district, you will probably buy an existing house, not build a new one from scratch.

[johna01374]

Originally Posted by vandre

My guess is that high property taxes (especially for new construction) is one of the reasons Illinois ranks so high...

High property tax and more importantly ridiculously high property costs. In and around the Chicago area $200K will buy you a shack where's the same money in TX, NC, FL or OH will buy a nice 3 bdrm home on a large chunk of land.