On December 10, the Oak Forest City Council approved the 2024 tax levy of $12,299,243, resulting in an increase of $438,941 or 3.7 percent from last year. As a result, a homeowner will see an estimated annual property tax increase of $50 on the city’s portion of the real estate tax bill.
The tax levy calculation requires an increase of $640,000 in property taxes due to fiscal year 2026 operating expenses, capital projects, and authorized full-time personnel. Realizing that many residents and business owners are struggling from increased energy, food and interest costs due to inflation, the city is using $200,000 of general fund reserves to close the gap. Utilizing reserves is a short-term strategy to minimize the tax levy this year. Even with the withdrawal from the reserves, the city meets its fund balance policy.
The following chart and graph illustrate the city's share of your property tax bill, which is just over 15 percent.
2023 COOK COUNTY REAL ESTATE TAX BILL | |||
TAXING DISTRICT | 2023 TAX | 2023 RATE | % |
SCHOOL DIST 145 | 3,384.03 | 6.040 | 37.91% |
COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL DIST 228 | 2,537.46 | 4.529 | 28.42% |
CITY OF OAK FOREST | 1,363.29 | 2.433 | 15.27% |
S SUBURBAN COLLEGE DIST 510 | 396.85 | 0.708 | 4.45% |
OAK FOREST PARK DIST | 362.60 | 0.647 | 4.06% |
WATER RECLAMATION DIST | 256.87 | 0.458 | 2.88% |
COUNTY OF COOK | 126.57 | 0.226 | 1.42% |
ACORN PUBLIC LIBRARY | 141.47 | 0.252 | 1.58% |
COOK COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY | 103.49 | 0.185 | 1.16% |
TOWN OF BREMEN | 55.84 | 0.100 | 0.63% |
OTHER | 198.80 | 0.355 | 2.23% |
TOTAL | 8,927.27 | 15.933 | 100.00% |