The word “symbiotic” means a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups, which is appropriate to describe the mutually beneficial relationship between our village government and the businesses in town.

Money from village to business

The village of Forest Park gave the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce $40,000 in 2025, which is the first of three annual payments of $40,000 from the $120,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds designated for marketing. 

Money from business to village

The village of Forest Park reported sales tax revenue of $665,337 for 2024. Our village also gets a small cut of funding from the proceeds of the state sales tax. The sales tax, of course, comes from the sales made by businesses in town.

Businesses also contribute to the village through payments for licenses, permits, charges for services and indirectly for parking.

Lauterbach and Amen, the accountants who audit the village government’s finances, summarizes the revenue stream of our village government:

Approximately 70 percent of all governmental revenues are direct or pass-through taxes, 5 percent is anticipated grant, and 25 percent is locally imposed. Tax revenues remain flat or minimal increases. Property taxes increase annually, but the village’s portion of the tax bill remains below 14 percent. Grant revenues have fallen short of budgeted expectation for several years. As a non-home rule community, the ability to generate new revenue is limited, defined within state statutes. There are indicators of business growth within the village, which provides for conservative optimism.

Services from village to business

It’s impossible to put a dollar value on the services the FPPD provides to the business community. By being visible in our business districts the officers serve as a deterrent to crime, and then when crimes like shoplifting occur, the police quickly respond.

A couple weeks ago, Chief Ken Gross gave an informative talk to 20 business owners on how they and the police can partner to deal with problems like panhandling and soliciting by the unhoused “residents” of this, our village with small-town charm.

For big events like the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, we see extra officers working on crowd control and safety. The parade is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce primarily as a way to draw people to Madison Street and expose them to the mix of businesses on our main business street.

Hard to imagine what the Chamber would have to pay for private security.

Speaking of St. Patrick, have you noticed how quickly the Public Works Department quickly gets Madison Street looking like nothing big happened just a few hours before?

Not to mention the planting and watering of flowers along Madison Street and other locations in town. Right now American flag banners hang from lamp posts all along Madison, adding another element to the charming aesthetic. 

Services from business to village

In an August 2023 Review article, reporter Igor Studenkov wrote, “The Chamber of Commerce has acted as the village’s de facto marketing department for years.”

I have watched Madison change since I moved here in 1982 I have to say that the transformation of the street by a cohort of small business owners has been stunning.

Forty years ago, the phrase “small town charm” was a gallant, aspirational attempt to put a good face on a tired business district. The transformation was a “service” that business owners provided not only to village government. Community pride is one of those realities that is hard to measure people, but we who live and/or work know it because we feel it.

Regulation

Can you imagine a Bears-Packers game without referees? The economic term for economics without regulations is “laissez faire.”

In 1776 Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, a book that was arguably as impactful as the Declaration of Independence. Smith argued that the less government interaction in the economy the better. No need for referees, he declared, because an invisible hand would somehow make the free market game fair for all players.

Steve Glinke does not believe in invisible hands. As director of the Code Enforcement Department, he is responsible for enforcing the regulations that business owners are required to follow.

As sports fans know, when the refs call fouls too closely they stifle competition; if they call fouls too loosely the game descends into chaos. That’s the balance Glinke has to maintain when enforcing the many regulations in the code.