Introduction to Oak Park Government

Perhaps you are new here, or perhaps you’ve been here awhile and are discovering that local government is more complex than you could have possibly imagined. You’ve come to the right place. Hopefully this explainer can help clear things up for you.

If you are from elsewhere you might be used to there being a single city government, with city commissioners, and a mayor. This government handled most things in the city, perhaps with the help of a school district and board of education. Even in places larger than Oak Park, this form of government is common.

Well, you’re not in Kansas anymore. Illinois has more units of local government than any other state in the union. We love local government in Illinois, and Oak Park is no exception. There are no less than six local government entities, each of which has the power to levy property taxes.

We’ll go over all of the local taxing bodies, but first let’s start with the Village. Yes even though we have over 50,000 inhabitants, we go by the quaint moniker of ‘Village’.

The Village

Once part of Cicero, Oak Park was incorporated in 1902 as a Village. There are two basic forms of municipal government in Illinois, the Village and the City. Cities have a Mayor and Aldermen. Aldermen are elected by ward and their number depends on the city’s population. Villages have a Board of Trustees. Typically there are six Trustees. The Board is presided over by the Village President. The Trustees and the President are all elected at large in the village, and serve four year terms.

Oak Park has adopted the Village Manager form of government, in which the board appoints a Village Manager who is responsible for administering all of the departments of the Village and seeing that all laws and ordinances are faithfully executed. The Manager serves at the pleasure of the Board and has no set term.

The Village President presides over Board Meetings. They have special authority to set the Board Agenda, appoint citizens to empty spots on citizen commissions, and break any tie votes among the six Trustees.

Illinois law also allows for the Village President to be titled ‘Mayor’, in fact the state frequently refers to ‘mayor or president’ in statutes. There is very little difference between their duties, authorities and responsibilities. This is however a strong point of contention for many residents, for whom ‘president’ seems more egalitarian. So, if you ever want to run, run to be the Village President, not the Mayor.

The Board and President together set a policy direction and vote on legislation that is executed by the Village Manager.

The Village also has an elected Clerk. The Village Clerk attends all Village Board meetings and keeps an accurate record of the proceedings. They do not however get to vote on any items in front of the Board.

Elections for Trustees are staggered with half the seats open for election every two years. Municipal elections are held the first Tuesday in April of years ending with an odd number. In 2021, three Trustee seats are up for election, as well as the Village Clerk and Village President.

Scope of Village Government

The Village handles municipal services such as sewers, streets/alleys, snow removal, waste management, water, police/fire, zoning, and licensing for businesses and building permits. The Village has its own Health Department which is responsible for restaurant inspections, pandemic response, and other general issues of public health.

The Village is the only municipal entity in Oak Park that has ‘Home Rule’ status. Home Rule was established in the 1970 Illinois constitution, and granted to all municipalities with a population over 25,000 when the new constitution went into effect the following year.

Home Rule gives the Village wide latitude to exercise all traditional local authorities that are not explicitly prohibited by the Illinois Constitution. The biggest practical impact of this is that the Village has broad taxing authority and can set its own property tax levy and charge various other taxes and fees.

Village Revenue

The Village raises revenues from property taxes, liquor taxes, sales taxes, utility taxes, real estate transfer taxes, licenses / fees, and fines. In fact, the majority of Village funding comes from sources other than property tax revenue.

Despite the daunting nature of this list of services and the broad powers of the purse, there’s more to Oak Park than just the Village government. Village government does not manage our school systems, our parks, library, or the Township (Township? More on that later). In fact, the Village collects less than 20% of our overall property tax bill.

‍

Public School Districts

Oak Park has two public school districts. District 200 (D200) includes all high school students from Oak Park and River Forest, and has a single facility, the Oak Park River Forest High School. District 97 (D97) includes all elementary and middle school students in Oak Park. It administers two middle schools and eight elementary schools.

Each district has a Board of Education with seven board members who are elected to four year terms. Each board is responsible for appointing a District Superintendent. The Boards set policy and directs the Superintendent to administer the day to day details of the school system and execute Board policy. The Superintendent serves at the pleasure of the Board and has no set term.

School District Revenue

Both school district’s primary source of revenue is property taxes. For example, in 2020 about 75% of D97’s revenue came from local property taxes, about 16% from state funding, 3% from Federal funding and the rest from other local revenue sources.

The school districts are subject to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), which limits the amount the district can increase their property tax levy each year. In general, if they want to increase their levy faster than the rate of inflation, they must go to the voters in the district and ask for approval in a special referendum.

Home Rule entities, such as the Village, are not subject to PTELL.

‍

The Library

The Oak Park Public Library system administers the main Library Branch on Lake Street, as well as two local branches. It provides traditional library services, as well as an extensive catalog of classes and learning opportunities. It has also branched out into providing limited social services in recent years.

The OPPL is governed by a seven member Board of Trustees, who are elected to four year terms. Elections are staggered every other year with 3 and 4 seats up for election depending on the cycle.

The Library District is primarily funded via local property taxes. Though the Library is its own independent taxing body with the ability to set its own property tax levy, its taxing authority is not limited by PTELL or Illinois statutes that set limits on Library District funding. This is because the Library, unique among taxing bodies, falls under the umbrella of the Village’s Home Rule taxing authority, even though the Village Board has no control over the Library tax levy.

‍

The Park District

The Park District of Oak Park (PDOP) maintains Oak Park’s public outdoor green spaces, playgrounds and recreation facilities, including two public pools, an ice rink, a gymnastics center, the conservatory, and Cheney Mansion. The Park District also provides childcare, play/pre-school, an extensive catalog of all-ages courses, and summer camps for children.

The park district is governed by a Board of Commissioners. There are five commissioners that each serve a four year term.

Park District Revenue

The Park District gets about 40% of its revenue from property taxes, and about 30% of its revenue from fees and charges for the various programs it runs (for example if your child signs up for a gymnastics class).

The Park District is subject to PTELL and generally must limit its yearly increases to below the rate of inflation, or seek voter approval in a referendum.

‍

The Township

You might be used to seeing townships in more rural areas. Typically they will govern large amounts of land that contain small municipalities that haven’t themselves incorporated.

Not so here. Our Township shares the same boundary as the Village, it is ‘coterminous’ with the Village. The Township doesn’t run any schools, parks or libraries. In fact it does things that are typically done by municipal governments elsewhere, but it’s just separate from the Village government, with its own programs, staff, budget and taxing authority.

This has been a point of contention, as it all can seem a bit, well, redundant. In fact Evanston dissolved its Township into the city government in 2014. There have been murmurs and rumors of doing something similar in Oak Park, but the Township has vigorously defended its role and its unique record of fiscal restraint.

The Township is governed by a Board of Trustees, which consists of four Trustees and a Supervisor who are elected at large from the Township to four year terms.

As the Village covers most typical municipal services, the Township confines itself to mostly social services, providing mental health, youth, senior services. The Township also houses the Assessor's office, where you can ask questions about your property tax bill, or file an appeal, free of charge.

The Township gets about 75% of its revenue from property taxes. The majority of the rest of its funds come from the Village, and state and local sources.

Your Tax Bill

How do all these taxing bodies stack up in terms of your property taxes? What’s their share of the pie?

The school districts are by far the heaviest hitters, together D97 and D200 take about 70% of every property tax dollar that goes to local taxing bodies. The Park District and Library just about equally split 10% of the pie, the Village takes roughly 17%, and the Township rounds things out with 3%.

Here're the details: