W E D N E S D A Y
May 7, 2025 Vol. 45, No. 44
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JOURNAL @oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Housing costs ‘burden’ Oak Park households Many Oak Park renters and homeowners spend over 30% of their income on monthly housing payments, according to a metro area affordability report By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
Many Oak Park households are spending more than a third of their monthly income on housing costs. Over 31% of Oak Park households are considered “cost-burdened” by their monthly housing expenses, meaning at least 30% of their monthly income goes directly to housing payments. Still, a slightly lower percentage of renters in Oak Park struggle to comfortably afford their rent than the average across Cook See HOUSING BURDEN on page 13
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a d v e rt i s i n g
s e c t i o n
Celebrating Mother's Day 2025
Special Section Page 19
From left, incumbents Fred Arkin and Audrey Williams-Lee, and newcomers Josh Gertz and Kathleen Odell, take their oaths Thursday, May 1 at the District 200 meeting that installed the new board.
D200 installs new school board Williams-Lee replaces longtime president Cofsky; Gertz, Odell are new GREGG VOSS
By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter
In 12 years, Tom Cofsky has seen almost everything as a member and then president of the Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 Board of Education.
With his finance background, he often focused on the district’s financial concerns, including a ballooning fund balance. Under his leadership, the board modified the budgetary process, while shifting the district’s financial mindset, committed to balancing expenses and revenue over the long term, while elimi-
nating end-of-year “true up” budgets. “We changed our levy philosophy from ‘tax to the max,’ to levy what was needed,” Cofsky said May 1 at his final board meeting, which installed the new board, including new president Audrey See D200 on page 15