Oak Park finance committee reviews $96.4 million FY2026 request, levy rise tied to pensions
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Summary
Oak Park's finance committee reviewed a $96.38 million FY2026 budget request and proposed tax-year 2025 levy that staff said would raise roughly $52.3 million in property-related levies; trustees were told most of the year-over-year levy increase is driven by pension obligations rather than new discretionary spending.
Village Manager Jackson presented the finance committee with the village's FY2026 budget request and levy figures, saying the combined levies and property-tax requests total $52,297,928 and the proposed requested budget is $96,377,837. He told trustees the recommended levy represents about a 4.98% change year over year and that the pension levy accounts for the largest portion of the increase.
The presentation highlighted components of the request: a firefighter pension request of roughly $7.4 million, a library property tax levy request of $11 million and a subtotal of $40,318,928 for debt service and other levies. Staff also noted some revenue timing risks — county and state receipts may be delayed — and noted offsetting changes among revenue lines, including a decline in motor fuel tax receipts and a modest increase in natural-gas-related receipts.
Trustees pressed staff about the village's share of the overall tax levy and long-term trends. A trustee asked whether the village's portion of total levies had grown from about 11% fifteen years ago to roughly 15% now; staff said it has changed over time and offered to provide the historical data and projections to the committee. Village Manager Jackson said full-year FTEs for FY25 stood around 403.25 and the proposed FY26 budget supports roughly 405.5 positions, reflecting modest staffing increases tied to board priorities such as sustainability and equity.
The committee emphasized that most of the near-term levy increase is non-discretionary: "The rest of the increase is entirely driven by pension levy," a trustee summarized during the discussion. Trustees said they expect continued scrutiny of the budget, including questions about turnover savings, vacancy counts (staff reported about 45 current vacancies) and whether additional reductions or deferrals are necessary before the board considers formal adoption.
The committee will present its recommendations and any errata to the full Village Board in upcoming meetings on the path to a Dec. 9 adoption vote.