Oak Forest Residents To Again Pay More In City Portion Of Property Taxes

OAK FOREST, IL — Oak Forest residents will again see an increase in the City's portion of their property tax bill, after officials this week passed a tax levy with an increase from last year.

On December 8, the Oak Forest City Council approved a 2025 tax levy of $12,905,393, resulting in an increase of $606,150, or 4.9% from last year.

Homeowners will see an estimated annual property tax increase of $71 on the city’s portion of the property tax bill, the City said in a release. It's a bigger increase than in the City's 2024 tax levy, which was a 3.7 increase over the prior year.

The tax levy calculation requires an increase of $864,000 in property taxes "due to fiscal year 2027 operating expenses, capital projects, and authorized full-time personnel," the City said in a release.

The City also said it dug into its reserves to offset the impact to residents somewhat, according to the release.

"Realizing that many residents and business owners are struggling from increased energy, food, insurance, and interest costs, the city is using $250,000 of general fund reserves to close the gap," the City said in a release. "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."

Keeping it below 5 percent also eliminated the need for a public hearing. The Truth in Taxation law requires a taxing district to compare the amount of its proposed aggregate property tax levy, to the amount of taxes extended for the district in the prior year. A notice must be published in a newspaper and a public hearing must be held, if the proposed aggregate tax levy is more than 5 percent greater than the previous year’s tax extension.

The City provided a table and chart illustrating the total amount of property tax owed by a resident, and how that money is distributed among taxing districts. In the example, school districts receive 67 percent of property taxes, while the city's portion of the tax bill is just under 15 percent.