Sitting at tables arranged in a circle in an otherwise empty room in the basement of Village Hall, department heads took turns sharing what their needs will be in the next fiscal year and beyond.
Sal Stella, public works director, had similar requests to last year’s budget meetings, asking for a new bucket truck and chipper truck – to lift workers to elevated locations and carry tree branches and wood chips, respectively.
“They’re in rough shape, and I don’t know how much longer they’re going to last me,” Stella said, adding that forestry is one of the public works’ biggest services.
Stella added that the village will likely save money by installing more digital water meters this year.
“We subsidize a lot of water because we’re not capturing all the usage,” said Village Administrator Rachell Entler. But because the new meters are more accurate, she added, the village won’t be subsidizing as much.
Police Chief Ken Gross asked for three cars. He said the department’s vehicle replacement fund will pay for at least one new squad car. He also needs a new car for criminal investigations, which hasn’t been replaced since 2007.
“Two or three weeks back, the police department had about six active squad cars in our fleet of 15,” Gross said.
Gross said he also needs more employees. The Forest Park Police Department is currently operating with 35 officers and could staff 38. But five of those 35 are in the police academy or field training, getting paid by the village but not patrolling Forest Park yet.
“Overtime is going to be bad again this year,” Gross said. “I’ll be working on the street again to try and help out,” and the same goes for Deputy Chief Christopher Chin.
Fire Chief Lindsey Hankus’ big-ticket item for the year is a new ambulance she hopes will be delivered in February. At the April 14 village council meeting, commissioners unanimously approved the $267,375 purchase of the ambulance.
In the coming years, Hankus said the fire department will also need to replace its fire truck and engine. A new truck is at least $2.5 million and takes a year to get. In 2028, Hankus said the current fire truck will be 25 years old. And the fire engine needs to be replaced in 2027 for $1 million and also has a one-year wait.
Hankus said another large, more immediate cost is an increase in the fire department’s calls, largely coming from the Blue Line Forest Park CTA station at 711 Des Plaines Avenue.
In 2002, the fire department responded to 2,475 calls throughout the village. In 2024, that number was nearly 4,491 with about 500 calls to the Blue Line terminal.
“There’s been no additional personnel to respond to these demands,” Hankus said.
Mayor Rory Hoskins is a proponent of the Metropolitan Authority Act, a bill that would merge local transit bodies and, he said, has the potential to create an in-house service on the CTA for riders.
And earlier this month, Commissioners Michelle Melin-Rogovin and Jessica Voogd went to Springfield for Illinois Municipal League Day. There, they spoke with Sen. Kimberly Lightford about Forest Park’s lack of capacity to deal with CTA calls, in the hopes that she can help with supporting legislation that would alleviate the pressure.
Steve Glinke, director of the department of public health and safety, said he’s uncertain what his needs will be. That’s because most of Forest Park’s building projects are planned a year in advance, and without approved updates to the village’s zoning code, many of Glinke’s plans are in limbo.
“Open initiatives that still require council action – That is probably going to be the greatest predictor of what my needs are going to be next year,” he said.
Village Clerk Vanessa Belmonte said she doesn’t have many expenses. She did, however, save the village several thousand dollars with a unanimously passed agenda item at the April 14 village council meeting. The approved agenda item authorized Publiq to print and mail utility bills, which will now be on postcards rather than letters to save the village $6,000 a year.
Karen Dylewski, director of the Howard Mohr Community Center, wasn’t present at the budget meeting. But Entler said the community center’s top priority is a new bus, though the current one can likely last another year.
As village staff continue applying for grants where they can and exploring options for new revenue sources, Entler applauded the budget meeting attendees for their thoughtfulness.
“Every department in here is doing more with less,” Entler said.
Staff will share drafts of department budgets at upcoming meetings before the village council votes on the budget for the next fiscal year.