Oak Park has approved its 2025 fiscal year budget, setting aside $1 million at the last minute for the preservation of African-American scientist Percy Julian’s home at 515 N. East Ave.
Percy Julian’s daughter, Faith Julian, owns the home. It’s in need of repairs and has been under threat of tax sale for years. Earlier this year, an anonymous donor paid off the 2021 property taxes, in the amount of $31,496.90, temporarily keeping the home off the tax sales list.
But now, a total of $168,925.30 in property taxes and late payment interest charges is owed on the property, according to the Cook County Treasurer’s Office.
It’s not yet clear exactly how the $1 million will be used. But Village President Vicki Scaman said she put the motion forward, seconded by Trustee Chibuike Enyia, to preserve the home in a manner consistent with Faith Julian’s wishes. Doing so could cost more than the $1 million set aside, but the money was intended to begin the process.
“I’ve always trusted that this board has the intention to act and preserve the Julian home,” Scaman said. “Trustee Enyia … said ‘I wish we could do something like this.’ And I said, ‘You know what, we can.’”
But with the looming local elections in April, the village board’s priorities could change.
“[Percy Julian’s] family is a reason why we get tourism coming to Chicago Avenue to check out the home,” Enyia said. “It is a chance to bring Oak Park together.”
Despite some concern among other trustees, the board did approve the request as part of the 2025 budget.
The now approved 2025 budget has expected expenditures at more than $114 million. In addition to the $1 million transfer from reserves for the Julian home preservation, trustees also pulled $500,000 to boost the sustainability fund.
Oak Park had almost $46 million in reserves when this year’s budget planning process began. That number is expected to dwindle to about $18 million, or less with the recent changes, after trustees decided to spend down reserves for the Oak Park Avenue Streetscape project and other capital improvements.
The levy increase will be 3.5%, according to Interim Chief Financial Officer Donna Gayden, which could result in an estimated increase of $48 in property taxes per household.
But with the last-minute change, Trustee Ravi Parakkat said he was concerned about the upcoming tax sale on the Julian property and the potential loss of ownership. He said he wants to see what happens before setting aside money. The intent is appreciated, he said, but he doesn’t see the urgency.
Trustee Lucia Robinson added that she would like to wait to set aside the money until a clearer plan was in place. She also raised concerns about the legal parameters of using public funds or taxpayer dollars for the preservation of a private resident’s home, but still called the property “sacred ground.”
Setting aside the money now, Scaman said, is not intended to predict all the ways the funds could be spent. But she said it shows commitment to the project and allows the village manager money to work with to bring future proposals forward.
The board could have made budget amendments to take money from its reserves for this home preservation instead of setting it aside now. But by putting the restriction on these dollars now, they can’t be spent on something else unless the board publicly changes it.
“By making this budget allocation and putting it in restricted funds, we make a statement of purpose,” Trustee Brian Straw said, who supported the change. “It means that if a future board actively decides to remove those restrictions, they have to be consciously deciding ‘We are going to take funds which have previously been allocated for the purpose of preserving the Julian home and spend it on a different purpose.’”
Trustee Cory Wesley agreed, saying changes like this, and raising the priority rating for the Percy Julian Streetscape project in the capital improvement plan, shows the commitment of the board and the village to this era of history.
He said he hopes this era is elevated to the same level in Oak Park as Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway.
“[This change] creates, if not a real barrier, at least a mental barrier to undo this,” Wesley said, echoing Straw’s point.
And Trustee Susan Buchanan supported the change, too.
The village board can make budget amendments in 2025 if deemed necessary.