The Oak Park village board approved a multi-million dollar line of credit to the Oak Park Public Library that library leaders said was necessary to keep up the system’s regular operations after the start of the new year.
The village government will create a $4.5 million line of credit for the library system to cover a reported funding gap created by the delayed second installment of 2024 Cook County property tax disbursements, according to village staff. The village board approved the agreement unanimously at its meeting Dec. 9, with Trustee Chibuike Enyia, a public library employee, abstaining from the vote.
The county tax disbursements are expected to be delivered in either late December or early January, according to the village.
The library is funded almost entirely by property taxes and “isn’t designed” to weather delays in tax money disbursements, according to a library presentation given to the village board’s finance committee last month. As result of the delays, the library system has operated in recent months with much less cash on hand compared to last year while keeping up with the system’s monthly operating expenses of roughly $1 million, according to the library.
“Without a clear timeline from the county for the disbursement of these funds, this temporary bridge funding will be essential to ensure the library can maintain uninterrupted services and operations through at least April 2026,” wrote Virgina Bloom, the library board’s president, in an appeal to the finance committee.
Without the credit line, “building closures and large-scale furloughs may occur as early as January 2026,” library leaders told the finance committee last month.
The library system has three locations and 130 employees, with about 75% of its expenses coming from personnel costs.
The library must pay the village back within 60 days of receiving the delayed tax disbursements, according to village documents. If the library has not repaid the loan in full by June 30, 2026, the village will begin charging a monthly 4% interest rate on the line, according to village documents.
As part of the agreement, the library must also submit written requests to the village in order to draw from the funds which the village will review and either approve or deny. The library will be able to draw from the line of credit until the end of March.
“The library may submit written requests to the village for draws from the line of credit until March 31, 2026, for the purpose of bridging the library’s funding gap created by the delayed 2024 second installment property tax disbursement,” village staff wrote in the inter-governmental agreement setting terms for the loan. “The library’s written requests to the village must include materials and information establishing the library’s need for the loan and the library must provide the village with information and materials requested by the village to confirm the appropriateness and need of the library for the requested amounts.”
