Putting Finances First

My name is Maria Maxham, and I'm running for Mayor in the April 6, 2027 election because Forest Park is in financial crisis. This impacts everything, from the safety of our residents to the services we provide to the long-term health of our community. My goal is to put a real financial recovery plan in place, with measurable benchmarks and regular reporting to residents, businesses, unions, and all stakeholders. Financial strength must come first. Everything else depends on it.

Our Safety is at Risk

Our first responders are overworked, understaffed, and struggling to recruit, in part because we cannot offer competitive pay and benefits and because our ability to fully fund their pensions is in serious question. These are the people who show up every day to keep us safe. They have said publicly that they are struggling, and we need to listen. Without new sources of revenue, we cannot address understaffing, we cannot fund our pension obligations, and we cannot ensure that Forest Park is as safe as it can be.

Expenses Consistently Outpace Revenue

Our expenses have consistently outpaced our revenues, and the operating deficit grows worse every year. The Village has been able to partially offset this by transferring money from other funds, but that isn’t a sustainable solution. This fiscal year, even with those transfers, the Village is budgeted to end with a general fund deficit of more than $5 million. We are running out of ways to cover it. Our Moody's credit rating reflects the weakening of Forest Park's financial status. The village has been downgraded three times in seven years, from Baa1 in 2019 to Ba1 today. We have gone from solid investment grade to speculative grade, what the financial world calls junk bond status. Moody's has been direct about what needs to happen: the village needs to adopt significant expenditure reductions and develop a concrete plan to address its operating imbalance.

Our Pensions are Underfunded

Forest Park's police and fire pension funds are currently less than 40% funded. By state law, they must reach 90% funded by 2040. Depending on the accounting method used, the total unfunded liability is somewhere between $74 million and $87 million. Because our annual contributions have not reached the minimum amount needed just to keep that liability from growing, the total amount we owe continues to increase. The longer we wait to address this, the more expensive it becomes, for current residents and for future ones.

What I Will Do

The village does not have a financial recovery plan. I will put one in place. The first step is making sure we have the analytical foundation to do this right. That means conducting a serious assessment of our financial operations and bringing in outside expertise where needed. Our finance staff works hard, but no small municipal department should be expected to handle the complexity of what Forest Park is facing without additional support and resources. From that foundation, I will work with the administration and the full Council to pursue a plan built around four interconnected areas: Increasing revenue Evaluating and reducing expenses Monitoring and advocating for legislation that affects our financial future Pursuing economic development aggressively and strategically These areas cannot be addressed one at a time or in isolation. The plan will be specific and measurable, with regular public updates so that residents, businesses, and all stakeholders can track our progress and hold us accountable. We have no reserves. We cannot afford to wait.

Volunteer

To help Maria Maxham’s campaign, please reach out to commissioner@mariamaxham.com.

Thank you for your support!