Budget Buster: Living in IL

[FINFAN]

SO, while it has not passed yet, bill proposed to raise State Income Tax roughly 75%....this will hurt us , a lot. Plan is to raise it from 3% to 5.25% for 4 years, then a permanent rate of 3.75% .
Time to revisit the budget, and look for work elsewher. Between our income an real estate taxes, man, pain.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

We already pay 5% in income tax with only one $500 deduction allowed & I'm sure it'll get raised. Plus property tax, personal property tax, etc.

 

[angierae]

Michigan has been 4.35% since 2007.

 

[woodkins]

My husband and I are paying 6.85% right now

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Yikes, that stinks. Do you get a lot of good services like good schools for it, though? We live in FL, so no state income tax here. Our "tax" is private school tuition, though Anyways, we used to live in MA where you pay like 6% income tax, plus sales tax, plus car excise tax, plus I can't even remember what else and our town school STILL wasn't very good High taxes stink if they don't at least buy you good services!

 

[MasonDuo]

HA - drive a little north to WI and pay 6.5%.

I would be thrilled with that tax rate.

 

[mrudman]

we're at 6.5%.. have been for years and years.. I'd love that kind of tax rate you have!

 

[MrsMork]

6.9% in Montana, but we have no sales tax.

 

[blt2010]

massachusetts ( a.k.a taxachusetts) is 5.3%. sales tax is 6.25%.

 

[wowsmom]

Okay, I had no idea what our state income tax was so I googled it and for my husband's income, it's 9.3%. And the sales tax in the county where I live is 9.75%. Ouch.

But any increase in taxes stinks, so I feel for you, OP.

 

[FINFAN]

yeah, it is nuts that so many locations have nutty income tax...we just were not planning on that type of increase so it is going to hurt. Now, those of you with rates higher, what states are you in? I know some posted...but now I am seriously taking info to heart.

 

[wowsmom]

yeah, it is nuts that so many locations have nutty income tax...we just were not planning on that type of increase so it is going to hurt. Now, those of you with rates higher, what states are you in? I know some posted...but now I am seriously taking info to heart.

I'm in Los Angeles County, California. Very expensive to live here but we love where we are so we deal.

 

[Pakey]

I'm in California too, income tax is about at 10%. I believe we have the highest sales tax in state at 9.875%.

 

[akcire]

Those of you with high state income taxes, I'd be curious to know how much you are paying in property taxes. The reason I ask that, is the OP and I are in the same town.

In IL, school quality varies greatly. Our town has great schools, but we also have an equivalently large property tax bill. If our state tax is going to double--I just wonder where the $$ is going to go (probably to bail out the underfunded pension fund) I am going to guess it will not be to the schools.

Well Finfan--at least we don't have a city income tax, yet. I know when I lived in NYC--I paid federal, state, and city income taxes (that was a drag).

 

[daughtersrus]

Yikes, that stinks. Do you get a lot of good services like good schools for it, though? We live in FL, so no state income tax here. Our "tax" is private school tuition, though Anyways, we used to live in MA where you pay like 6% income tax, plus sales tax, plus car excise tax, plus I can't even remember what else and our town school STILL wasn't very good High taxes stink if they don't at least buy you good services!

No!

We pay huge property tax bills with most of it going to towards that school district. The districts are supposed to get funding from the state but they are so far behind on that. Some districts used to have a ticker going saying how much money they are owed by the state.

IL also ranks at the bottom of all states for services to the disabled. My DD has been on a waiting list since it started in '06. In the last 4 years, they only drew names 3 times. I've spent most of this week on the phone with various agencies and all have told me that it's unlikely that she will get any services until she turns 18. Unlike other states, IL counts parents income and assets when determining Medicaid for disabled children. So, we've got 1 1/2 years to try and care for her until she will be able to get Medicaid. Even then, it's going to be hard to get her any services because no one is taking Medicaid because they are not getting paid.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

In the UK *England for sure* tax is 20% on purchases ~ except for food and children's clothes *it's a little less for those 2. For those in UT it's 5.35% *state income tax rate, we also have sales tax.

 

[Anne34]

Yeah -- another IL person. Taxes here are crazy -- we pay over $10,000 in property tax, 8 1/2% sales tax and now income tax is going up. This crazy state is so in debt it is ridiculous especially since they keep cutting school funding.

 

[tinker&belle]

I don't know how close you are to the border, but in Indiana we're at 3.4% + county tax. The state just capped property tax as well. (Not saying it is a good thing for programs in the state, but the taxes are really low here.) Our sales tax is kinda high though at 7% for the state and a little higher in some counties/areas.

 

[mjkacmom]

My husband and I are paying 6.85% right now

That's what we pay too, and our county is in the top 10 in the nation for property taxes - give me IL anytime!

 

[RitaE]

Well when you consider this new State Income tax increase along with the Chicago area sales taxes (which are the highest in the nation last time I looked) plus the fact that my Real Estate taxes are over $9000 a year on a house that is now worth around $160,000 ... and even with all that the State Government of Illinois is still on the verge of bankruptcy.... That's the part that makes me crazy. We pay and pay and still have crappy roads, crappy schools, few services, and a State Pension system that is underfunded by billions of dollars, Medicaid Proviers not receiving their money and absolutely no relief in sight.

Its no wonder Illinois was just ranked 1st in a listing of the 10 worst places to retire, and not because of the weather - because of the fiscal difficulties.