I live in the Chicago suburbs. Friday my new property tax bill arrived. At a time of steep declines in real estate, stagnant wages, etc., guess how much it has risen this year (we are reassessed every 3 years)? 25%.

Did you get that? Twenty-five percent. Overnight. My property taxes have nearly doubled in about 4 years, since I moved here.

Forget the 10% sales tax. This is the story in Chicagoland.