Property taxes rob ‘Home Alone’ house of nearly $52,000
The owners of Kevin McCallister’s house from the “Home Alone” movie will pay nearly $52,000 in property taxes this year.
The “Home Alone” movie house became a holiday attraction because a little boy defended it from the “Wet Bandits,” but a different group is taking from it currently.
Illinois politicians are taking $51,770 in property taxes from the owners of 671 Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka. That’s about $20,000 more than the owners paid four years ago.
Cook County certified the property’s value at nearly $2.18 million in 2024. That could jump up to $3.11 million for the next tax year following its sale in January.
In the movie, youngster Kevin McCallister is accidentally left behind during the family Christmas vacation. Burglars hit the neighborhood. Kevin fends them off with a series of booby traps, but there’s no deterring the taxman.
A detailed breakdown of the tax bill shows the increase in property taxes was primarily to fund schools. The homeowners are paying an extra $1,662 this year for local schools.
The next-largest increase was to pay for Cook County government, which will cost the Home Alone house nearly $432 more this year.
In total, property taxes on the “Home Alone” house have cost its owners over $1.1 million since the movie came out in 1990.
Illinoisans now pay the highest property tax rates in the nation at 1.83% of a home’s value each year. That’s a far greater share of a home’s value than homeowners in neighboring states.
On a median-priced home of $250,500, that amounts to $4,584 per year. Homeowners living in Cook County and the collar counties pay even more.
Property taxes from the house support 14 different taxing districts. Illinois leads the nation in volume of government, with taxpayers supporting nearly 7,000 separate units.
These property tax increases hit low-income households the hardest because wealthier homeowners can hire an attorney to appeal their bills. Taxes create barriers to long-term homeownership, especially for those with lower incomes.
Illinois lawmakers should give Illinoisans the gift of property tax relief this holiday season. If they fail to do so, they may be the ones to find themselves home alone, as more Illinoisans leave them and their high taxes behind.