Oak Brook Has No Village Property Tax. So Why Do Tax Rates Inside the Village Differ So Much?

If the Village of Oak Brook levies nothing on homeowners, why can two Oak Brook homes with the same market value carry 2025 tax rates about 50% apart?

The answer changes how to compare Oak Brook with Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Westmont or Oakbrook Terrace. The village's zero applies equally to every Oak Brook parcel. Every other line on the bill comes from school districts and park districts whose boundaries don't follow the village limits, and those lines decide what an Oak Brook tax bill looks like.

The zero is real, and retail pays for it

The DuPage County Clerk's 2025 Tax Rate Booklet lists the Village of Oak Brook at 0.0000 for both the 2024 and 2025 tax years. The 2025 figures are the latest final rates, and they apply to bills payable in 2026.

According to the village's 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, dated June 4, 2026, Oak Brook has operated without a real estate tax since it was founded, "due to the sales taxes generated from retail business activities." The figures for calendar year 2025 show how heavily the village leans on that source:

• General Fund sales and use tax brought in $22,532,150, or 63.3% of the General Fund's $35,616,363 in revenue.
• That sales tax line beat its original $17.25 million budget by $5,282,150.
• Across all governmental activities, sales and local use taxes reached $32.4 million in 2025, up $5.9 million, or 22.3%, from 2024.
• Utility taxes added $3.2 million and hotel/motel taxes $1.7 million.

The report credits the 2025 growth to stronger consumer spending, retail and dining activity, new or expanded commercial operations and better tax compliance. It names openings at Oakbrook Center, including Canada Goose, Skims and Ichidoo Ramen, with The Purple Pig nearing completion, plus Uniqlo among the year's larger projects. It puts estimated new construction value at $199 million for 2025. Corporate headquarters for TreeHouse Foods, Hub Group, Portillo's, Chamberlain, CNH and Ace Hardware are also in the village.

The report also names the risk that comes with this setup. Because sales taxes are the General Fund's main source of revenue, the village says it budgets that revenue conservatively and watches it closely. Pension expense was $8.1 million in 2025, and the Village Board approved an extra $4.0 million contribution to the police and fire pension funds. The General Fund balance grew by $2.7 million to $45.6 million, and the report says ongoing forecasting is needed because pension and capital needs continue.

So shoppers fund the village line. Every other line on the bill comes from somewhere else.

What remains once the village line is zero

Take tax code 6143, one of the Oak Brook codes in York Township. Its 2025 composite rate is 3.5937 per $100 of equalized assessed valuation, down from 3.7277 in 2024. Here is how that rate breaks down:

The three education lines add up to 2.9358, about 82% of the composite rate. The park district accounts for about 8%. Everything else, county, forest preserve, township and airport authority combined, makes up the rest.

Because the village line is zero, schools and parks make up almost the whole bill. A buyer who changes which school district serves the home changes the largest part of the bill.

One line in the table is new. York Township Mental Health shows 0.0165 for 2025 and nothing for 2024. The November 5, 2024 general election ballot in York Township asked voters whether the township could levy up to 0.05% a year for community mental health facilities and services. It is a small line, and it shows that the rest of the bill can change while the village line stays at zero.

Same village, different districts

The county booklet lists more than a dozen tax codes that include the Village of Oak Brook, in both York and Downers Grove townships. Their 2025 composite rates go as low as 3.5689 and as high as 5.3808. Each one carries the same zero for the village. What varies is the school districts and, in some codes, the park district or a fire district:

Codes 9146 and 9177 have the same schools and park district as code 6143. They come in slightly lower because Downers Grove Township's lines are smaller than York Township's. At the other end, code 6300 combines Unit School District 205 at 4.1767 with a Yorkfield Fire District line of 0.3775. Within York Township, code 6116 sits well above code 6143 for two reasons. In code 6116 the Oakbrook Terrace park district levies 0.4694, compared with Oak Brook Park District's 0.2942, and Grade School District 58 and High School District 99 together levy 4.0812. Code 6064 has a single line for Unit School District 205 at 4.1767, which covers grade school and high school together.

From 3.5689 to 5.3808 is 1.8119 points, about 51% above the lowest code. Two homes can share an Oak Brook address, the same village services and the same zero village levy and still face very different rates.

What the gap means in dollars

A rate is charged per $100 of equalized assessed valuation, not per dollar of market value. The York Township Assessor says property is assessed at one-third of fair market value. The Illinois Department of Revenue's residential assessment guide explains that the assessed value is multiplied by the state equalization factor and qualifying homestead exemptions are subtracted. The tax rate is then applied to that result.

Here is a simplified example for a home with a $1,000,000 market value in two York Township codes:

1. One-third of $1,000,000 gives an assessed value of about $333,333.
2. The state equalization factor for DuPage County was 1.0000 in IDOR's 2024 final table, so the value stays the same.
3. The York Township general homestead exemption takes $8,000 off EAV, leaving about $325,333.
4. In code 6143, at 3.5937, the bill comes to roughly $11,690.
5. In code 6116, at 5.0830, the same home's bill comes to roughly $16,540.

That is a difference of about $4,850 a year for two homes of identical value inside one village. Real bills depend on each parcel's assessment and exemptions, but the size of the gap holds.

Code 6143's rate dropped from 3.7277 to 3.5937 between 2024 and 2025. A homeowner's bill also depends on what happened to that parcel's assessed value over the same period.

Where the neighbors fit

The county booklet also lists one principal tax code for each nearby town. Their 2025 composite rates:

• Oak Brook, code 6143: 3.5937
• Willowbrook, code 9082: 4.5950
• Burr Ridge, Downers Grove Township, code 9030: 4.7029
• Hinsdale, Downers Grove Township, code 9059: 4.9477
• Hinsdale, York Township, code 6091: 4.9725
• Oakbrook Terrace, code 6062: 5.7730
• Westmont, code 9006: 6.2407

Compared through code 6143, Oak Brook looks well below everyone nearby. Hinsdale's York Township code is 1.3788 points above code 6143. The spread inside Oak Brook, 1.8119 points, is larger than that. An Oak Brook home in code 6116 or 6300 carries a higher 2025 rate than the Hinsdale, Burr Ridge and Willowbrook codes listed above.

When comparing a specific Oak Brook home with a home in a nearby town, use that home's own tax code rate, not the village's reputation.

A few related questions

Does Oak Brook have a sales tax of its own? Yes. The 2025 ACFR's statistical section lists a village direct sales tax rate of 1.00% and a non-home-rule sales tax rate of 0.50%. That revenue goes to the village. The property tax lines go to the other taxing bodies.

What exemptions exist for older homeowners in DuPage? DuPage County describes a Senior Homestead Exemption that reduces EAV by up to $8,000 for eligible owner-occupants aged 65 or older. For the 2025 tax bill payable in 2026, the county lists the Senior Freeze income limit as 2024 household income of $65,000 or less. The freeze holds eligible assessed value, not the rate or the bill, and owners must apply every year.

Does the zero village levy mean the village is set financially? The 2025 ACFR describes strong sales tax receipts, alongside rising pension contributions and continued capital needs, and says the village plans its revenue conservatively.

This post is general information about how DuPage County property taxes are structured, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm your own assessment, exemptions and tax code with the township assessor, the county or a qualified tax professional.

If you're weighing homes in different parts of Oak Brook, or comparing them with Hinsdale or Burr Ridge, we can pull the tax code for each property you're considering and lay the rates side by side before you write an offer. Smith Partners & Associates has worked in these western suburbs since 1987, and we're glad to walk through the numbers with you.