Metro East Sun

Property owners in Smithton paid more than 2 percent of the value of their homes in taxes last year. That’s more than nearly times the national average, according to an LGIS analysis of real estate sales data in St. Clair County from Jan 1. to June 30.

Local Government Information Service (LGIS) publishes the Metro East Sun.

Smithton, population 4,225, recorded a median sale price of $205,000, based on data from the 21 properties sold during the first half of 2018. In 2017, homeowners paid a median property tax bill of $4,600, according county tax data from the St. Clair County Assessment Office.

That’s more than 2 percent of the community’s median home value. In the U.S., the average effective property tax rate is 1.19 percent.

Put another way: a $205,000 home in Indiana, where the effective rate is 0.89 percent, would have a property tax bill of about $1,800, or more than $2,700 less per year.

The analysis, including 19 St. Clair County communities with more than five sales since January, shows homeowners in Cahokia, East St. Louis, and Centreville pay the highest tax rates, each clocking in with effective rates of 4 percent or higher.

Fairmont and New Athens have rates higher than 2.75 percent.

Rates in Millstadt and Smithton are 2.5 percent or higher — about average in Illinois but two times the national average.

Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property tax in the country with an effective median rate of 2.32 percent, just behind those in New Jersey's (2.28 percent).

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St. Clair County communities paying the highest effective property tax rates

The following table ranks St. Clair County communities by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.

City	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	2016 Median tax	Effective tax rate
Cahokia	107	$27,000	$1,471	5.45%
East St. Louis	34	$12,000	$543	4.53%
Centreville	15	$16,000	$654	4.09%
Fairmont City	6	$32,500	$959	2.95%
New Athens	11	$80,000	$2,338	2.92%
Millstadt	29	$151,500	$4,120	2.72%
Belleville	435	$97,000	$2,427	2.50%
Swansea	80	$152,500	$3,664	2.40%
Caseyville	27	$75,000	$1,798	2.40%
Lebanon	23	$117,000	$2,781	2.38%
O’Fallon	207	$185,000	$4,355	2.35%
Marissa	9	$59,000	$1,379	2.34%
Freeburg	25	$162,000	$3,730	2.30%
Dupo	33	$85,000	$1,930	2.27%
Smithton	21	$205,000	$4,557	2.22%
Fairview Heights	119	$112,000	$2,487	2.22%
Collinsville	12	$96,250	$2,132	2.22%
Mascoutah	56	$154,500	$3,396	2.20%
Shiloh	64	$202,000	$4,110	2.03%

Source: Blockshopper.com; St. Clair County Assessment Office

St. Clair County communities with the highest median home price

The following table ranks St. Clair County communities by their median sale price, which is calculated using prices of properties sold during the first six months of 2018.

City	Jan - June 2017 Sales	Jan - June 2017 Median Price	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Change
Centreville	8	$7,500	15	$16,000	113.33%
Marissa	13	$39,000	9	$59,000	51.28%
New Athens	17	$55,000	11	$80,000	45.45%
Freeburg	25	$125,000	25	$162,000	29.60%
Cahokia	164	$22,000	107	$27,000	22.73%
Caseyville	44	$62,500	27	$75,000	20.00%
Smithton	40	$173,750	21	$205,000	17.99%
Belleville	584	$89,000	435	$97,000	8.99%
Millstadt	37	$141,000	29	$151,500	7.45%
East St. Louis	47	$11,500	34	$12,000	4.35%
Shiloh	95	$194,500	64	$202,000	3.86%
Dupo	17	$86,000	33	$85,000	-1.16%
Fairview Heights	146	$113,750	119	$112,000	-1.54%
O’Fallon	278	$190,000	207	$185,000	-2.63%
Swansea	104	$158,250	80	$152,500	-3.63%
Mascoutah	89	$163,500	56	$154,500	-5.50%
Lebanon	37	$127,500	23	$117,000	-8.24%
Collinsville	40	$115,750	12	$96,250	-16.85%
Fairmont City	1	$85,000	6	$32,500	-61.76%

Source: Blockshopper.com; St. Clair County Recorder