The finance committee of the Oak Park village board considered two scenarios for funding critical long term capital projects at its meeting July 2. Both options reflect substantially reduced cost estimates for a planned new police department headquarters.
The committee heard proposals from its financial consultants and now plans to present its preferred option to the full board later this month.
The report outlined spending on upcoming major projects and projected financial impacts through 2058 after revising the initial plans presented to the committee on June 18. Key goals of the plan are to fully fund prioritized projects while maintaining the village’s strong credit rating and “preserve financial flexibility” for the future according to the presentation by Stifel.
“The board asked us to be a little more strategic,” said Village Manager Kevin Jackson. “We have this framework before you and we’re hopeful that we can at least get it adopted and that the board is aware that you can always make adjustments to this framework, but what it does do is give us clear direction for now.”
The majority of board members present at the meeting supported the first structure, which offers more taxpayer predictability but has a higher total cost. That scenario will be presented to village board for approval on July 21. Approval for the issuance of bonds for the ongoing Oak Park Avenue sewer and streetscape project, the main project for 2026, is also set to take place at that meeting.
The revisions in the plans included a 13.5% decrease in projected costs for a new Oak Park police station. Based on updated construction cost estimates the plan calls for estimated spending of $64.8 million for a facility planned in a renovated bank building at Madison Street and Austin Boulevard. Acquisition of that site from U.S. Bank is pending.
The village’s long effort to create a bike plan and initiate a Vision Zero safety plan faced notable funding shifts as spending on the projects was stretched out to reflect a longer-term borrowing schedule. Instead of formatting most of the program funding into the first five years, the new plan spreads the project over 30 years for the Bike Plan and 10 years for Vision Zero. $5 million is allocated from 2026-2030 for the Bike Plan with the remaining $25 million available through 2055 while $16.5 million is evenly split over 10 years for Vision Zero.
The Percy Julian Chicago Avenue Streetscape project was also revised to reflect the assumption that $1.5 million of the costs will be covered by water and sewer fund revenue.
The Village Hall remodeling project is also included in the plans for 2028 with an estimated total cost of $27.7 million. However, that pricing and phasing is still under review.
If all outlined projects are approved by the board and bonds are issued, the village will have maxed out its borrowing capacity for the next few years. This limit is predicted through the goal of having no more than an annual debt growth of 3%.
“If we agree to follow this,” said Trustee Derek Eder of the 3% limit, “our hands are kind of tied until 2032.”
Both scenarios did show a projected additional borrowing capacity of over $120 million when looking at long-term growth.
Village Trustee Brian Straw shared a “slight” preference for the alternative structure presented which offers lower overall interest but higher taxes through 2040 before dropping off. This format also allows for more spending flexibility further down the road.
“I think we’re more likely to experience larger capital projects 15 years from now than we are to encounter them five years from now,” said Straw. “I’m fine with the board’s direction, but that would be my choice if I was choosing in a bubble.”
The presentation also offered a comparison of the tax impact of the 2026-2030 major projects and a total including the existing debt service for homes at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile under the two plans. The first case shows total tax payments evening out around 2033 to remain steady until 2058. A home at the 50th percentile, worth $450,000, could expect a total of about $393 in added taxes through those years. The second scenario reflects a higher and fluctuating payment for the same value home of about $465 through 2040 before steadily dropping to about $312 in 2047 and dropping even further to about $106 in 2058.
Although she is not a voting member, Brigett Allen Hedgeman, a finance committee member, also expressed her support for the second framework.
“The taxpayers are used to sort of unpredictable tax bills,” said Allen Hedgeman. “You are paying less interest over time and leaving your predecessors more room to do what inevitably will come up in terms of projects, I think it’s a good thing.”
The other trustee members present, Eder and James Taglia, expressed their preference for scenario one. Trustee Straw also said Village President Vicki Scaman “firmly” supported this plan, however, she was not present to definitively say.
“It gives us a little bit of more headroom sooner, and I think that the predictability for taxpayers is also a pretty strong argument,” said Eder.
The committee closed the meeting with remarks that they feel they are ready to make a decision and to present their preference to the full board.