From a Friend of McHenry County Blog:
I read your blog everyday including the comments and get a good chuckle sometimes.
I see where the property taxes in McHenry County are due on Tuesday.
My wife and I moved out (I always say escaped) from Illinois in November 2016.
I bought a bigger house with new construction (2300 square feet) than what I had in Johnsburg.
I have included a copy of our property tax bill.
Yes that is right.
$582.76 for the year.
We left Illinois for financial reasons.
We got tired of high taxes and found Foley, Alabama.
I would say that gas is about 70 cents a gallon cheaper than in McHenry County.
They are so anti-tax down here.
A couple of months ago they were going to put in a new bridge leading into Mobile on I-10 and it was going to be a toll bridge.
The people of Baldwin County and Mobile County went into no tax mode big time.
The tolls were going to start 6 years down the road.
I could not believe it.
Up in Illinois you would have had no say in the matter.
[Think the Longmeadow toll bridget now being built to ease traffic on Route 62.]
The governor here finally declared that the bridge idea was dead.
The people spoke against tolls and stopped it but building a new bridge?
I don’t know if it’s good or bad.
We’ll see down the road.
There’s a picture of my car in front of my house with my wife’s phone number and email address if anybody is interested in moving down here.
She can help them find their dream home in Alabama.
I also took a picture to share with everyone in Illinois.
You would be surprised by the number of people down here with Illinois plates who are behind me and are taking a picture of that sticker.
I tell people that happiness was the state of Illinois in my rear view mirror.
So tell everyone “Happy Property Taxes Day” for me.
I think I’ll go to the Gulf and watch the waves roll in.
Big deal, you have low taxes.
Don’t forget though, you live in ALABAMA.
Wow.
Now, is Alabama like other southern states that send out 2-3 different property tax bills (county, city, schools) separately, and we are only seeing the county version?
Didn’t see the breakout of taxes by governing unit/taxing body.
Also, doesn’t Alabama have a personal property tax and a local sales tax for schools?
I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Pawlik are doing head and shoulders better than us in Illinois on property taxes, but want to make sure we are seeing the complete picture.
On property we own in Texas (and maybe D J of Texas can vouch for this), you receive property tax bills from three separate entities (city, schools, county which covers hospitals, community colleges and county services), and combined is the total tax bill.
And yup, Texas has no state income tax.
You don’t need to go to Alabama to pay lower property taxes.
You can go to just about any state.
As a ten year resident of Dallas, I demand everyone on this blog address me as ‘hon’ or ‘darlin’.
ALABAMA?
So sorry for you!
Ranked one of the worst states in many categories including health care.
Commenters who want to `make sure we are seeing the complete picture` would do well to extend the effort to see the complete picture.
It does not take much time to:
1. Look up comparative tax rates in other States.
2. Quantify differential nominal values based upon national median household incomes and home values.
3. Present the indicated QUANTIFIED ‘complete picture` in arguments.
For one example we often hear the income or sales tax rate comparison argument but rarely see the quantification.
A 1% sales tax rate differential must be applied to the amount a typical household spends on taxable goods and services. With median household income ~$60,000 a year, assuming 1/3 ($20,000) is spent on sales-taxable purchases, then we can quantify the differential amount as $200.
A 1% income tax rate differential applied to median household income is quantified as $600.
A 1% property tax rate differential applied to a $200,000 home is quantified at $2000.
Implying that there is more to the picture and therefore the information presented is irrelevant can be considered intellectually lazy at best, emotionally indoctrinated at worst.
You don’t get to display an “Illinois Sucks” window sticker and still have the Bears and Hawks decals there, too.
If we suck, then you’re 100% out.
Agreed BigOrange
Ms. Handelsman, I’ll admit to a degree of casualness when I questioned the “complete picture” of the Pawliks’ Alabama property tax situation, since I admitted I relied on my and my wife’s own experiences of owning properties in a southern state, Texas to be exact.
As for advanced analytics and quantifiable comparison, I’ll leave that to the experts who will be doing it in the lead-up/campaign for the graduated income tax next year on the November 2020 ballot.
One less road rage candidate on Illinois roads-
https://www.nature.com/news/2008/080613/full/news.2008.889.html
I suspect you used the Illinois resources when convenient and needed (education, medcial, etc.) and then bailed.
Need more info. If the Pawlik’s income and spending remained relatively constant from the last few years in Illinois through the early years in Alabama, need to know their total taxes paid while in each of the States to make a comparison.
We don’t need a graduated income tax in Illinois. Our State needs to cut spending.
We now have a fair tax of 4.95 percent. Everyone pays the same rate.
