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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (53369)	7/14/2006 10:31:44 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 116555

Interesting letter in the Tribune today, worth reading>> Illinois property taxes send family packing Matthew Rupert Published July 14, 2006 VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (LETTER) Plainfield -- I am departing Illinois. I am leaving friends and family and moving to Indiana, uprooting my family. Oh I didn't want to do this. Not really. But it's necessary. Another year, another referendum, some more assessments and my property taxes continue to increase by what can only be described as oppressive amounts. Let me tell you about my home in Plainfield: It was 1,681 square feet, containing three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms and sitting on one-fifth of an acre of property. This home, evidently, is of such value that I must pay nearly $6,000 a year in property taxes. That's right: $500 a month! I never intended on purchasing a home as an investment. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would pay such a huge amount in property taxes. Yet here I am, faced with a decision. Either my wife goes to work, and we put our two children in day care, or we move to a location where the cost of living is still reasonable. Let me tell you about where I am going. My salary will be the same. My home, already under contract, will be twice as large, as will my property. The cost of my home will be less than I purchased this home in Plainfield for (six years ago). My property taxes will be $2,500 a year. And before you ask, the schools are great (with scores every bit as excellent as Plainfield schools). Illinois politicians have created a landscape of two classes: upper and lower. I don't want to live this way. Even if my wife were to go back to work, I don't want my children growing up in a land where there is such a vivid contrast between two classes, as in Illinois. The schools are great, sure. It's just too bad one must be an executive or doctor to live here. On my way out, I'd like to say that I hope the rat-race works out for you all. If it doesn't, look me up; I'll be in Indiana working 40 hours a week and enjoying easy traffic and open land. Oh, and I'll also be enjoying low property taxes. Again, I'm sorry to be forced to uproot my family, but this is the unfortunate situation that the political landscape of suburban Chicago has placed us in. I'm an educated engineer, barely making ends meet. I don't see how it's worth it to struggle to live in Illinois.