Illinois Bankruptcy Bailout/Tax Burden (Chicago, Springfield: mortgage, new home, employment)

[My Kind Of Town]

Originally Posted by SLKNWJXNQ

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8.../3533289_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1.../4771399_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9.../4767671_zpid/

Here are some examples. Look under tax history.

The house you posted claims they paid 7,500 in taxes for 2019 and 2018. Do you think that is reasonable?

If you’re looking up north, why not consider Morton Grove? Nice suburb, good location. The home linked below has taxes under $6,000. Could use some updating but for less than $300,000 in close proximity to the big city it’s a good value imo.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Morton-Gro...V9IckxhOVNKV1Y.

[SLKNWJXNQ]

Originally Posted by My Kind Of Town

If you’re looking up north, why not consider Morton Grove? Nice suburb, good location. The home linked below has taxes under $6,000. Could use some updating but for less than $300,000 in close proximity to the big city it’s a good value imo.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Morton-Gro...V9IckxhOVNKV1Y.

almost 300,000 dollars for that? No no no

I prefer 2 story homes with land.

[My Kind Of Town]

Originally Posted by SLKNWJXNQ

almost 300,000 dollars for that? No no no

I prefer 2 story homes with land.

If you’re not concerned about proximity to Chicago then you have a lot of options both north and west. Since you linked homes to the north check the areas around the Chain O Lakes. The home below seems to check your boxes. Good sized two story home with land for mid $200s.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Fox-Lake/9...V9IckxhOVNKV1Y.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by SLKNWJXNQ

As a resident of Illinois (not a home owner), I have read extensively about the Illinois tax burden and especially the amount of property taxes, owners must pay. As someone who wants to own a home, the amount of property taxes scare me to a point where I have thought about moving to other states to buy a home.

In the next year I believe Illinois and Chicago will declare some form of bankruptcy because of the amount of financial stress the pandemic has put on the state.

What would bankruptcy look like? If the federal government does not bail the state out would we see taxes continue to climb?

If the federal government did give us a bailout taxes would theoretically be lowered? Right?

Also I am a state employee very far from retirement but how would this situation effect pensions and salaries for state employees? I currently work in the schools where most of the teachers make upwards of 70,000 per year. Would Illinois continue to pay state workers well?

If Biden wins, the bailout will come.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by SLKNWJXNQ

Democratic politicians have been talking about it. The thinking is because Illinois, NY send billions to the federal government to support states like Kentucky that they should receive a bailout.

They might pay in more but that's not how it works. The federal government is one entity and protects all citizens and it's not by state. This argument is a logical fallacy. Red states don't get protected from wars any more than blue state residents do and so on.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by RisingAurvandil

To counter the fear-mongering, I will provide my specific numbers. I realize that everyone has made different economic choices and their results may vary.

My taxes were $2250 in 2014. They are $2500 today. Not a huge increase. And with income taxes hovering around $5000, I am well under the SALT deduction. Furthermore, with the standard deduction being raised to $25000, I have actually seen a net tax reduction because it is no longer necessary to itemize the return.



Yes, that is an insane tax rate. I'd actually question how such a house is still worth 230k? Who is buying into that situation?

I have never seen tax rates that high around here (Madison County). Not even close. A few folks pay close to 3%, but that is on the higher end.

For the record, I don't ever vote for real estate tax increases. Mostly due to principle, not my specific situation. They are high in Illinois and the state needs to implement some safeguards. At least require a majority vote for increases. But I don't have much hope for that.

My cleaning lady said her taxes were $10k. Her house is probably worth $300k. I helped her appeal but she has one of the bigger, newer houses in her neighborhood so there was only so much I could do.

[My Kind Of Town]

Originally Posted by My Kind Of Town

If you’re not concerned about proximity to Chicago then you have a lot of options both north and west. Since you linked homes to the north check the areas around the Chain O Lakes. The home below seems to check your boxes. Good sized two story home with land for mid $200s.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Fox-Lake/9...V9IckxhOVNKV1Y.

Did you buy it?! Just noticed it went pending two days ago.

[Al Hung]

The state deserves help from the federal government but only for Covid-19-related costs its incurring, just like any other state. But IMO, there's no reason why the citizens of other states should contribute to bailing IL out of its self-incurred pension debt crisis.

What bankruptcy would look like: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ar..._illinois.html

"...the government keeps assets it holds for the benefit of the people and is empowered to renegotiate its debts. Pensions are adjusted, but preserved and secured, while abuses are eliminated, and funded debt is reduced to a manageable level.

People gain, creditor claims are reduced, but politicians who mismanaged the government may be embarrassed and oppose bankruptcy, especially when the government’s creditors are political supporters."

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by Grlzrl

If Biden wins, the bailout will come.

Not unless the Dems get 60 seats in the Senate in which case the USA will be totally jacked. The left is flat out insane.

[Wayfarerz]

Without getting into the numbers, Illinois's pensions are so underfunded that simply increasing taxes can't solve the problem.

Illinois currently leads the country in the number of people fleeing the state. If Illinois raises their already high taxes, more people leave, the tax base shrinks, and Illinois ends up not collecting the additional tax they expected.

A federal bailout is also problematic. First, those in financially responsible states are not going to want to subsidize Illinois's gold-plated pensions. Second, many other states are in similar (but not quite as bad) situations. Once, a federal bailout begins, other states will start lining up. Third, if the federal gov't bails out state pension systems, the incentive to restrain pension spending (and other out of control spending) at the state-level disappears.

Also, there is a limit to how much debt the federal gov't can amass. Sure, the federal gov't has a printing press, but at some point the amount of debt threatens the stability of the economic system. We're probably about at that point now. The huge amounts of money spent because of Covid-19 have accelerated our progress towards economic collapse.

IMO, it makes more sense to amend the bankruptcy code to allow states to declare bankruptcy so they can renegotiate their pension obligations.