If you live in Illinois or Chicagoland, you’re probably used to looking at your property tax bill in despair – on average, it consumes 5-10% of household income. Ouch. With this in mind, you might have found yourself wondering what exactly property taxes pay for in Illinois.
As real estate agents in the local area, we get asked this question all the time. Here’s a brief overview.
A History of Property Taxes In Illinois
The property tax is the largest tax in this state and a major revenue source for local governments – in fact, it was the main revenue source until the Great Depression of the 1930s. Ever since Illinois’ early days, property taxes have played an important role in building crucial infrastructure.
When Illinois formed in 1818, the Illinois Constitution allowed state and local taxing districts to set tax directly in line with a property’s value, and the state government imposed real estate taxes up until 1932. Since then, only local government taxing districts have set property taxes, meaning property owners must pay the taxes directly to their district.
But once we pay them, what happens?
The uses of property taxes in Illinois
Property taxes should mostly finance services that benefit citizens in the area. The largest share of the local property tax goes to school districts for education, but this isn’t the only use. Other public services include police and fire protection, street maintenance, and recreation.
Let’s look at a real example from DuPage County in Downers Grove, Illinois.
Data from the county in 2019 shows that 35.38% of property taxes went to the grade school district, while 33.130% went to the high school district. Here’s where the remainder went:
- Village fire department: 7.32%
- Village Park: 5.78%
- College of Dupage: 4.43%
- The county: 3.12%
- Forest preserve: 2.55%
- Downer’s fire: 2.11%
- Downer’s township for roads: 0.88%
- Sanitary district for wastewater services: 0.7%
- Downers Township: 0.59%
- Downers Grove airport: 0.3%
To find your exact tax distribution numbers by parcel, you can also check the county assessor’s website.
Final Words
Hopefully, seeing the breakdown above gives you some peace that your property taxes go to a good cause and benefit you in the long run.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re real estate agents based in the Chicagoland area and serve homeowners in the western suburbs of DuPage County – we’re always ready to serve people in the local area.
