Lake County Gazette

Cross Lake, 89 acres in size, straddles the Illinois-Wisconsin border, an hour’s drive northwest of Chicago.

It’s western shore spans two adjacent communities, Antioch, Illinois and Trevor, Wisconsin, where a continuous development of modest lakefront homes makes the state line essentially indistinguishable.

Illinois or Wisconsin, the homes on Cross Lake look no different. But the distinction isn’t lost on their owners.

In Trevor, a 1,368 square-foot two bedroom, two bath at 12805 234th St. sold in fall 2015 for $255,000.

Seven docks, or a three-minute walk south across the state line, a 2,400-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bath at 143 Lakewood in Antioch sold last spring for $225,000.

Why would a home 75 percent larger with more bedrooms and bathrooms sell for $30,000 less?

Property taxes.

The Wisconsin home is valued higher because its tax bill is so much lower. At $3,202 per year, it’s about half what their Illinois neighbor pays— $6,211 per year— just across the state line.

If the Antioch home were a few hundred feet up the street in Trevor, paying the same rate its bill would be $2,925 per year, a savings of $275 per month.

If the Trevor home were a few hundred feet down the street in Antioch, its bill would be $7,140, an increase of $329 per month.

It should come as no surprise why home buyers, given a choice, would head for the border.

A double whammy for Lake County homeowners

An analysis by Local Government Information Services of 43 Lake County communities found that soaring taxes are having a major impact on Lake County property values.

Inflation adjusted, all 43 saw median prices fall significantly from 2007 to 2015.

The worst: North Chicago (-51 percent), Waukegan (-48 percent), Zion (-46 percent), Round Lake Beach (-45 percent) and Round Lake Park (-44 percent).

The least-worst: Riverwoods (-22 percent), Lake Bluff (-22 percent) and Lake Forest (-23 percent), where the median sale price fell from $1.057 million to $815,000.

Every Lake County community saw its home values fall significantly. Compounding the pain, as they did, property taxes continued rising.

The rise was driven, in large part, by steady increases in local school district spending, which make up 70 percent of a typical property tax bill. While Lake Forest homeowners saw their property values fall 23 percent, Lake Forest’s Roundout School District 72 increased spending by 29 percent over the same period, adjusted for inflation.

Winthrop Harbor School District 1 hiked spending by 18 percent, while Winthrop Harbor’s median home price fell 37 percent to $148,000.

Mundelein School District 120 raised spending 17 percent while Mundelein homeowners saw their home prices fall an average of 32 percent.

Libertyville District 70 raised spending 15 percent while its homeowners saw their home values fall 23 percent.

No end in sight?

In 2015, effective property tax rates in 41 of 43 Lake County communities were higher than 2.45 percent, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis. An effective property tax rate is calculated by dividing what one pays annually in property taxes by their home’s value.

The average rate in Lake County is 3.3 percent, twice the national average (1.31 percent) and more than three times the average rate in neighboring Indiana (0.88 percent).

In 20 Lake County communities, including Antioch, Mundelein and Lake Villa, it was higher than 4 percent.

In Grayslake, the effective property tax rate in 2015 was 5.33 percent.

In real dollars, this means property taxes on a $300,000 home in Grayslake are $15,990 per year ($1,333 per month). In Indiana, the same home’s bill would be $2,640 ($220 per month).

The LGIS analysis projects what home prices will look like in 2023, if the next eight years are like the last eight. If home prices fall at the same pace, homeowners in 14 Lake County communities will have paid more than their home’s full value in property taxes over the previous 16 years of ownership.

In Zion (182 percent), North Chicago (154 percent) and Waukegan (149 percent) rank the worst for homeowners.

But in all but four Lake County communities, homeowners will have paid more than half of their home’s value in property taxes over the 16-year span.

LGIS publishes North Cook News and 25 more news products across the state, focused on local government transparency.

Lake County Median Home Prices, 2007 - 2015

All numbers are inflation-adjusted.

