Lake County Realtors should prepare now for the coming housing boom. There will be no housing slump here once Chicago and Cook County residents see their future tax bills. Will they be heading for the border, or what?
The Hound sure is glad his dog house isn't south of Lake-Cook Road because he can already hear the howls of taxpayers in Cook County and Chicago.
Cook County Board President Todd "Urkel" Stroger wants to hike property taxes, gasoline taxes, Loop parking taxes and the county sales tax. The sales tax alone would jump from .75 percent to 2.75 percent. The parking tax would leap 100 percent, which means for commuters, perhaps some from Lake County, the tax hike goes from $20 a month to $40 a month. The gas tax would double, from six cents to 12 cents a gallon; property taxes would go up an additional 2.8 percent.
If you live in Chicago, you get a double-whammy because Mayor Richard M. "Hizzoner Jr." Daley wants to raise property taxes, which on a home assessed at $250,000 would mean a $100 annual tax bump. He's also eyeing about a dozen other taxes and fees, including a 10-cent levy on bottled water and a tax on pop.
So, county realtors should prepare for the land rush.
And by the way, Lake County elected officials shouldn't be getting any ideas from what's going on south of the county line. One could find oneself taxed out of office.
And with the slopover, Lake County will find itself scrambling for dollars to build/rebuild its schools, roads, water/sewer infrastructure, etc. with the increased development and population...if there's any room left for new houses, that is.
THE HOUND SAYS: Give that woman a kewpie doll! You are surely correct. And then, we can pay more in taxes, just like they do in Chicago and Cook County.
Or you could just move to Las Vegas where property taxes are less then 1% and there is no state income tax.
THE HOUND SAYS: Right, and where they have gambling casinos, legalized prostitution and the highest cremation rate in the nation. Is there a relationship there?