Vernell and Vernetta C. Banks are among more than 60 University Park homeowners who are dealing with foreclosure.
The Banks' home at 688 Cassandra Lane in Will County went into foreclosure last May and on March 8 sold for $115,000, according to Zillow.
Their property taxes in 2005 when they purchased the home for $257,024 ($326,808 in today's dollars) were $1,966. In 2017, they were $8,512. That's a 333 percent increase over 12 years.
2668 Dunrobin Circle
| Zillow
All told, the Banks were billed $93,155 in property taxes while owning the home, which equates to an 81 percent effective property tax rate.
Homeowners on the Will County side of University Park, Park Forest and Aurora saw the highest effective tax rates in the county during the second part of 2018, according to an analysis by Local Government Services (LGIS), which publishes the Will County Gazette.
The effective property tax rate, or the percentage of your home’s value that you pay in property taxes each year, averages 2.31 percent in Illinois, three times the 0.87 percent tax rate in neighboring Indiana, according to WalletHub.com.
Across the nation, the average tax rate is 1.3 percent.
Of the 37 Will County communities surveyed by LGIS, 24 have effective property tax rates higher than the state average. University Park topped the list with a 6.36 percent tax rate, Park Forest was second at 5.40 percent and Aurora came in third with a 3.84 percent rate. (The South Cook County side of Park Forest had a staggering 7.51 percent tax rate.)
In Aurora, Christine A. Summers recently lost her home at 1036 Lakestone Lane to foreclosure. Summers purchased the home in 2006 for $269,500, or $342,844 in today's dollars.
While she owned the home, she paid $79,116 in property taxes. The lender is asking $309,900 for the four-bedroom, three-bath home. Should it sell for that price, the effective property tax rate would be 25.52 percent.
Doing the happy dance
On March 15, Ben Legare posted the following on his Facebook page: "Big financial burden off my shoulders, we sold our Illinois House. Doing the happy dance!"
Legare and his wife, Christine, have long since moved to Texas, but their home at 2668 Dunrobin Circle in Aurora had been for sale since May 2018.
They were among the lucky ones who were able to sell their homes in a community where there are currently 326 properties in pre-foreclosure and another 52 that have already been foreclosed on, according to Zillow.
The Legares bought their home for $303,900 in 2007 ($374,083 in 2019 dollars). They originally listed the home for $300,000, but continued to lower the price until it finally sold for $275,000 on March 14.
Their property taxes over the 12 years that they owned the three-bedroom, three-bath home were $103,204, or an effective tax rate of 37.52 percent.
Put in perspective, a four-bedroom, three-bath home in Merrillville, Indiana sold in December 2018 for $270,000. Its homeowners only held the title for seven months, but in that short time managed to make almost $70,000 off the sale.
No wonder Ben Legare is doing the happy dance.
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Will County Effective Property Tax Rates July 1-Dec. 31, 2018
| Community | Effective Tax Rate | Median Tax Bill | Median Sale Price |
| University Park | 6.36% | $4,455 | $70,000 |
| Park Forest | 5.40% | $4,539 | $84,000 |
| Aurora | 3.84% | $7,297 | $190,000 |
| Tinley Park | 3.33% | $10,178 | $306,000 |
| Steger | 3.27% | $2,945 | $90,000 |
| Monee | 3.23% | $6,224 | $192,900 |
| Willowbrook | 3.11% | $7,451 | $239,750 |
| Crete | 2.93% | $5,131 | $175,000 |
| Lockport | 2.80% | $5,596 | $200,000 |
| Bolingbrook | 2.75% | $6,047 | $220,000 |
| Romeoville | 2.65% | $4,766 | $180,000 |
| Mokena | 2.59% | $7,374 | $285,000 |
| Frankfort Square | 2.51% | $5,554 | $221,000 |
| New Lenox | 2.50% | $6,621 | $265,000 |
| Beecher | 2.49% | $4,482 | $179,900 |
| Carillon | 2.48% | $4,894 | $197,500 |
| Arbury Hills | 2.47% | $4,807 | $195,000 |
| Plainfield | 2.45% | $6,865 | $280,000 |
| Frankfort | 2.44% | $8,809 | $361,250 |
| Manhattan | 2.44% | $6,260 | $257,000 |
| Lakewood Falls | 2.43% | $4,123 | $170,000 |
| Shorewood | 2.39% | $5,960 | $249,900 |
| Naperville | 2.37% | $10,609 | $447,000 |
| Minooka | 2.34% | $6,566 | $281,000 |
| Joliet | 2.24% | $3,917 | $175,000 |
| Homer Glen | 2.22% | $7,405 | $333,000 |
| Channahon | 2.17% | $5,138 | $236,950 |
| Crest Hill | 2.12% | $3,599 | $169,990 |
| Crystal Lawns | 2.05% | $3,757 | $182,950 |
| Elwood | 2.00% | $3,503 | $174,900 |
| Peotone | 1.97% | $3,903 | $198,500 |
| Wilmington | 1.89% | $3,244 | $172,000 |
| Braidwood | 1.75% | $2,570 | $146,800 |
| Preston Heights | 1.74% | $1,821 | $104,500 |
| Ingalls Park | 1.65% | $2,146 | $130,000 |
| Ridgewood | 1.60% | $1,836 | $115,000 |
| Fairmont | 1.13% | $1,041 | $92,500 |
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