$6 million Expansion Plan
Original Publish Date: 12/8/2024. Publicly Released on 1/16/2025.The Park District budgeted $3 million for its expansion and sought a matching grant*. The project would spend $3 million to build new structures. Taxpayers would foot the bill to maintain them, costing millions. Taxes inevitably would increase to pay for it all.
*The OSLAD grant is a matching grant, which means the Park District would have to contribute half the funds (taxpayer money) to get the grant. However, the grant itself is actually funded by taxpayer money; it is a state-financed grant. So, either way, the entire project would be funded by taxpayer dollars.
Update: On January 20, 2025, at the Oak Brook Park District Board meeting, the Park District announced that they did not receive the grant, and will not move forward with the project. The fact remains that the Park District board approved a $6 million expansion plan, and budgeted $3 million of our tax dollars for the expansion. This action proves that the Park District board has a propensity and appetite for spending millions of dollars to expand. Are Oak Brook resident taxpayers aware of this? Is this in the best interest of taxpayers?
