Things like good roads, modern quality schools, public safety, quality public spaces attract professionals. If the public safety and infrastructure goes to s*h*t, the tax rate could be zero and people would not want to come here.
I think people over-estimate the Illinois tax burden. We are right in the middle when it comes to total tax burden. States and local governments use a combination of sources of revenue - income, property, sales, user fees, tolls, etc. Illinois is not the top 10 or bottom 10 of states, but rather somewhere in the middle, when the total tax burden is compared to other states.