Illinois sky high property taxes 2nd-highest in nation (Chicago, Rockford: foreclosures, house)

[linicx]

I've long thought the education system is badly flawed and should be left to real educators. Most of the kids coming out of school today don't know the difference between Y'all and yawl.
Local teachers have their hands tied.

Most people do not understand what low taxes actually entails until they have a catastrophic event that becomes years of long term medical care at home with little expectation of recovery.

[Zoness]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Juast an observation on schools and ratings.
I have hired probably 60-70 people thruoghout my career in states such as WI, IL and now OR.

These people all came from many different backgrounds, schooling and families.

I no longer beleive the quality of the public school they came from, had more than a 20% allocation to their success/failure as an adult or in their career. There are so many other factors that come into play.

I am starting to believe that, as a nation, we are played as fools by the huge Public Education industry. It is time to start talking in terms of how we are being taken advantage of by "Big Education" industry, just as the media likes to talk about "Big Oil."

I am sure Big TR's children have an equal change of succeeding in life coming out of a public school in TN as a kid coming out of the uber rich New Trier schooling system.

There is too much propoganda promoted by "Big Education" to understand the truth.


On another point, I am very glad we no longer pay the high IL prop. taxes!
I think they went up 30 % in the 3 yrs we owned a home in Arlington Heights.
The home also lost 60K value in those same 3 yrs. I was just happy we were able to sell and get out.
Taxes higher - value lower: bad recipe for success.

If only education policy was set by educators and not Congressmen, it might actually be worth something in the long run but alas. Chances are if you were middle class, you'll do fine regardless of school. Chances are if you are lower on the rungs, you'll be stuck there. America's social mobility is dissolving rapidly and is nothing like it was in the past.

Also agree with the "no free lunch" comment. For example, chances are Alabama's taxes are lower than what I pay now. Chances are also that Alabama is worse in many categories of quality compared to Illinois too. We have a lot of corruption and inept government but even generally I'd rather be here than there. Though I might end up finding another state in the midwest or West if I am lucky.

[chicagobears]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Juast an observation on schools and ratings.
I have hired probably 60-70 people thruoghout my career in states such as WI, IL and now OR.

These people all came from many different backgrounds, schooling and families.

I no longer beleive the quality of the public school they came from, had more than a 20% allocation to their success/failure as an adult or in their career. There are so many other factors that come into play.

I am starting to believe that, as a nation, we are played as fools by the huge Public Education industry. It is time to start talking in terms of how we are being taken advantage of by "Big Education" industry, just as the media likes to talk about "Big Oil."

I am sure Big TR's children have an equal change of succeeding in life coming out of a public school in TN as a kid coming out of the uber rich New Trier schooling system.

There is too much propoganda promoted by "Big Education" to understand the truth.


On another point, I am very glad we no longer pay the high IL prop. taxes!
I think they went up 30 % in the 3 yrs we owned a home in Arlington Heights.
The home also lost 60K value in those same 3 yrs. I was just happy we were able to sell and get out.
Taxes higher - value lower: bad recipe for success.

And we will all pay more property taxes for the new teacher pension shift, the school boards will raise 5% a year or the rate of inflation to cover the teachers pension shift. We are being scammed big time in Illinois and people are sick of it and selling their homes and leaving. The pension systems are in trouble primarily because the state has failed to adequately fund them for 50 years. And now the property owners will have to pay more to give schoolteachers pensions. This means our property taxes will go up and landlords will raise rents to cover their property taxes.

Higher Property Taxes to pay for Teachers Pension

[Hickory patrick]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

Thats a no brainer.
jump across the border to Indiana and you have in our state constitution a 1% cap on property taxes for homeowners.

THIS MAN SPEAKS THE TRUTH, I live south west burbs of Chicago and pay around $6,500 a year on my old-1962 cape code house where my brother pays a round $3,000 on his mid 1980s house just over the border in Indiana...

[Chicago60614]

Is this mostly a suburban problem? I live in the city of Chicago and pay around 1.0% of my homes value in taxes. This year they are $1,900 on a $200,000 home.

[madpaddy]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Is this mostly a suburban problem? I live in the city of Chicago and pay around 1.0% of my homes value in taxes. This year they are $1,900 on a $200,000 home.

How long have you been in that home?

[chet everett]

60614 is Lincoln Park. What sort of home do you have with a market value of only $200K???

The other factor is that if this is a condo there is generally a HOA assessent involved.

Publication 530 (2012), Tax Information for Homeowners

[linicx]

The property taxes and general maintenance cost is written into your rental contract. The preserve is not in the City of Peoria is may well be a non-issue to landowners. It was originally private property that was conveyed to the Village.

The general condition of roads in Peoria, is not due to the lack of attention. It is due to weather and traffic. The extreme hot and cold temperatures and humidity cause a negative affect on the natural expansion and contraction of surfaced roads called "thaw and heave". Normal street degradation is due to age. Overloaded trucks and extensive traffic also negatively affect road surface.

A new surface on University and War Memorial will degrade much faster than on Abington and Spring. The cure is to tear out the old road and lay new from the foundation to the finished road surface. It is a really good idea until the natives realize University will be a two lane street during the 2-3 year "fair weather" reconstruction project. This is why the city fills potholes and resurfaces as long as possible. It is a patch process that will eventually end in reconstruction. What Peoria needs is another major N-S route. Sheridan will probably be the next and final expansion that will take years to complete.

Originally Posted by Zoness

Thanks for clarifying; I wonder if living near the nature reserve affects my rent rates. It's pretty low overall though.

Really though, I wish Peoria would spend some money to fix the atrocious roads...

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Is this mostly a suburban problem? I live in the city of Chicago and pay around 1.0% of my homes value in taxes. This year they are $1,900 on a $200,000 home.

Yes, suburban property tax rates are typically higher than what you would pay in the Chicago of Chicago. Our property tax rate of our Buena Park condo in the 60613 zip code was 1.33% of value, based on the price we actually sold it for this past Spring. Before the real estate crash, it was a lower percentage since our home value was higher.

Of course, we couldn't actually use the public school system there, so there you go.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by chet everett

60614 is Lincoln Park. What sort of home do you have with a market value of only $200K???

The other factor is that if this is a condo there is generally a HOA assessent involved.

Publication 530 (2012), Tax Information for Homeowners

That name is from 7 years ago when I lived on the south side of Diversey Parkway (I never really thought of myself ever living in LP).

It's a 1-bedroom condo in Buena Park near Irving Park Road and Sheridan, actually a pretty decent little area and a nice condo, 12 unit vintage.

We have a monthly assessment of $100 a month. I think $200K is much better for a 1 bedroom on the north side compared to the past 3 years. I know of a lot of friend who bought amazing 2-bedroom condos with multiple balconies, granite, etc. in the area around Irving Park the past few years. One friend got hers for $135,000 and the other waited a year and got his for $205,000. I only say mine is worth $200 (probably more like $190,000) because things have finally started to springboard back up in the city.

I think most people in the city pay around 1%-1.75%.