OPCAN’s 2027 Climate Action Budget Proposal for the Village of Oak Park
OPCAN tabling at the 2026 Day in Our Village
To: President Scaman, Village Trustees, Village Manager Jackson, Deputy Manager Zayyad, and Chief Sustainability Officer Roland-Nieratka
Date: September 14, 2026
The Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN) thanks you again for your leadership in local climate action. We are proud of the Village’s accomplishments over the past several years including:
Establishing a nation-leading climate action plan known as Climate Ready Oak Park (CROP)
Establishing building benchmarking programs for buildings over 10,000 square feet
Passing a celebrated electrification ordinance, which was upheld by federal courts
Passing and funding a comprehensive bike plan to create a safe, connected bicycle network across Oak Park, ultimately reducing car trips
Launching Oak Park Energy Navigators (OPEN) for providing hands-on (and popular!) resident assistance for electrifying their homes
Starting the Climate Ready Energy Grant program for up to $20,000 towards residents electrifying and insulating homes
Setting up rebates for appliances like induction stoves, window heat pumps, heat pump dryers, and for insulation expenses
Reducing/eliminating permit fees for electric home upgrades
Increasing the tax on single use plastic bags and banning them outright by 2030
Plus Climate Ready Rainscapes, Sewer Backup Protection Grants, Climate Ready Canopy tree giveaways and many more
Passing the Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure Plan to guide the future implementation of policies and programs green infrastructure or enhanced management
Oak Park continues to make significant progress on climate action and has demonstrated itself as both a statewide and national leader on this issue. But as we said last year, and will continue to say every year: much more must be done, and with urgency, as the climate crisis continues to intensify.
The past eleven years have been the eleven warmest years on global record and the three-year global average for 2023 - 2025 exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. (source) This rise in temperature has forced us to see more heatwaves, more flooding from rain, more lung and other respiratory diseases, and many more disasters around the world. These all directly impact our community and those around us with worsening health outcomes, higher infrastructure costs, and more cost burdens for residents.
We understand that the 2027 budget will require the Village Board to make some difficult choices, as rising staffing and pension costs are already driving an estimated 9% levy increase for maintaining current service levels. However, the climate crisis and our collective futures demand that we continue to invest in and accelerate our proven and successful programs, even when it is difficult. The cost of inaction today will come back tenfold tomorrow in the form of more flooding, continued extreme heat, more wildfire smoke, and the use of ever more expensive and unreliable fossil fuel energy.
Our 2027 budget proposal continues to build on the Village’s progress by emphasizing both climate action and resilience.
Our budgetary priorities for the next year total $4,195,000 and are summarized below:
| Line Item | 2027 Budget |
|---|---|
| 1. Move Sustainability Fund staff salaries to the General Fund to preserve funding for climate programs | -$425,000 |
| 2. Low Interest Loan Program | $2,000,000 |
| 3. Energy Efficiency Grant Program | $700,000 |
| 4. Oak Park Energy Navigators | $500,000 |
| 5. Expand Climate Ready RainScapes and/or Green Alley installations | $500,000 |
| 6. Climate Ready Canopy | $20,000 |
| 7. Shared Bin Composting Pilot | $25,000 |
| Total | $3,320,000 |
Our policy priorities include:
8. Explore geothermal solutions as clean heating and cooling options for the Village
9. Identify opportunities for installing Level 2 and Level 3 EV charging in or near multifamily buildings
10. Invest in professional marketing and outreach to increase participation in Village climate programs such as the energy efficiency grant program, OPEN, and more
11. Continue to publish data and metrics regularly on the Climate Ready Oak Park Progress Hub
Below are additional budget and policy details on the above recommendations.
