W E D N E S D A Y
July 26, 2023 Vol. 44, No. 4
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OAK PARK TOWNSHIP ASSESSMENT INSIDE
of Oak Park and River Forest
3% tax cap to be dropped from Oak Park goals Trustees will likely cut self-imposed cap on property tax hikes By STACEY SHERIDAN
Former OPRF QB adds name to hazing suit
Senior Reporter
ern Monday in Cook County Circuit Court charging the university with willful and wanton negligence for failing to protect Yates and others from a pattern of hazing that was commonplace in the Northwestern football
The Oak Park village board may eliminate the 3% cap that has served as the threshold by which the village bases its annual property tax levy extension. The numeric figure is planned be replaced with language that directs the board to limit the tax levy increase based on financial policy, developed by the village’s finance committee, and to be reevaluated yearly. The village board has yet to officially amend the goal and won’t do so until it returns from its August break, but it is unlikely the board will change its mind regarding the tax levy. An informal vote taken during the board’s July 17 goal-setting session indicated that all board members were fine with parting ways with the 3% number, save Trustee Ravi Parakkat, who said having a designated limit provides immediate accountability, rather than a vague promise to try to keep the levy low. “We do need a number and 3% seems like a reasonable number to benchmark against, knowing that it’ll probably be a little different each year depending on the realities of
See YATES on page 17
See TAX CAP on page 12
BOB SKOLNIK
Lloyd Yates says he was a victim in Northwestern scandal By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter
On Monday former Oak Park and River Forest High School star quarterback Lloyd Yates became the first former Northwestern University football player to put his name to a law-
suit against Northwestern alleging that he and many other Northwestern football players were victims of repeated acts of sexualized and degrading hazing by teammates on the Northwestern football team. Yates’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against Evanston-based Northwest-
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