Use property records to investigate changes in this town: assessments, recorded sales, permits, appeals and flood screening. Browse by street or record type, then check the available history and source dates. Municipal decisions are tracked separately in Neighborhood changes.
What Park Ridge's public bodies decided, spent and promised
Meeting records collected: 763 meetings (2017–2026), as of Sep 24, 2026. A meeting listed here has been collected; not every page has been researched yet.
At its meetings from January 25, 2024 to December 18, 2025, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved variances, or recommended their approval to the City Council, in 25 cases in the first year and 22 in the second, and denied or voted down 4. Each Council vote on a major variance quoted here matched the Board's vote. The Board's readable minutes also record 8 votes to continue a hearing. In quoted requests, the most common relief sought was from yards or setbacks, in at least 26 cases, then garages in at least 13, lot coverage or floor area in at least 10 and height limits in at least 10.
The City Council adopted 5 ordinances raising water and sewer charges, from November 7, 2018 to March 2, 2026, each on a consent agenda without dissent. Per the staff memos, the water rate per thousand gallons rose from $7.97 to $10.55 and the sewer rate from $1.42 to $2.24. The latest ordinance raised the smallest meters' fixed charge from $10.50 to $15.23, matching the proposed budget's 45% increase to flat-fee water fixed charges, tied largely to a federal mandate to replace water service lines. The records do not say why the latest sewer fixed charge rose more than the 7% planned.
The City Council approved an ordinance rewriting the Municipal Code section on water and sewer rates and fees as part of its consent agenda on November 7, 2018; the consent agenda carried by roll call 7–0. The staff memo listed the water rate rising from $7.97 to $8.11 and the sewer rate from $1.42 to $1.51 per thousand gallons, with higher fixed charges, starting January 1, 2019. The ordinance also added a $50 service fee on the return of construction water meter deposits. The Municipal Code's later history lists it as Ordinance No. 2018-40.
On July 19, 2021 the City Council approved, on its consent agenda, year-end budget amendments to several funds, including the Uptown TIF Fund. The staff memo lists an Uptown TIF general contractual services amendment of $92,371 and says that account was over budget because new student and new property payments were higher than anticipated. The consent vote was 7–0.
On November 15, 2021 the City Council approved at final reading an ordinance authorizing general obligation refunding bonds of $4,375,000 to refinance a bond issue the finance memo describes as debt associated with the Uptown TIF district. The memo estimates that interest costs over the remaining term would fall by $49,715. The ordinance sets final maturity on December 1, 2024. The final reading vote was 7–0.
From July 10, 2017 to April 6, 2026, the City Council approved Uptown TIF budget increases totaling $1,847,691.83: $889,002 for agreement payments to the Park District and two school districts, $613,443.71 for projects, and the rest for bond costs, carryovers and legal fees. It also approved refinancing the TIF's bonds and closing debt funds, and took up two service-tenant agreements under the redevelopment agreement. Some agreement payments used the General Fund instead. No extension appears; staff described the district as ending, with final agreement payments due December 2028.