This means that a household with an income of $1 million pays $49,500 income tax. A household with income of $100,000 pays $4,950. A household with an income of $50,000 pays only $2,475. Fair?
It’s working.
These self aware deep neural, stop the exodus strategy bots, posting network.
Are grinding down my resistance from living on a Dallas Golf Course.
To moving to the comparative cost of an abandoned crackhouse trailer in McHenry County.
I agree that you can’t be a fan of your former teams, still have a IL area code phone and then have a IL sucks sticker on your car, and I would never think to hire a realtor with all that junk on their professional vehicle.
I travel to pretty much every state in the lower 48, and there are two states I could never see myself moving to and they are MS and or AL.
They are complete pits and it is obvious that basic services are completely lacking.
My boss who is from LA was flabbergasted when I told him what my taxes were, but I also was shocked what he told me he spends in tuition for private schools for his two kids.
In the end it was cheaper to live here with two kids.
Alabama really, really, really, really sucks.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/alabama
Health Care #46
Education #50
Economy #45
Infrastructure #38
Opportunity #45
Crime & Corrections #45
More respect for Alabama, please! What other state has the courage to nominate a sexual predator to the US Senate in the republikkklan ticket? Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww…
LOL – someone BRAGGING about living in ALABAMA!
The home of Pedo Judge Roy Moore (R) – LOL!
Know someone in senior level management living in Alabama near Florida, and another person going to the University of Alabama, and they both love it.
The property taxes are much lower than Illinois.
The financial condition of the state is better than Illinois.
Per Truth in Accounting:
Overall Ranking
Alabama 34th
Illinois 48th.
Money needed to pay bills
Alabama $16.5 billion
Illinois $216.1 billion
Taxpayer burden
Alabama -$12,600
Illinois -$50,800
Financial grade
Alabama D
Illinois F
http://www.statedatalab.org/state_data_and_comparisons/detail/alabama
statedatalab.org/state_data_and_comparisons/detail/illinois
+++++++
Chicago Tribune
Growing brain drain: University of Alabama’s gain in drawing Illinois students is a loss for Illinois
by Dawn Rhodes
April 6, 2018
chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-illinois-students-brain-drain-20180405-story.html
The republikkklan political and patriotic playbook compels me to ask anybody who disagrees and whines about the administration and management of the great state of Illinois, to please go back to the rat-and-crime-infested state you came from. Show more respect and appreciation to our state of Illinois and our country. Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwww…
I’m out of here in 2020. Tenn!
Let Illinois go down like the Titanic. In a swirl of death.
Governing
Why Are Residents Leaving Illinois in Droves?
by Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline
June 19, 2018
“One thing is certain: Illinois’ population has declined by 157,000 residents over the past five years, making it one of only two states – West Virginia is the other – to lose people over the past decade.”
http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/sl-illinois-sees-population-decline.html
Please send a couple of photos of your moving van.
In America: BLS % of hh income spent on property taxes in midwest America: ~<4%*
In McHenry County Illinois, % of (pre-tax) hh income spent on property taxes: ~7.5%
McHenry County Illinois Median HH income:$81,000
median home value $220000
average property tax rate ~3% (4% in Woodstock, Harvard)
*https://www.bls.gov/cex/2017/combined/region.pdf (adjusted hh income +10% for McHenry County)
The bell schedule for Maine West High School starts at 8:20AM and ends at 3:19PM, per the Maine Township High School District 207 website.
https://west.maine207.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/07/2019-20-Bell-Schedule-Website-Version-1.jpg
+++++++
Exhibit 1 of the district’s 2014 – 2020 teacher collective bargaining agreement states:
“Regular Workday.
The regular teacher workday at school, including a duty-free lunch, is eight (8) hours, except as may be extended in case of emergency, as appropriate on an occasional basis to fulfill professional responsibilities, or as otherwise provided in this Agreement.”
“Teaching Load.
The usual daily assignment for each teacher is six (6) student-contact periods.
Such assignment typically includes five (5) periods of teaching and one (1) period of supervision.
All other unassigned periods during the normal student school day will be exclusively reserved as teacher planning periods, which includes time to meet with students and parents and perform other professional responsibilities.”
+++++++
Mr. Llavona is an ESL teacher at Maine West HS and as such participates in the TRS pension that is less than 40% funded.
WOW! compared to nurses, compensated at FAR LOWER amounts for MORE TIME WORKED, it’s a wonder that any Illinois child would be steered into the nursing profession by ‘honest’ Professional Educators.
Makes one wonder where future Illinois nurses will come from, when the truth is acknowledged about relative total compensation of teachers vs. nurses being roughly 2X per hour worked!
Oh on is my hero (heroine). She’s completely lost its mind.
