Property Taxes in Illinois? (Springfield, Wheaton: for sale, real estate, rental)

[2beamissourian]

Is there anywhere in Illinois that taxes on property are not out of control?

Ours where we live are not to bad now because we have a farm. If we lived say in town our taxes would be awful.

I was wondering if there is a way to see who has the worse tax levels and the least?
and is there a reason for this?
Ours are high based on 2 new schools were built.


We are actually considering moving - leaving Illinois because of the taxes.

Thanks for listening !

[HOWELL_STREET]

I don't know - - but perhaps this answer seems somewhat obvious? The best way to avoid expensive property taxes is to own a house that is not worth much and then live in a community that has a small population. High property taxes are usually keyed to the number of kids in the local grade school system. That is a large expense for a given community.
Although I don't know of a public record website that would list everyone's taxes, I can ask my youngest son, later today. He is a mortgage processor for a local realtor here in Wheaton, IL. Howver, in the past, he has mentioned that "Zillow.Com" is a good source for home values - - if the property has been sold recently. On the flip side, Zillow.Com does not list properties that have been owned by the same family for many, many years. It is possible that Zillow has tax information somewhat hidden in a particular house listing(?)

Best Regards,

Carter Glass
Wheaton, IL &
Cortland, IL

[Rosinante]

I thought about moving back to Quincy, IL until I started crunching the tax numbers in a spreadsheet. Frankly, unless you're on public assistance, it doesn't appear as if any town in the state would be tax-friendly enough to attract retirees. I have been living in Louisiana for almost 30 years now (having moved here from Illinois), and can cite a simple exampe of what I mean. My parish (a county up there) charges a .0028 mil tax on the value of home after the $75K homestead exemption is subtracted. Last year my real estate tax was $187. In Illinois, my calculations tell me that the same house would be charged a tax of $3213 AFTER I had met the requirements for the Illinois homestead exemption. I could expect to pay about $9639 in taxes on that house for the first year I lived in it.

[AnimalLover]

Illinois property taxes are high, no doubt about that. However, unless things are vastly different in Quincy than they are here in Sangamon County (Springfield area), I think your calculations are a little off. The homestead exemption ($5000) carries over to the new owner, if the home is their primary residence. You would have to wait a year only if the property didn't currently have the exemption. Generally, that would apply to new construction, rental property, 2nd homes or just by mistake.

The exemption is subtracted from the assessed value of the property, which is 1/3 of the fair market value. So, a owner-occupied property with fair market value of 150,000 is assessed at 50,000, minus the 5000 homestead exemption (and any other exemptions you may qualify for such as senior citizen), then the multiplier and tax rates are applied to the reduced amount. Your property taxes would not be nearly tripled, as in your example, due to lack of homestead exemption. A $5000 exemption at a tax rate of 7% reduces your property taxes by $350/year.

I hope this helps.

[HOWELL_STREET]

Dear Friends:

I have given this same answer to many forum people requesting a nice place to live. I wish I could 'paste' that same thread to everybody, but I don't know how to do it.
If you want cheap property taxes and a nice place to live, then why not consider Nason, Illinois? It has the zip code of 62866 and is located about one mile from the northern shore of gorgeous Rend Lake. Nason is 11 miles SW of Mt. Vernon and basically a retirement town - - although there are a number of young families with children.
As I understand it, nobody is now permitted to buy lake shore property anywhere in the state of Illinois. Although I know this is a fact in Georgia, I am not completely sure about Illinois. The DNR owns all of the shore property around Rend Lake because it has to control the flood plains close to the shore. Of course, insurance companies like this so that they don't have to issure flood plain insurance. At about $1K per lot, Nason, Illinois is a beautiful place, low taxes, and a super nice place to live. But it is isolated and perhaps you would not like this? Why not visit Nason for a 'look - see'?

Carter Glass

[Drover]

Originally Posted by HOWELL_STREET

As I understand it, nobody is now permitted to buy lake shore property anywhere in the state of Illinois.

Your understanding is not correct. I found 170 lakefront properties for sale in the city of Fox Lake alone.

[Rosinante]

Originally Posted by AnimalLover

Illinois property taxes are high, no doubt about that. However, unless things are vastly different in Quincy than they are here in Sangamon County (Springfield area), I think your calculations are a little off. The homestead exemption ($5000) carries over to the new owner, if the home is their primary residence. You would have to wait a year only if the property didn't currently have the exemption. Generally, that would apply to new construction, rental property, 2nd homes or just by mistake.

The exemption is subtracted from the assessed value of the property, which is 1/3 of the fair market value. So, a owner-occupied property with fair market value of 150,000 is assessed at 50,000, minus the 5000 homestead exemption (and any other exemptions you may qualify for such as senior citizen), then the multiplier and tax rates are applied to the reduced amount. Your property taxes would not be nearly tripled, as in your example, due to lack of homestead exemption. A $5000 exemption at a tax rate of 7% reduces your property taxes by $350/year.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the input, A.L., and yes, I was making my calculations based on a new home in which we would be the first owners. I was led to believe, though, that, as in your example, the 6.984% property tax would, therefore, apply to the total assessed valuation. I was unaware of the $5000 additional exemption you mention, but as this reduces the tax by only $350/year, this doesn't do much for the homeowner unless his 1/3 assessment gets down to about $20K. Not much for sale at this price anywhere in the state as far as I can tell.

[2beamissourian]

Someone mentioned earlier .. about living in a small community / town will give you lower taxes ....

I wonder how many of these "small towns" now have new schools to pay for and how they are paying for them??

Some towns I know that built new schools are -
Edwardsville
Jerseyville (2)
Carollton
Carlinville

Anyone in these areas care to share how your taxes were before the schools and then after?

[AnimalLover]

Small-town taxes are not always lower. It really depends on the specific area. My Edwardsville house (where the college daughters live) is $860, my own home in a little dot on the map (much nicer and thankfully mostly taxed as a farm) in Sangamon county, Chatham school district, also home to a new school, is around $4800. If we were not a farm, they would be around $6-7000. The smaller towns in this area with very popular schools have higher tax rates than other small towns where the schools are not as in-demand.

[tcb247]

We purchased land in Steward, IL (West of DeKalb - yes, there are actually people out there) and the taxes are OUTRAGEOUS. When we bought our land, the assessed property taxes with our completed house were $3500. Now that we are almost complete building - they are estimated between $8000-9000 per year. Please note we have well/septic, no sidewalks, no streetlights - the exit actually reads NO SERVICES. AND, the people right down the street pay less than half that have lights and are on water/sewer. I am starting a class action suit, but this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Anyone know how to get this suit going? Please help or I will be working another job just to pay property taxes!!!