St Charles high taxes (Kane: property taxes, live in, property)

[Lookout Kid]

I think our high property taxes are perhaps the biggest challenge facing Illinois, and there are many causes that are difficult to remedy in our political climate.

1. Our state provides a very low percentage of school funding to all districts, so it has to be made up with local taxes. The vast majority of property tax dollars fund public schools (75% in the case of my tax bill). And since our state is in such terrible financial shape, it seems unlikely that there will be an increase in state education funds any time soon. In fact, most current "school funding fix" bills floating around will divert what limited state funds there are from well-off suburban districts to lower-income districts, so if anything property taxes could increase in nicer suburban districts.

2. The largest budget item in school budgets is personnel costs. We have very strong teachers unions who have been quite successful in securing lucrative salary and benefit packages, including our massively generous pension system (some would even call the negotiation process rigged in their favor). Additionally many school districts have bloated administrations with highly salaried administrators. Salaries are posted online for most districts. Take a look and see how many six-figure salaries there are on the list for your district for staff that work nine months of the year... You will be shocked.

3. We have too many layers of government. In particular we have too many school districts and too many township governments providing redundant services. Every one of these layers has well-compensated people with excellent healthcare and a pension.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

This is not true. DuPage County as a whole is now trending slightly democratic, but hovering around 50/50. 55% of the voters in DuPage County voted for Barack Obama in 2012. Even in places like Wheaton and Glen Ellyn, which have long been GOP strongholds, are now roughly 50/50. Milton Township (which is largely composed of Wheaton and Glen Ellyn) did go for Romney in 2012, but only by a margin of 55/45.

So no, DuPage County is not heavily anything these days. Sure, it's more conservative than Cook though.

Immigrants and ex-Chicagoans are changing things (for the worse) in DuPage. Once nice areas are now becoming slums. I took a trip back home not too long ago, and was shocked to see that even parts of Wheaton are now downright dumpy looking. What happened?!?!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Immigrants and ex-Chicagoans are changing things (for the worse) in DuPage. Once nice areas are now becoming slums. I took a trip back home not too long ago, and was shocked to see that even parts of Wheaton are now downright dumpy looking. What happened?!?!

I'm an ex-Chicagoan living in DuPage County, as are many of my neighbors in houses worth three times the median for Chicagoland. I don't think anyone would call the area a slum in any way, shape, or form. We just welcomed new neighbors from Chicago including an associate at a large law firm and a CFO. Our other ex-Chicagoan neighbors are physicians. Yep, there goes the neighborhood!

There are certainly large immigrant populations in places like West Chicago, Glendale Heights, and Villa Park. This is America. Good luck finding one of the three small corners of the country unaffected by immigration. White upper-middle class Americans don't really want the 1,300 square foot ranch houses from 1955, so at least someone is buying in to these older neighborhoods and living in them.

There really aren't any "slums" in Wheaton, though some of the older apartment buildings on Roosevelt are looking a little rough. But crime in Wheaton is pretty much non-existent, and probably lower than just about any place that people on this forum live. For instance, Wheaton's crime rate is about 1/3 of what you would find in Scottsdale, AZ--even after adjusting for population size.

[Taco1234]

Originally Posted by Caglee

I think this sums it up pretty well from what I've seen. The economy isn't doing any better, people only have so much money to spend on housing. As property taxes consume a larger portion of people's monthly budgets, it leaves less room for mortgage payments, so housing prices will go down. As home values go down, property tax rates will have to go up. It's a vicious cycle and illustrates why Illinois will have a very depressed housing recovery.

Figure out a monthly budget you're comfortable with and stick to it. I just sold a townhome where my monthly property tax bill exceeded my mortgage/interest payment, and that seems to be the case in many suburbs right now.

You sound exactly like my husband. He's so negative about IL's economy and home prices. He's convinced they'll be down the drain in next few years as taxes rise. How can people afford it? We just moved into a rental home in Lagrange. It was listed for 750k for a year and they finally listed it as a rental in the fall. We negotiated a deal to rent. We love it and would love to "buy it" (pending the economy and what happens) however, we figured out that the property taxes will likely be around 17k It's sickening.

[TheEmissary]

Originally Posted by Taco1234

You sound exactly like my husband. He's so negative about IL's economy and home prices. He's convinced they'll be down the drain in next few years as taxes rise. How can people afford it? We just moved into a rental home in Lagrange. It was listed for 750k for a year and they finally listed it as a rental in the fall. We negotiated a deal to rent. We love it and would love to "buy it" (pending the economy and what happens) however, we figured out that the property taxes will likely be around 17k It's sickening.

In my former home state of NJ, there are towns where a $17,000 tax bill on a $750,000 house would be considered a bargain!

[Taco1234]

Originally Posted by TheEmissary

In my former home state of NJ, there are towns where a $17,000 tax bill on a $750,000 house would be considered a bargain!

Sorry- I should clarify... we calculated that bill on 600K (which is what we are thinking we could negotiate the house to after our rental period and considering probable drop in home prices).. So, 17k for a 600k house. Either way... yikes.

[Lookout Kid]

Either way, it's still a lot of taxes, and lower than many parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. For now.

The math still works out in Chicago's favor compared to COL in places like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Washington D.C.

The math doesn't work out for comparisons to Houston, Denver, or pretty much any other "Sun Belt" metro area that's growing in spades.

And of course you can live pretty much anywhere in the Midwest for a lot less, though you will still have lagging economies in most metros... And fewer job prospects.

[oldhousegirl]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Either way, it's still a lot of taxes, and lower than many parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. For now.

The math still works out in Chicago's favor compared to COL in places like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Washington D.C.

The math doesn't work out for comparisons to Houston, Denver, or pretty much any other "Sun Belt" metro area that's growing in spades.

And of course you can live pretty much anywhere in the Midwest for a lot less, though you will still have lagging economies in most metros... And fewer job prospects.

So true. My hope is for rapid tax reform.

[blanis]

I'm feeling your pain. Illinois real estate taxes are horribly high. Feel grateful that you don't live in DuPage County. You would think I live in a palace with 11K+ taxes. Although, if you are thinking of a move south, be sure to evaluate the entire cost of living expense. Also, some areas, like DFW have very high property taxes as well. Georgia on my mind...

[Taco1234]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Either way, it's still a lot of taxes, and lower than many parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. For now.

The math still works out in Chicago's favor compared to COL in places like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Washington D.C.

The math doesn't work out for comparisons to Houston, Denver, or pretty much any other "Sun Belt" metro area that's growing in spades.

And of course you can live pretty much anywhere in the Midwest for a lot less, though you will still have lagging economies in most metros... And fewer job prospects.

Right-- we know in both of our fields that while jobs would definitely be available in other cities/regions, they wouldn't pay nearly as much. Bummer bc I don't WANT to leave IL. Convenient for travel, friends/family and a great city (other than crime). We'll see what happens over next year. Between the armed robberies here in LG and now reading about home invasions I'm wondering if leaving the further west suburbs was a mistake. No place is perfect, but committing to a home lately seems so stinking scary.