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Articles by Heather Niemetschek

Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property taxes in the U.S.

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By Michael Lucci, Ted Dabrowski, Heather Niemetschek, Hilary Yelvington
| illin.is
Illinois property taxes are now so high that they are equivalent to a second mortgage, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, a Washington-based tax-research and -education center. The report, which shows the effective property-tax rates in each state, ranks Illinois as the second-highest property-tax state in the U.S. The top spot goes to New Jersey, where the effective property-tax rates is 2.38 percent, barely higher than Illinois’ 2.32 percent.
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Illinois Policy | An independent government watchdog

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By Matt Paprocki, Heather Niemetschek
| illin.is
Growth in state-government spending outpaced Illinoisans’ income from fiscal years 1992-2013, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Over this time period, state-government spending grew to $59.8 billion from $20.1 billion – an increase of 197 percent. In contrast, personal income grew to $598 billion from $256 billion – an increase of 134 percent. Clearly, state-government spending is exceeding taxpayers’ ability to pay.
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Too much government: Illinois’ thousands of local governments

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By Heather Niemetschek, Austin Berg, Jeffrey Schwab
| The Illinois Policy
Illinois has more units of local government than any other state in the nation. Illinoisans suffer from the second-highest property tax rates in the nation. Their state is the third most corrupt in the nation. And driving this expensive and corrupt reality on the local level is the fact that Illinois has more units of local government than any other state in the nation. With 6,963 units of local government, Illinois beats its nearest competitor by more than 1,800.
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