KY: my future home while Illinois collapses in a sanctuary state death spiral.
Nurses should be compensated substantially higher than any teacher. Especially those serving in intensive care and in surgery operating rooms. Teachers are highly overpaid in Chicago and in many suburban areas.
This is for self-proclaimed prodigious researchers who need a life: What is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
It’s normal, on occasion, to go back and double-check that the iron is unplugged or worry that you might be contaminated by germs, or even have an occasional unpleasant, violent thought. But if you suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors become so consuming they interfere with your daily life. OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by uncontrollable, unwanted thoughts and ritualized, repetitive behaviors you feel compelled to perform. If you have OCD, you probably recognize that your obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors are irrational—but even so, you feel unable to resist them and break free.
Like a needle getting stuck on an old record, OCD causes the brain to get stuck on a particular thought or urge. For example, you may check the stove 20 times to make sure it’s really turned off because you’re terrified of burning down your house, or wash your hands until they’re scrubbed raw for fear of germs. While you don’t derive any sense of pleasure from performing these repetitive behaviors, they may offer some passing relief for the anxiety generated by the obsessive thoughts.
You may try to avoid situations that trigger or worsen your symptoms or self-medicate with alcohol or drugs. But while it can seem like there’s no escaping your obsessions and compulsions, there are plenty of things you can do to break free of unwanted thoughts and irrational urges and regain control of your thoughts and actions.
OCD obsessions and compulsions
Obsessions are involuntary thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again in your mind. You don’t want to have these ideas, but you can’t stop them. Unfortunately, these obsessive thoughts are often disturbing and distracting.
Compulsions are behaviors or rituals that you feel driven to act out again and again. Usually, compulsions are performed in an attempt to make obsessions go away. For example, if you’re afraid of contamination, you might develop elaborate cleaning rituals. However, the relief never lasts. In fact, the obsessive thoughts usually come back stronger. And the compulsive rituals and behaviors often end up causing anxiety themselves as they become more demanding and time-consuming. This is the vicious cycle of OCD.
Most people with OCD fall into one of the following categories:
Washers are afraid of contamination. They usually have cleaning or hand-washing compulsions.
Checkers repeatedly check things (oven turned off, door locked, etc.) that they associate with harm or danger.
Doubters and sinners are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right something terrible will happen, or they will be punished.
Counters and arrangers are obsessed with order and symmetry. They may have superstitions about certain numbers, colors, or arrangements.
Hoarders fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away. They compulsively hoard things that they don’t need or use. They may also suffer from other disorders, such as depression, PTSD, compulsive buying, kleptomania, ADHD, skin picking, or tic disorders.
OCD signs and symptoms
Just because you have obsessive thoughts or perform compulsive behaviors does NOT mean that you have obsessive-compulsive disorder. With OCD, these thoughts and behaviors cause tremendous distress, take up a lot of time (at least one hour per day), and interfere with your daily life and relationships.
Most people with obsessive-compulsive disorder have both obsessions and compulsions, but some people experience just one or the other.
Common obsessive thoughts in OCD include:
Fear of being contaminated by germs or dirt or contaminating others
Fear of losing control and harming yourself or others
Intrusive sexually explicit or violent thoughts and images
Excessive focus on religious or moral ideas
Fear of losing or not having things you might need
Order and symmetry: the idea that everything must line up “just right”
Superstitions; excessive attention to something considered lucky or unlucky
Common compulsive behaviors in OCD include:
Excessive double-checking of things, such as locks, appliances, and switches
Repeatedly checking in on loved ones to make sure they’re safe
Counting, tapping, repeating certain words, or doing other senseless things to reduce anxiety
Spending a lot of time washing or cleaning
Ordering or arranging things “just so”
Praying excessively or engaging in rituals triggered by religious fear
Accumulating “junk” such as old newspapers or empty food containers
More on its way. Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwww…
OCD includes: “repeating certain words, or doing other senseless things to reduce anxiety” According to a commenter.
Might that include: “Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwww”??
Alabama Media Group
Thousands moving to Alabama from Illinois every year
November 17, 2019 (Updated Nov 18, 2019
By Ramsey Archibald
“According to U.S. Census migration data, 29,421 people moved here from Illinois between 2010 and 2018, including 3,310 arrivals just last year.
And Alabama sent just 15,550 people to Illinois.
The net gain of 13,000 Illinoisans is the second largest for Alabama from any state, second only to neighboring Georgia.”
http://www.al.com/news/2019/11/thousands-moving-to-alabama-from-illinois-every-year.html
For what it’s worth, one of those moving from Illinois to Alabama in that time frame is a retired public sector worker from McHenry County.
Share the name, please.