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I'm often curious as to how much other people pay in property taxes and what the breakdown of those taxes go to cover. Personally, I find it interesting to see how state and local governments, use, misuse, and abuse our tax money, and I like to know where my dollars are going and for what they're being appropriated.
Therefore, I thought I'd open up our last property tax bill to see where it all went.
School Taxes
I really don't mind paying school taxes; however, the public schools in our particular district aren't quite what you might consider high standards of educational excellence.
- Local Community College -- $153.74 (Pension $1.43)
- Area High School -- $1263.72 (Pension $42.38)
- Elementary and Middle Schools -- $1468.47 (Pension $56.75)
TOTAL SCHOOL TAXES -- $2,885.93
Municipality/Township Taxes
I understand the need for local government. They help keep our streets paved, maintain infrastructure, and provide other services. I don't however, really like the fact that of my $869.30 that I paid in taxes into this area, almost 18% of it went to pay for pensions.
- Library Fund -- $117.82 (Pension $8.62)
- Village Employees -- $605.64 (Pension $145.84)
- Mental Health District -- $81.18
- General Assistance -- $23.71
- Town -- $40.95
TOTAL MUNICIPALITY/TOWNSHIP TAXES -- $869.30
Cook County Taxes
While I certainly enjoy the city of Chicago and its outlying areas, I don't like all the associated taxes and fees that accompany them.
- Forest Preserve District -- $35.20 (Pension $0.71)
- Consolidated Elections -- $15.09
- County of Cook -- $140.81 (Pension $51.00)
- Cook County Public Safety -- $81.90
- Cook County Health Facilities -- $60.35
TOTAL COOK COUNTY TAXES -- $333.35
Miscellaneous Taxes
Here are a few extra items they couldn't afford to leave off -- and yes, there can be a lot of mosquitoes in Illinois during the warmer months, so that's one thing I don't mind paying eight bucks for.
- Mosquito Abatement -- $7.90
- Water Reclamation District -- $187.51 (Pension $10.77)
- Park District -- $184.64
TOTAL MISCELLANEOUS TAXES -- $380.05
Overall Total
The grand total for the year's property taxes came in at $4,468.63, and the next year would have been even higher had we not sold. You see, the state was phasing out the homeowners' exemption, which means our taxes had risen from nearly $3,400 the previous year, and were looking to go up by about another $600 the following year, which would likely have put our tax total over the $5,000 mark. Suffice to say, I'm glad we sold when we did.
I urge you to take a look at your next property tax bill. Doing so may help educate you as to where your tax dollars are going and may provide some guidance as to how to push local government to make better use of those dollars.
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