Chicago City Wire

Sarah Harrell purchased 14514 S. Eggleston Ave. for $60,000 in 1995, or $99,453 in today's dollars.

The two-bedroom 966-square-foot-brick home is in Chicago's Riverdale neighborhood on the Far South Side, on the Little Calumet River that makes for its border with south suburban Dolton.

A 2016 University of Illinois study gave the area the highest economic hardship ranking in the city based on six variables compiled from U.S. Census Bureau data, including: unemployment, education, poverty, per capita income, crowded housing and dependency. 

On a scale of 0 to 100, Riverdale earned a hardship index score of 82.7. 

Currently, Zillow shows there are 51 homes in pre-foreclosure in Riverdale and another 6 that have been foreclosed on. 

For Harrell, life in Riverdale proved too hard. In mid-March, she was forced to sell her home as part of foreclosure proceeding. The buyer paid $31,000 for the property, $68,453 less than Harrell's purchase price (inflation adjusted).

Harrell's taxes dating back to 1999 were $39,812, according to Blockshopper and Zillow, for an effective property tax rate of 128 percent. 

Homeowners in Riverdale/Altgeld Garden, Englewood and West Englewood saw the highest effective tax rates on the South Side during the second part of 2018, according to an analysis by Local Government Services (LGIS), which publishes the Chicago City Wire.

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 47 South Side communities surveyed by LGIS, 10 have effective property tax rates higher than the state average. Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens topped the list with a 7.16 percent tax rate, Englewood was second at 4.33 percent and West Englewood came in third at 3.13 percent.

In Englewood, 6021 S. Laflin St. now sits boarded up. In 2006, the three-bedroom brick home was purchased by Chenise Payton for $138,000 ($173,117 in today's dollars), according to Blockshopper. A public health administrator for the City of Chicago, Payton managed to hold onto the home for a year before foreclosure proceedings began.

Most recently, the home sold on March 27 for $19,900, according to Zillow. Taxes on the home dating back to 2006 were $14,689, for an effective property tax rate of 71.81 percent.

All told, there are currently 63 homes in Englewood in pre-foreclosure and another 20 that have been foreclosed on.

In West Pullman, the number of foreclosures is even greater with 132 homes in pre-foreclosure and 26 foreclosed on, according to Zillow. 

Cornell W. Robinson's home at 12501 S. Eggleston Ave. was one of those lost to foreclosure. 

He purchased the home in 2008 for $155,000 ($185,618 with inflation). Last May, the bank took the home back, and recently sold it for $86,000. The taxes on the home between 2010 and 2017 were $9,182, or a 10.68 percent effective property tax rate.

A 20-minute drive away in Highland, Indiana, a home that is 300 square feet smaller than Robinson's former home sold for $90,000 on March 29, according to Zillow. From 2010 to 2017, its homeowner paid only $5,313 in property taxes (a 5.9 percent effective property tax rate).

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Effective Property Tax Rates for Chicago's South Side July 1-Dec. 31, 2018

Neighborhood	Effective Tax Rate	Median Tax Rate	Median Sale Price
Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens	7.16%	$1,146	$16,000
Englewood	4.33%	$1,948	$45,000
West Englewood	3.13%	$1,407	$45,000
South Chicago	3.01%	$2,258	$75,000
West Pullman	2.85%	$1,612	$56,500
Washington Heights	2.77%	$1,800	$65,000
South Deering	2.67%	$1,403	$52,500
Back of the Yards	2.43%	$2,088	$86,000
Greater Grand Crossing	2.40%	$2,396	$100,000
Roseland/Pullman	2.38%	$1,776	$74,750
Lawndale	2.30%	$3,221	$140,000
Gresham	2.18%	$2,018	$92,500
Burnside	2.08%	$2,036	$97,750
Woodlawn	1.94%	$2,781	$143,500
South Loop	1.79%	$3,991	$223,000
Chatham	1.74%	$2,435	$140,000
Little Village	1.73%	$2,774	$160,000
Washington Park	1.73%	$2,086	$120,500
Hegewisch	1.73%	$2,073	$120,000
Canaryville/Fuller Park	1.68%	$3,103	$185,000
Canaryville/Fuller Park	1.68%	$3,103	$185,000
Calumet Heights	1.61%	$2,096	$130,000
Brighton Park	1.59%	$2,996	$188,000
East Side	1.59%	$1,832	$115,000
South Shore	1.58%	$2,096	$132,500
Beverly	1.58%	$4,830	$306,000
Morgan Park	1.57%	$2,737	$174,000
Marquette Park	1.54%	$2,218	$144,000
Mount Greenwood	1.51%	$3,689	$245,000
Pilsen	1.46%	$4,594	$315,000
McKinley Park	1.46%	$3,760	$258,000
Kenwood	1.42%	$3,949	$277,500
Hyde Park	1.42%	$3,262	$230,000
Archer Heights	1.39%	$2,920	$210,000
Clearing	1.39%	$3,024	$217,500
Chinatown	1.38%	$4,063	$293,750
Scottsdale	1.37%	$2,595	$189,000
Bridgeport	1.35%	$5,100	$377,000
Ashburn	1.35%	$2,221	$165,000
Chicago Lawn	1.34%	$2,140	$160,000
West Elsdon	1.33%	$2,601	$195,500
Wrightwood	1.30%	$2,391	$184,000
Garfield Ridge	1.29%	$3,052	$237,000
Gage Park	1.28%	$2,077	$162,500
West Lawn	1.27%	$2,729	$215,000
Bronzeville	1.23%	$2,771	$225,000
Oakland	0.64%	$1,443	$226,250

Sources: Cook County Recorder of Deeds, Cook County Treasurer. Tracks all communities with more than 10 sales from July 1-Dec. 31, 2018; communities with fewer than five sales excluded.