The Village of Oak Park Finance Committee on an evening session reviewed five partner-agency funding requests for fiscal year 2026 and reached consensus to recommend staff draft funding agreements and ordinances for consideration by the Village Board in December.

The presentations covered the Oak Park Area Arts Council’s request to increase its Village funding from $278,000 (FY2025) to $368,875 (FY2026); Explore Oak Park and Beyond’s request for an additional $20,000 in hotel/motel/short-term rental tax support; a Downtown Oak Park Business Alliance request to increase the Special Service Area (SSA) levy from $725,000 to $750,000; Oak Park Residence Corporation’s request to raise its operating support from $42,500 to $47,500 to expand small-condominium assistance; and a placeholder request of $35,000 in support for the Oak Park Housing Authority.

The finance committee session began with Manager Jackson explaining the partner-agency review is part of the annual budget process and that staff will return to the board in December with ordinances and agreements for any funding the board approves. Craig Faylor, Development Services Director, introduced the five presenters and described the committee’s timetable for review.

Oak Park Area Arts Council
Camille Wilson White, executive director of the Oak Park Area Arts Council (OPAC), outlined 2025 accomplishments and a proposed FY2026 ask of $368,875. White said OPAC distributed $85,000 in regranting this year, helped produce public murals and temporary public sculptures, grew its Instagram audience to 3,071 followers and added two program coordinators. On sustaining arts organizations she said, “we wanna make sure that we can stabilize the arts organizations and make sure that they will be able to continue with their wonderful arts programs and services that they offer.” The committee indicated agreement to move OPAC’s funding request forward to the formal agreement stage.

Explore Oak Park and Beyond
Annie Coakley, executive director of Explore Oak Park and Beyond (formerly Visit Oak Park), presented the tourism bureau’s rebrand, marketing strategy and budget request. Coakley said the organization’s 2025 village funding was $209,000 and the FY2026 request includes an additional $20,000 in Hotel/Motel/Short-Term Rental tax support (the organization characterized the state match program as LTCB, Local Community Tourism Bureau). She described the group’s FY2026 budget of roughly $1,019,231 in total revenue (including an LTCB/state portion cited as $523,594 and proposed $82,000 in community investment from partners). On the rebrand’s early research Coakley said, “only 7% of our website visitors come to our site because of the name.” Committee members praised the rebranding work and agreed to recommend the funding request move forward; staff noted follow-up on the state LTCB match rules and community investment levels.

Downtown Oak Park (SSA)
Faylor and staff described the Downtown Oak Park Business Alliance request to increase the SSA levy for Special Service Area No. 1 from $725,000 to $750,000. The committee asked staff to confirm actual SSA receipts and whether the levy request would be fully covered by the SSA revenues; staff indicated the SSA covers the request and agreed to provide detailed SSA revenue figures to trustees. Committee members expressed support for the request and consensus was reported.

Housing partners: Oak Park Residence Corporation and Oak Park Housing Authority
Jonathan Birch (Assistant Village Manager, Neighborhood Services) introduced the two housing presentations. David Pope, representing the Oak Park Residence Corporation (OPRC) and Oak Park Housing Authority, described OPRC’s small-condominium management program and a request to increase operating support from $42,500 to $47,500. Pope said the additional funds (noted as $5,000) would primarily fund technology to expand online training modules and help OPRC support slightly larger condo associations in addition to the smallest associations the program has historically assisted. On the Housing Choice Voucher program, Pope summarized the Oak Park Housing Authority’s inventory and funding posture: “collectively, we're over 600 vouchers in the community,” referencing regular, mainstream, homelessness-targeted, youth-aging-out-of-foster-care and nursing-home-transition vouchers. He described the $35,000 village contribution for administrative shortfalls as a placeholder tied to uncertainty in federal funding levels; staff said if HUD funding or administrative needs change, they would revisit the request.

Committee action and next steps
Throughout the evening trustees asked clarifying questions about specific program details, revenue sources and how state or federal matches work (for example, the LTCB/state tourism match and HUD voucher funding). Development Services staff and department representatives said they will return in December with proposed ordinances and agreements and will supply detailed SSA revenue figures and any follow-up materials members requested. The finance committee verbally agreed to advance the partner-agency funding packages for formal action at a later meeting. The committee adjourned after closing remarks.

Ending note: presenters thanked trustees for support and emphasized outreach and program growth; staff flagged additional follow-ups on SSA revenues and the tourism-match mechanics for LTCB/state funds.