Oak Park is set to join other villages in an intergovernmental cooperation agreement to seek reimbursement from the Chicago Transit Authority for first responder services delivered to the CTA Blue Line or Green Line where it runs through their towns.
The Oak Park Village Board unanimously approved a move to join River Forest, Forest Park and Rosemont in the agreement, which calls for each village to be reimbursed by $3,000 per occurrence for EMS transport and $500 per occurrence for fire department response with no transportation.
For police responses, fees include: $75 per patrol officer response, $85 per sergeant response and $30 per auxiliary officer response. The village will invoice responses from Oak Park’s Civilian Alternative First Responders for $82.82 per hour for every team of two.
The topic came up while reviewing the budget last year, said JT Terry, Oak Park’s fire chief. Oak Park fire and police officials have been meeting with their counterparts in other municipalities since February putting together fee structures and discussing what’s fair, he said.
The agreement calls for itemized billing statements to be submitted to the Chicago Transit Authority by Jan. 15 each year, with payment due in February.
Kevin Bueso, the village’s chief financial officer, said the billing would not be included in the 2027 operating budget since it is a new revenue fee and they “don’t know what that experience factor is going to be.”
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act requires transportation agencies including the CTA to come up with a plan to address public safety across the system, Bueso said. He expects the new reimbursement revenue to be inconsistent and reduced over the years.
This year, the village can bill for responses from June 1 to Dec. 31 by the end of the year, Bueso said, and moving forward they can bill for the entire year. In July, Terry said, the fire department received 34 transport and response calls, which would result in $60,500 in reimbursement.
The intergovernmental agreement comes after the wheels of the Green Line train heading to Forest Park became misaligned and had to be evacuated late September. The Oak Park Fire Department responded to “ensure a safe evacuation of the affected train,” according to a Tribune article.
Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman was openly in favor of the bill and gave a nod to Rory Hoskins, the mayor of Forest Park for supporting the process. She said the cost of responding to Blue Line incidents there was “significant, especially for a community of his size.”
“His advocacy to see those dollars returned for the village of Forest Park definitely benefitted all of us,” Scaman said.