| | | Massive exodus from dark blue states and cities is just getting started. As taxes and corruption scandals continue to spiral higher watch for total annual number leaving to spiral higher, as well.
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<Fed-up Illinois homeowners consider moving: 'It’s not just the property taxes on my home; it’s all of them
'(Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Gail Marks Jarvis and Corilyn Shropshire
Contact Reporters
September 29, 2017
(excerpted)
Even after watching Hurricane Irma wreak havoc on Florida, Rik Mallin is sticking to his plan.
Mallin is fixing up his Villa Park home so that he can sell it, move to the Florida Panhandle and escape Illinois’ rising taxes.
“I’m getting out,” said Mallin, 67. “It’s not just the property taxes on my home; it’s all of them.” He figures his taxes in Florida, where there is no personal income tax, will be about a quarter of what he’s paying now.
Mallin’s not the only one leaving the state. In 2016, Illinois lost 37,508 people, putting the state’s population at its lowest level in nearly a decade, according to U.S. census data. It was the third consecutive year the state lost more residents than any other state. The state’s population count for 2017 won’t be released until December.
Some of those who are leaving Illinois say they’re frustrated with their tax burden and the state’s financial situation. After going more than two years without a budget, Illinois lawmakers passed a spending plan over the summer, one that involved a 32 percent income tax hike for residents. The state is still digging itself out of the financial disarray that accumulated during the budget impasse. A Forbes listing of the best and worst states for taxes in 2016, before the tax hike, ranked Illinois 46th, signifying a heavier tax burden.>
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