4 Reasons Why Illinois Says Your Property Tax Rates Might Explode

This just in. Property tax rates are rising in Illinois. If you opened up an envelope from the state and got an unwelcome surprise about what you owe, the Land of Lincoln gave 4 different scenarios where big property tax bumps can happen.

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Smart Asset says that Illinois has the 2nd highest property tax rate in America. They say the "average effective tax rate is 2.07%, more than double the national average". Ouch. Cook County homeowners got a shock late last year when they opened their property tax bill and found a stunning increase of 15.7%.

How do Illinois property tax shocks like that happen?

To answer this question, I went straight to the state of Illinois Secretary of State's website and found 4 scenarios when homeowners get unwelcome property tax bumps. They gave "common reasons property assessments may increase" which are:

• The values of homes in your neighborhood have increased drastically
• You added something new to your home like an additional bedroom or in-ground pool, etc.
• The state got the property value of your property wrong and now they're "correcting it".
• Your home had "a homestead exemption" and that's been taken away

As a homeowner myself, I can attest to the fact that I hold my breath when it's property tax bill time. Even with our property tax payment in escrow, you hope and pray that the amount you owe isn't more than you've put away in that. For many in Illinois, that sadly was not the case with rates skyrocketing.