Illinois does its best to take, take, and then, take some more. With Illinois' stance on gun control, it's surprising that Bureau and Winnebago counties have decided to hold a gun to the heads of every citizen living in those counties.

ILnews.org reports, "Housing data firm Attom Data Solutions released its report on 2017’s highest property tax rates by county. Residents of Bureau County in north-central Illinois will pay 3.6 percent of their home value. Residents of Winnebago County, along with the north-central Illinois border with Wisconsin, will pay 3.2 percent. That ranks them fourth and eighth highest in the nation, respectively."

That's just craziness. "Both counties saw home values drop last year, meaning the tax assessments were larger percentages of less property value", Attom Vice President Daren Blomquist said.

Those numbers are almost double the state-wide average an Illinois resident will pay. For property owners in Illinois, that means a total of just under $5,000 annually.

According to ILnews.org, "That's less than taxpayers in nation-leading New Jersey ($8,696) and a number of other states with much lower effective rates. The key is what homeowners locally pay as a percentage of the market value of their homes."

There are many reasons for the chaos. "One is the nearly 7,000 units of local government that often vie for the same shrinking property tax pool. Illinois' schools also rely on property taxes to pay for the lion’s share of education costs", says ILnews.org.

So basically it's a war for a piece of the pie. Typical.

 

 

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