Galesburg is a declining city in the middle of nowhere. People who live there probably drive to work ~50 miles away to Peoria or Davenport/Moline every day if they don't have a (probably) low paying job in town.
And if that's the case, they'd probably be better off moving closer to those cities, there's probably even cheaper homes within a shorter commute.
Also it's in Illinois, which is #2 in the country for highest overall property taxes[1].
Keep in mind he said a reasonable house value just north of their downtown is $75k, where the national average price for a home is $374k (as of Q2 2021), which is 5x the price. $1600 * 5 = $8000, which brings it up to what's near you.
And considering Illinois' property tax is higher than every other state other than New Jersey, I'm guessing the homes appraised value near you is likely a lot higher than $374k, even.
That being said, I don't understand why the government wouldn't be able to up just the city's percentage (as opposed to all line items on the property tax bill) by about $100-200/yr per person and use that to help close the gap. The percent going to the city of Galesburg is currently a tiny percentage of the overall tax.
[1]: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-again-ranks-no-2-in-...
And if that's the case, they'd probably be better off moving closer to those cities, there's probably even cheaper homes within a shorter commute.
Also it's in Illinois, which is #2 in the country for highest overall property taxes[1].
Keep in mind he said a reasonable house value just north of their downtown is $75k, where the national average price for a home is $374k (as of Q2 2021), which is 5x the price. $1600 * 5 = $8000, which brings it up to what's near you.
And considering Illinois' property tax is higher than every other state other than New Jersey, I'm guessing the homes appraised value near you is likely a lot higher than $374k, even.
That being said, I don't understand why the government wouldn't be able to up just the city's percentage (as opposed to all line items on the property tax bill) by about $100-200/yr per person and use that to help close the gap. The percent going to the city of Galesburg is currently a tiny percentage of the overall tax.
[1]: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-again-ranks-no-2-in-...