There is no way, as a retired person, that I could continue to afford their high property taxes. I’m glad you were able to escape too!
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As I’m sure you know, taxes are assessed by county in Illinois, so a lot depends on where you live in Illinois.
I live in a small town in Tazewell county and my taxes are slightly lower than when I bought my house in 1992, mainly due to the reduction when I turned 65.
I live in DeKalb, and my real estate taxes are lower than what I used to pay in McHenry County. Similar sized but slightly smaller house.
BUT, I recently started looking online at western indiana, midway between the kids. Those taxes are about 1/3 of what I pay now. If I could get grandma away from the grandchildren, I would be moving asap. And not just for the taxes.