Rank	Community	Jan 2007	Jan 2015	CHG
1	North Chicago	$158,891	$77,500	-51.2%
2	Waukegan	$181,753	$94,500	-48.0%
3	Zion	$181,753	$99,100	-45.5%
4	Round Lake Beach	$186,325	$103,000	-44.7%
5	Rond Lake Park	$169,179	$94,200	-44.3%
6	Fox Lake	$201,186	$115,000	-42.8%
7	Beach Park	$226,334	$131,000	-42.1%
8	Lakemoor	$235,479	$137,000	-41.8%
9	Wonder Lake	$200,043	$117,000	-41.5%
10	Hainesville	$235,479	$143,000	-39.3%
11	Wauconda	$288,061	$176,000	-38.9%
12	Island Lake	$238,908	$146,000	-38.8%
13	Round Lake Hts	$233,192	$145,000	-37.8%
14	Winthrop Harbor	$235,479	$148,000	-37.2%
15	Round Lake	$273,201	$172,000	-37.0%
16	Highwood	$441,237	$283,000	-35.8%
17	Lindenhurst	$270,915	$176,000	-35.0%
18	Tower Lakes	$605,843	$397,000	-34.5%
19	Lake Villa	$342,930	$228,000	-33.5%
20	Antioch	$277,773	$185,000	-33.4%
21	Buffalo Grove	$395,513	$265,000	-33.0%
22	Grayslake	$286,918	$193,000	-32.7%
23	Wadsworth	$403,514	$272,000	-32.6%
24	Mundelein	$292,634	$200,000	-31.7%
25	Gurnee	$329,213	$226,000	-31.4%
26	Third Lake	$349,789	$241,000	-31.1%
27	Fox River Grove	$308,637	$213,000	-31.0%
28	Lake Barrington	$477,816	$337,000	-29.5%
29	North Barrington	$863,041	$609,000	-29.4%
30	Hawthorn Woods	$672,143	$477,000	-29.0%
31	Lincolnshire	$609,272	$433,000	-28.9%
32	Kildeer	$808,172	$590,000	-27.0%
33	Deer Park	$680,145	$500,000	-26.5%
34	Vernon Hills	$395,513	$294,000	-25.7%
35	Long Grove	$876,758	$674,000	-26.2%
36	Barrington	$550,974	$412,000	-25.2%
37	Highland Park	$657,283	$493,000	-25.0%
37	Deerfield	$601,271	$451,000	-25.0%
38	Lake Zurich	$409,230	$308,000	-24.7%
39	Green Oaks	$714,438	$540,000	-24.4%
40	Libertyville	$522,397	$400,000	-23.4%
41	Lake Forest	$1.057M	$815,000	-22.9%
42	Lake Bluff	$744,158	$578,000	-22.3%
43	Riverwoods	$866,470	$674,000	-22.2%

Fastest-spending Lake County School Districts

School District Local Spending, 2007 - 2015

Rank	District	2015 Local Spending	CHG
1	Rondout 72 (Lake Forest)	$4,989,032	+28.7%
2	Millburn 24 (Old Mill Creek)	$14,047,715	+24.3%
3	Winthrop Harbor 1	$5,746,652	+18.0%
4	Lincolnshire-Prairieview 103	$29,336,865	+17.5%
5	Mundelein 120	$33,138,989	+16.7%
6	Fremont 79 (Mundelein)	$28,143,975	+16.4%
7	Big Hollow 28 (Ingleside)	$14,022,857	+16.0%
8	Libertyville 70	$33,004,748	+15.0%
9	Lake Villa 117	$43,984,131	+14.5%
10	Wauconda 118	$50,148,226	+14.0%
11	Gavin 37 (Ingleside)	$7,830,102	+12.2%
12	Grass Lake 36 (Antioch)	$3,927,149	+11.7%
13	Emmons 36 (Antioch)	$4,380,826	+11.6%
14	Lake Forest 115	$44,038,591	+10.8%
15	Antioch 34	$28,093,423	+10.2%
16	Fox Lake 114	$8,168,763	+9.7%
17	Zion 6	$14,930,126	+9.3%
18	Lake Villa 41	$22,504,958	+9.1%
19	Hawthorn 73 (Vernon Hills)	$49,119,781	+8.9%
20	Highland Park 113	$92,628,170	+8.6%
21	Lake Zurich 95	$81,145,722	+8.5%
22	Oak Grove 68 (Libertyville)	$14,607,855	+8.4%
23	Grant 124 (Fox Lake)	$26,151,679	+8.3%
24	Barrington 220	$131,577,524	+7.9%
25	Grayslake 46	$35,465,263	+7.8%
26	Gurnee 56	$25,562,563	+7.6%
27	Woodland 50 (Gurnee)	$70,987,256	+6.8%
28	Beach Park 3	$18,820,377	+6.6%
29	Stevenson 125	$98,091,550	+6.2%
30	Vernon Hills 128	$79,808,804	+5.1%
31	Zion-Benton 126	$30,703,928	+4.7%
32	Warren Township 12	$51,419,242	+4.7%
33	Bannockburn 106	$6,489,653	+3.2%
34	North Chicago 187	$15,828,613	+1.5%
35	Mundelein 75	$16,407,895	+0.6%
36	Lake Bluff 65	$16,046,584	-0.6%
37	Diamond Lake 76	$11,979,002	-1.5%
38	Kildeer 96	$47,546,092	-1.7%
39	Round Lake 72	$34,562,503	-1.8%
40	North Shore 112	$67,255,103	-2.9%
41	Aptakisic-Tripp 102	$30,708,617	-2.8%
42	Waukegan 60	$65,344,172	-18.9%

