Park Forest Annexation Plan Draws Fears of Higher Taxes, With Relief That Fades After Three Years (Park Forest, IL) — Lynn Clayton grew up in Park Forest, where her father served as a police officer. Now retired and living in a home her parents built on Hawthorne Avenue, she told village officials that their plan to annex her property could leave her unable to afford to stay.
“If this annexation comes through, I’m not sure I can stay,” Clayton said during the Oct. 19 Village Board meeting. “I don’t know that I will be able to afford it.”
Her warning was among several from homeowners who said bringing their unincorporated Will County properties into Park Forest would impose substantial new costs and regulations on households that deliberately chose to live outside municipal boundaries.
The village is considering two annexation ordinances covering 25 parcels. One encompasses 22 parcels totaling 22.36 acres in the Park Forest Estates subdivision along Hawthorne and Spruce avenues. The other covers three parcels totaling 6.53 acres at 251, 253 and 263 Monee Road.
Both proposals received first readings Oct. 19 and are scheduled to return for consideration Nov. 2. A proposed tax rebate program also received its first reading, offering temporary help that would diminish each year before ending entirely. The written proposal would also require participants to sign away challenges to the annexation.
For residents who spoke, the prospect of a larger tax bill carried consequences well beyond a change on a municipal map.
John Weber, a Monee Road homeowner, estimated that annexation could add roughly $4,000 to his annual property tax bill, increasing it from approximately $4,000 to around $8,000.
The village’s annexation information page says property taxes may increase but directs owners to the Will County assessor for estimates of how their individual properties would be affected.
Another Monee Road homeowner, who identified himself as John, compared an estimated $9 monthly savings on waste and recycling service with a projected property tax increase of $300 to $400 a month before any rebate.
Using his estimates, that would mean approximately $108 in annual trash-service savings against $3,600 to $4,800 in additional annual property taxes. He said the advertised benefit of cheaper village water would provide him no immediate savings because his home uses a well.
“This would put a tremendous burden on me financially,” he said.
Village Manager Jon Kindseth presented the rebate proposal as a way to give newly annexed households time to prepare for the full cost of Park Forest property taxes.
Eligible owners would receive back 75% of the village’s portion of their property taxes in the first year, 50% in the second and 25% in the third. Beginning in the fourth year, the rebate would disappear.
Those percentages apply solely to the village’s share of the bill. Taxes charged by other taxing bodies would remain outside the program.
For illustration, if the annual village tax charge were $4,000 and stayed unchanged, a participating homeowner would owe a net $1,000 in village taxes after the first-year rebate, $2,000 in the second year, $3,000 in the third and the full $4,000 annually afterward. Those amounts would be in addition to taxes owed to other taxing bodies.
The proposal could substantially cushion the initial increase, while leaving homeowners to absorb the full village tax burden over time.
The written policy also contains conditions that go beyond the rebate percentages discussed at the meeting.
Applicants would have to sign a waiver stating that they “waive forever any and all right” to challenge, modify or contest the annexation, including through judicial or administrative proceedings. The waiver’s language also refers to owners’ successors and assigns.
Participation would therefore require an owner seeking temporary financial assistance to sign a document surrendering challenges to the boundary change they may oppose.
The draft restricts eligibility to owner-occupied residential properties, requires an application within six months of annexation and excludes owners who have entered into an annexation agreement with the village. Participants with unpaid taxes from a previous year would be ineligible for a rebate payment, while debts owed to the village would be deducted before any remaining rebate was paid to the homeowner.
The program could also be canceled for any year in which sufficient funding is not appropriated.
A staff memo says the affected properties would begin paying village property taxes in 2028 for the 2027 tax year. Owners would remain responsible for the full tax bill, with staff aiming to issue rebates after the first installment so the money could help pay the second.
Kindseth said he expects the property tax rate on the Will County side of Park Forest to continue declining. The presentation, however, offered no quantified reduction in existing residents’ tax bills attributable to these annexations.
For affected homeowners, the concern extended to the rules governing how they use their land.
