Kane County Reporter

Dan Ugaste, running against Democrat Richard Johnson in the 65th House District, often is wistful for the state to be considered top in the country for something, but never anything like this.

“There’s nothing good about being considered No. 1 or almost No. 1 for highest property taxes in the country,” Ugaste told the Kane County Reporter. “I’m of the mind that Illinois has everything it takes to be a leader across the country, but there’s no honor in being tops for causing additional hardships to people on fixed incomes or those who are of lower incomes. All it does is cause people to leave like what we’re seeing and others to dream of someday being able to.”

Illinois now has the second highest property taxes in the country, according to a recent Realtor.com survey, sparking an outmigration epidemic so fluid the Illinois Policy Institute reports at least one resident now flees the state every 4.6 minutes.  

Richard Johnson

Overall, the state has lost nearly 643,000 residents since 2010, ushering its fall from the list of Top 5 largest populations in the country.  

For some, property tax rates are now even more costly than monthly mortgage payments; and over the last seven years, all of Illinois’ population loss has come at a time when no other neighboring state has suffered decline.

“The biggest concern people have about all of this is that in Illinois it tends to be a never-ending cycle,” Ugaste said. “All the politicians claim that the money will be used to knock down debt and meet spending levels, but all they end up doing is creating more debt for taxpayers.”

The only solution lies in voters stepping up to turn Springfield into the kind of place that truly works on behalf of their interests, Ugaste said.  

“We need to get enough good, like-minded people down there that are committed to doing something to reduce this spending,” he said. “Once we do that, we’ll start growing the economy and enticing more people to stay while even attracting new businesses.”

The 65th House District includes Batavia, Burlington, Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Grafton, Hampshire, Plato, Rutland and St. Charles.