All numbers are inflation-adjusted. Does not include state or federal grants to school districts. Federal and state aid to Waukegan 60 grew 33% over the period; total spending increased nine percent.

Lake County 2023 Projected

Rank	Community	2023 Median	Taxes Paid	Taxes Paid % (2007-2023)
1	Zion	$61,766	$112,578	182.3%
2	North Chicago	$43,210	$66,340	153.5%
3	Waukegan	$56,165	$83,462	148.6%
4	Round Lake Park	$59,957	$76,867	128.2%
5	Round Lake Beach	$65,086	$81,246	124.8%
6	Hainesville	$99,267	$123,552	124.5%
7	Beach Park	$86,672	$102,285	118.0%
8	Grayslake	$148,402	$164,590	110.9%
9	Wonder Lake	$78,223	$86,112	110.1%
10	Lindenhurst	$130,700	$136,294	104.3%
11	Winthrop Harbor	$106,330	$110,349	103.8%
12	Third Lake	$189,807	$191,643	101.0%
13	Round Lake	$123,782	$124,941	100.9%
14	Round Lake Hts	$103,064	$103,472	100.4%
15	Lakemoor	$91,112	$88,338	97.0%
16	Wauconda	$122,921	$114,330	93.0%
17	Fox Lake	$75,142	$69,736	92.8%
18	Island Lake	$101,990	$94,608	92.7%
19	Lake Villa	$173,280	$157,958	91.2%
20	Antioch	$140,844	$118,696	84.3%
21	Mundelein	$156,250	$129,280	82.7%
22	Wadsworth	$ 209,586	$147,533	70.4%
23	Buffalo Grove	$202,962	$138,648	68.3%
24	Gurnee	$177,347	$120,051	67.7%
25	Vernon Hills	$249,815	$150,528	60.3%
26	Tower Lakes	$297,375	$177,221	59.6%
27	Long Grove	$545,774	$321,947	59.0%
28	Highwood	$207,484	$120,898	58.3%
29	Lincolnshire	$351,762	$199,526	56.7%
30	Deerfield	$386,694	$215,037	55.6%
31	Hawthorn Woods	$386,954	$208,354	53.8%
32	Fox River Grove	$168,033	$90,312	53.7%
33	Highland Park	$422,694	$213,765	50.6%
34	Barrington	$352,166	$177,984	50.5%
35	Lake Barrington	$271,696	$136,957	50.4%
36	Kildeer	$492,362	$246,384	50.0%
37	North Barrington	$491,233	$245,549	50.0%
38	Libertyville	$350,109	$174,720	49.9%
39	Lake Zurich	$264,983	$131,085	49.5%
40	Green Oaks	$466,560	$218,592	46.9%
41	Deer Park	$420,168	$196,800	46.8%
42	Riverwoods	$599,309	$284,698	47.5%
43	Lake Forest	$718,081	$241,240	33.6%
44	Lake Bluff	$513,186	$171,088	33.3%