North Cook News

Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston), candidate for Illinois governor, paid $8,439 in property taxes in 2016, or 26 percent of his $32,568 adjusted gross income, according to tax returns he made public this week.

Biss, 39, paid $5,943 on his home at 3255 Central Street in Evanston and another $2,496 in property taxes on a Champaign rental property, located a few blocks from University of Illinois. 

He owns both with his wife, Karin.

According to his tax returns, Biss has paid a total of $1,685-- or $337 per year-- in federal income taxes over the past five years. On both properties, he paid more than $41,000 in property taxes over the same period.

Biss has paid $53,670 in property taxes over the past ten years on his Evanston home.

According to his tax returns, Biss earned $69,341 in 2015, $57,002 in 2014, $54,218 in 2013 and $61,754 in 2012. His 2016 income was lower due to the state budget impasse.

In 2006, Biss paid $328,500 for his Evanston home, or $397,265 in 2017 dollars, according to Blockshopper.com. 

He put down $78,000 and borrowed $250,000 from Key Mortgage Services, Inc., 1350 E. Touhy Street, Des Plaines, according to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. 

Two years later, in 2008, Biss refinanced, taking out a $245,700 mortgage with Capital Funding Mortgage Corp. of Chicago. He’d refinance again in 2012, taking out a $236,000 mortgage with Ally Bank.

The Cook County Assessor says the home is currently worth $337,080, a decline of 15 percent from his purchase price. Zillow.com says it is worth $291,977, a decline of 27 percent.

Biss is running for governor on a platform of raising state income taxes, supporting proposals to raise rates as high as 12.75 percent. He personally would see an income tax cut under those proposals.