A group of residents on the western border of Oak Brook expressed interest in annexing in the village last week, but it will be at least three months before officials determine whether it would serve the community’s interests.
Gerald Murphy, one of two individuals to address the Village Board about the idea, said annexation would involve about 1,000 people from 358 townhouses in the Ginger Brook, Chambord and Oak Brook Colony subdivisions and 122 houses in the Chateaux subdivision.
A top reason for annexing would be to boost the now-unincorporated York Township homes’ property values, Murphy said. Their median property value is $300,000, high by townhouse standards but about half the median value of Oak Brook homes.
Annexation would bring Oak Brook’s population of 8,700 close to 10,000.
Murphy said the village would see an increase in income from the state based on population, such as motor-fuel taxes, which he estimated would rise $30,000 annually. And he said the subdivisions would not ask the village to perform road upgrades. The homes were annexed in the Oak Brook Park District about two years ago.
After the meeting, Village Manager Rick Boehm said he and staff members would meet with representatives of the four subdivisions and assess what kind of services they would need.
Initially, Boehm said, it appeared that financial liabilities, such as increased police and fire personnel to serve the expanded area, would exceed the financial benefits for the village.