Thank you for your consideration,
Derek Eder, Pamela Tate, Amy Rosenthal, Susan Buchanan, Mac Robinet, Cindy Klein-Banai, Chris Pinc, Laura Derks On behalf of the Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN)
Pari Agarwal leading OPCAN’s Bringing Clean Energy Home event in Jan 26, 2026
2027 Budget and Policy Proposal Details
1. Move Sustainability Fund staff salaries to the General Fund to preserve funding for climate programs
In 2026, staff salaries for the Sustainability and Resilience Office (3.5 FTE) were drawn from the Sustainability Fund. Sustainability needs to be treated as a core service, and staff deserve to have more job stability by knowing the funding for their positions is secure. We can accomplish this by moving these salaries over to the General Fund, and reducing annual Sustainability Fund expenditures significantly. This was discussed and approved by the Village Board in March 2026.
2. Low Interest Loan Program
As was proposed by Trustee Eder during the March study session on the Sustainability Fund, OPCAN supports setting up a low-interest loan program for Oak Park residents to have access to the capital needed to make sustainable and efficient improvements to their homes. These loans would be available regardless of income qualification and operate in tandem with the existing Energy Efficiency Grant Program.
3. Energy Efficiency Grant Program
We believe this program has been operating well at 2026 funding levels, but as OPEN and OPCAN and others continue to do outreach, we expect demand to grow. We have not seen recent numbers on the uptake of these grants, so we are recommending the funding for it stays flat.
4. Oak Park Energy Navigators (OPEN)
Given the level of interest in OPEN and the waiting list that is already there, we recommend the contract be continued at the $500,000 level for FY27. We are happy to see the metrics for this program published on the Climate Ready Oak Park Progress Hub. Given the long waitlist for this program, the Village should identify more light weight ways to assist residents and provide assistance faster.
5. Expand Climate Ready RainScapes and/or Green Alley installations
We understand that the Village can afford a limited number of green alley installations each year, so in addition to the scheduled green alley projects, we recommend adding at least $500,000 for this purpose and for other recommendations in the green infrastructure report such as more bioswails.
6. Climate Ready Canopy
In July 2026, Village staff shared a memo on the status of the Climate Ready Canopy program. In its first year, the program delivered twice the number of trees than expected, and the cost was much lower than anticipated. OPCAN agrees with staff’s recommendation to keep this program’s budget at $20,000 per year.
7. Shared Bin Composting Pilot and Preparation for Universal Composting in 2028
Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN) strongly endorses universal composting as an integral part of a holistic climate program, reducing climate pollution and increasing community resilience. We urge the Village of Oak Park and its Trustees to design and enact a universal composting program as soon as a new contract can be negotiated with LRS.
In preparation for our contract renewal with LRS in two years, OPCAN recommends conducting a large pilot program for universal composting and communal bins on key blocks with high levels of opt-in composting, and an outreach and marketing program to prepare residents for the universal program that will be rolled out in 2028.
8. Explore geothermal solutions as clean heating and cooling options for the Village
OPCAN is excited and supportive of exploring large geothermal projects for the Village. Building off the recent planning grant from the Illinois Finance Authority, the Village should pursue leveraging our buying power to build more geothermal projects throughout Oak Park.
9. Identify opportunities for installing Level 2 and Level 3 EV charging in or near multifamily buildings
As EV adoption continues to rise in Oak Park, a key barrier, especially for renters and condo owners, continues to be the lack of a reliable charging network. Single family home owners typically have the advantage of charging in their garages, but multifamily buildings rarely have that option. The Village should undertake a study to identify key areas with high concentration of multifamily buildings to install or incentivize Level 2 and Level 3 EV charging stations.
10. Invest in professional marketing and outreach to increase participation in Village climate programs such as the energy efficiency grant program, OPEN, and more
While OPCAN is excited about the rapid uptake of the OPEN program, many residents, contractors and multifamily building owners remain unaware and unmoved by calls to switch to all electric heating. The Village must continue to push out consistent marketing and messaging to reach as many residents in the Village as possible to inform them about the numerous Climate Ready programs the Village is providing.
11. Continue to publish data and metrics regularly on the Climate Ready Oak Park Progress Hub
OPCAN applauds the Sustainability Office on proactively publishing key metrics and data on climate action progress in Oak Park on the Climate Ready Oak Park Progress Hub. We hope to see this tool used as a foundation for program evaluation and policy development as we continue to scale up the programs launched over the past several years.