Oak Park’s Village Board of Trustees formally adopted a balanced 2024 budget using about $6 million from reserves, triggering conversations about finding new revenue sources and reducing expenses for upcoming years.
The $82.1 million proposed operating budget for the fiscal year includes more than $6 million from the village’s fund balance for what village officials said were one-time expenditures.
It also includes a 3% tax levy. In 2023, the levy was zero.
One-time expenditures rang in at $5.7 million, due in part to items such as planning studies, economic studies and an alternative response pilot program. The alternative response program is a proposal from the Mental Health Taskforce with recommendations on the best way to respond to mental health crisis calls, which has not yet been brought to the board for approval.
“This is a budget that we can be proud of,” said village manager Kevin Jackson. “Even though it seems status quo, we are not proposing a lot of new expenditures.”
Village president Vicki Scaman said the board has a goal to review fees and fines and identify new revenue sources in the future, suggesting the liquor tax as one potential source. She said she wants to ensure raised fees are equitable for residents.
Trustee Ravi Parakkat said he was concerned about future years after relying on reserve funds.
“This year we are kind of scraping through,” Parakkat said. “Unless we do something materially about our expenses, it is going to cost us some heartache in the future.”
Echoing Parakkat’s concerns, Robinson said she does not believe pulling funds from reserves is a long-term solution.
Interim Chief Financial Officer Donna Gayden, however, said the board might consider reducing the one-time expenditures by prioritizing certain projects.
“We have to keep in mind what we want to do and what we actually need to do,” Gayden said.
The 2023 fund balance, or the difference between the village’s liabilities and assets, stands at $43 million. Village policy states that an on-hand unreserved fund balance must be between 10% and 20% of the current year’s estimated operating expenditures. After the $6 million transfer for the 2024 fiscal year, the fund balance is estimated to be more than $37.4 million, or 45% of estimated expenditures.
The police and fire department budgets will increase in 2024 by 7% and 5% respectively, according to the proposed budget. The police and fire department budget increases are the result of pension expenses and increases in salary and benefits. The police and fire pension levies will increase by 13% and 8% respectively.
Trustee Susan Buchanan said after developing a new understanding of police departments in 2020, she has reservations about an increased budget for Oak Park’s police department. But she said she does support changes in Oak Park’s police department, including having professionals answer mental health calls.
Trustee Cory Wesley echoed Buchanan’s concerns about the police department, calling it “overkill” when armed cops answered a call about his child’s stolen bike. He said he would like the board to prioritize filling positions that could decrease the need for police to answer calls about stolen bikes or parking violations.
Theoretically, any funds not spent that are allocated in the budget would go back into the reserve fund at the end of 2024, Gayden said.
