Politics & Government
Oak Park Village Board Approves 2021 Budget
The upcoming budget will include a three percent property tax increase.
OAK PARK, IL —Oak Park's village board has passed its 2021 fiscal year budget, and it will include a three percent property tax increase.
According to OakPark.com, the budget includes $26.3 million for policing compared to the 2020 budget at $25.5 million. Despite spending cuts made to the police budget, police pension hikes account for the majority of the increase.
The village board praised staff for the work put into creating the budget. Everyone except for Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla voted in favor of passing it.
Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"I think the biggest failure of all in this budget was really the failure to reduce the police department budget after countless demands that we heard from the civil rights movement of 2020," Walker-Peddakotla told OakPark.com.
Spending in the new budget is down roughly $22 million from last year's levels, the digital news site reported.
Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The 2021 budge reflects $138.4 million in overall revenues and $146.3 million in overall expenditures.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.