Sources & method
Updated .
Method
- Per household = library property tax ÷ households (Census ACS 2020–2024). It’s an average: it includes tax paid by businesses, and individual bills vary.
- Per resident uses 2020 Census population.
- Evanston uses its proposed 2025 levy, which includes debt service. Oak Park’s figure doesn’t, so the comparison is conservative.7
- Library share of a tax bill uses 2023 tax rates, the latest audited breakdown.9
- Rounding. Results are rounded only at the end. Comparisons use unrounded values, so dividing the rounded dollar figures can differ by a point.
The math
| Figure | Formula | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Oak Park per household | 11,979,000 ÷ 23,387 = 512.21 | $5121,4 |
| River Forest per household | 1,734,288 ÷ 4,460 = 388.85 | $3895,6 |
| Evanston per household (proposed 2025 levy) | 10,294,799 ÷ 31,705 = 324.71 | $3257,8 |
| Oak Park vs. River Forest, per household | 512.21 ÷ 388.85 − 1 = 31.7% | 32% more1,4,5,6 |
| Oak Park vs. Evanston, per household (Evanston: proposed 2025 levy) | 512.21 ÷ 324.71 − 1 = 57.7% | 58% more1,4,7,8 |
| Oak Park per resident | 11,979,000 ÷ 54,583 = 219.46 | $2191,4 |
| River Forest per resident | 1,734,288 ÷ 11,717 = 148.01 | $1485,6 |
| Evanston per resident (proposed 2025 levy) | 10,294,799 ÷ 78,110 = 131.80 | $1327,8 |
| Oak Park vs. River Forest, per resident | 219.46 ÷ 148.01 − 1 = 48.3% | 48% more1,4,5,6 |
| Oak Park vs. Evanston, per resident (Evanston: proposed 2025 levy) | 219.46 ÷ 131.80 − 1 = 66.5% | 67% more1,4,7,8 |
| Per household per month | 512.21 ÷ 12 = 42.68 | $43/month1,4 |
| 2026 increase | 11,979,000 ÷ 11,404,000 − 1 = 5.04% | +5.0%1,2 |
| 2027 draft increase | 12,460,000 ÷ 11,979,000 − 1 = 4.02% | +4.0% (draft)1,3 |
| Library share of an Oak Park tax bill | 0.482 ÷ 10.808 × 1,000 = 44.60 | $44.60 per $1,0009 |
| 2025 library property tax | 11,404,000 ÷ 1,000,000 = 11.404 | $11.40M2 |
| 2026 library property tax | 11,979,000 ÷ 1,000,000 = 11.979 | $11.98M1 |
| 2027 draft library property tax | 12,460,000 ÷ 1,000,000 = 12.460 | $12.46M3 |
Sources
- 1.Oak Park Public Library 2026 budget report
https://www.oppl.org/about/budget/budget-report/ - 2.Oak Park Public Library finance committee materials, Aug. 19, 2025 (2025 property tax: $11,404,000)
https://www.oppl.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AUGUST-19-2025-OAK-PARK-PUBLIC-LIBRARY-FINANCE-COMMITTEE-MEETING-MATERIALS.pdf - 3.Oak Park Public Library draft 2027 budget (Draft 1)
https://www.oppl.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DRAFT-1-FY2027-BUDGETw.pdf - 4.Census QuickFacts, Oak Park village, Illinois
https://census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/oakparkvillageillinois/HCN010217 - 5.Wednesday Journal, "River Forest OKs $10M tax levy" (Nov. 20, 2025)
https://www.oakpark.com/2025/11/20/river-forest-tax-levy/ - 6.Census QuickFacts, River Forest village, Illinois
https://census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/riverforestvillageillinois/PST045223 - 7.Evanston Public Library Truth-in-Taxation notice (2025 levy)
https://epl.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/152/2025/10/NOTICE-OF-PROPOSED-PROPERTY-TAX-INCREASE-.pdf - 8.Census QuickFacts, Evanston city, Illinois
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/evanstoncityillinois - 9.Village of Oak Park FY2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, property tax rates table
https://files.illinoiscomptroller.gov/LocGovAudits/FY2024/01641532/24Audit01641532_02.pdf - 10.Oak Park Public Library board bylaws
https://www.oppl.org/about/policies/library-board/bylaws-of-the-board-of-trustees-of-the-oak-park-public-library/ - 11.Oak Park Public Library Board of Trustees (meetings, trustees, public comment)
https://www.oppl.org/about/board-of-trustees/ - 12.Oak Park Public Library on how its levy works through the Village
https://oppl.org/news-events/impact/being-good-stewards-of-our-communitys-investment-and-the-public-good/ - 13.Illinois Local Library Act, 75 ILCS 5/3-5 (levy "in the amounts determined by the board")
https://law.justia.com/codes/illinois/2005/chapter16/48435.html - 14.Huntley Area Public Library notice on the April 6, 2027, election and the Nov. 16–23, 2026, filing period
https://www.huntleylibrary.org/open-library-trustee-positions-2027/
Corrections
No corrections yet. When we fix something, we’ll list it here with the date.