W E D N E S D A Y
May 20, 2026 Vol. 46, No. 46
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JOURNAL @oakpark
Oak Park senior home resident sounds alarm about poor conditions Heritage House Apartments on Lake Street reportedly have persistent issues with drugs and pests
Page B1
Oak Park property assessments increase by average of 25% Hike doesn’t translate directly to tax bills
By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
A longtime resident of an Oak Park senior citizens’ building told Oak Park’s village board about a series of persistent health and safety issues at the building at a meeting this week. Irma Baker, a 20-year resident of Heritage House Apartments, 201 Lake St. in the village, told the village board that the 14-story HUD-subsidized senior citizens’ building has been overrun by pests and illegal drugs. “It has deteriorated., I mean deteriorated. I am really just disgusted because I know how nice the building was at one time and how it just went down all of a sudden,” Baker said. Baker is the leader of a long-time residents’ group in the building that holds monthly meetings. Residents deal with rodents, cockroaches, bed bugs, poor ven-
By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
TODD BANNOR
See APARTMENTS on page 17
Mental Health Month
of Oak Park and River Forest
Residents say that the Heritage House skylight has an issue with leaks.
Oak Park and River Forest property owners received their triannual property tax reassessment notices from the county earlier this month. As a whole, the tax values of commercial and residential properties in Oak Park increased by 25% on the median, according to Oak Park Township Accessor Ali El Saffar. But that doesn’t mean that residents’ property tax bills will actually increase by a fourth, El Saffar said. “What we always have to educate most people about and it’s not their fault is that most people think that the property tax is like the sales tax or the income tax,” El Saffar said. “It doesn’t work that way. A lot of people think See ASSESSMENTS on page 20
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