Aureliano Hernandez told trustees that he and his wife deliberately bought in unincorporated Will County for privacy, independence and the opportunity to build their family’s future under the conditions in place when they purchased.
“We deserve more than an opportunity to speak for three minutes,” Hernandez said. “We deserve meaningful consideration, clear answers about the financial and regulatory consequences.”
A disabled veteran who said she owns three properties in the affected area described finding stability and a place to put down roots after years of feeling unsettled. Annexation, she said, threatened the way of life she had chosen.
The village’s written annexation materials say the properties would enter Park Forest under R-1 residential zoning. Kindseth said staff had recommended considering an agricultural or suburban estate designation for larger properties to accommodate their different characteristics. That alternative remained a proposal during the meeting.
Village officials maintain that annexation would extend public benefits to areas already receiving some Park Forest services.
Kindseth said Park Forest has provided fire protection to the areas for decades and has supplied water service along Monee Road and Hawthorne Avenue. He identified benefits including village police and fire services, negotiated waste collection rates, library privileges, recreation opportunities and the ability to vote in village elections.
For properties using village water or sewer service, the village says annexation would replace the nonresident rate of 1.5 times the standard charge with the resident rate. The benefit would depend on a household’s existing service arrangements.
Some homeowners questioned how much additional value those benefits would provide. One Monee Road resident said his household already pays higher water charges and pays for other services, challenging the suggestion that annexation was necessary for residents to contribute fairly.
Residents also questioned the value of access to the Aqua Center while it remains closed. The village’s August project update places the expected reopening of the $10 million redevelopment in May 2028.
Mayor Joseph Woods told speakers that public comment was an opportunity for the board to listen and that its rules did not permit questions and answers during that portion of the meeting. He directed residents seeking further information to department heads afterward.
Trustee Randall White said he had opposed earlier annexations and expressed opposition to the pending annexations. No final vote was taken on the two proposals or the rebate program Oct. 19.
The meeting also included decisions and discussion affecting education, housing and public services.
Trustees approved a special use permit for Remnant Nature Academy, a small preschool and elementary forest school proposed by Kadesha and Kelly Smith at 100 Thorn Creek Drive.
The approval includes 15 conditions addressing matters such as fire department access, sprinkler and monitored alarm systems, sanitary disposal, on-site student pickup and drop-off, and an occupancy inspection before school use. Staff said violations could provide grounds to revoke the permit.
The board also reviewed a preliminary redevelopment plan for the former St. Irenaeus campus at 78 Cherry St.
The Women’s Empowerment Center and Network, known as W.E.C.a.N., proposes converting the approximately 6.4-acre property into a community services campus. Plans include supervised housing for pregnant and parenting youth and young women, child care, a cultural facility, a food pantry and other support services.
The proposal would reuse four existing buildings in three phases, with a residential care capacity of 31 beds and a separate supportive housing program accommodating up to 16 people.
Trustees questioned emergency medical arrangements, fire protection, security and project financing. Project representative Michael Maloney said most residents would already be parenting, and he described plans for round-the-clock staffing, surveillance and off-site visits with guests.
Trustees also discussed negotiations for a payment in lieu of taxes. The preliminary plan is scheduled to return Nov. 2; additional approvals, permits, licensing and inspections would be required before the proposed uses could open.
Elsewhere, the board approved a resolution allowing the village to use a certified municipal resolution in place of a surety bond for qualifying work on state highway rights-of-way during 2027 and 2028. Separate state permits would still be required.
The meeting opened with the promotion swearing-in of police Sgt. Luis Ibarra, a seven-year department veteran and its 2024 Officer of the Year. Woods proclaimed Oct. 28 National First Responders Day, and officials remembered former Trustee Viola Baecher, the first African American woman elected to the Village Board.
Trustee Maya Hardy also reported that the Housing Authority had reopened its housing voucher waiting list.
The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m., with the annexation proposals, rebate ordinance and St. Irenaeus redevelopment plan set to return for consideration Nov. 2.
Park Forest Annexation Plan Draws Fears of Higher Taxes, With Relief That Fades After Three Years
