The Village of Orland Park is a home rule municipality, created under the provisions of the laws of the State of Illinois, and is operating as a Trustee-Village municipality provided under the Illinois Municipal Code.

In addition to the Trustee-Village governmental system, the Village previously adopted a "statutory manager" form of municipal government, also known as an Article 5 form of government, because certain aspects of governance are controlled by Article 5 of the Illinois Municipal Code which establishes the statutory duties of the manager and restricts the administrative duties of the elected officials. 

At the January 16, 2023 Village Board of Trustees Meeting, the Village Board passed an Ordinance which initiated a referendum, to be submitted to the voters of the Village, on the question of whether the Village should retain this manager form of municipal government.

Click here to view the January 16 Orland Park Village Board Meeting.

Click here to read the agenda from the January 16 meeting.

THE SPECIFIC WORDING OF THE REFERENDUM QUESTION WAS TAKEN VERBATIM FROM THE ILLINOIS STATUTE AND IS AS FOLLOWS:

"Shall the Village of Orland Park retain the managerial form of municipal government?"

IF a majority of the voters of the Village of Orland Park vote that the Village of Orland Park should retain the managerial form of municipal government, then the "statutory manager" form of government will remain in place.

IF a majority of the voters of the Village of Orland Park vote that the Village of Orland Park should not retain the statutory manager form of municipal government, the Village may still employ an appointed professional manager to run the day-to-day operations of the Village.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STATUTORY MANAGER FORM OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT AND A NON-STATUTORY MANAGER FORM OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT:

A village operating under the statutory manager form of government operates with a board of trustees which performs a purely legislative function and restricts the administrative duties of elected officials. The board of trustees appoints a village manager, who acts as the administrative head of the municipal government. The duties of chief executive officer which are accorded by statute to the mayor no longer devolve to this elected official in the statutory manager form of government.

Thus, in a statutory manager community, a number of powers reserved to the mayors are transferred by operation of law to the manager. For example:

*NOTE: ADVICE AND CONSENT OF THE BOARD MEANS A MAJORITY OF THE BOARD MUST APPROVE THE ACTION.

While there are many communities that utilize a manager or administrator, only a municipality that has approved a manager form of government by referendum has a true statutory manager form of government under Article 5. There are, however, many municipalities that have a municipal manager or administrator but have not adopted an Article 5 statutory manager form of government by referendum. In this case, some of the basic tenets of the managerial form have instead been adopted on a voluntary basis as an overlay on the existing form of government through an ordinance or ordinances adopted by the elected officials.

LIST OF VILLAGES IN CHICAGO'S SOUTHWEST SUBURBS WITH A VILLAGE/TRUSTEE FORM OF GOVERNMENT WITH A NON-STATUTORY MANAGER/ADMINISTRATOR:

• TINLEY PARK
• LEMONT
• MOKENA
• FRANKFORT
• HOMER GLEN
• ALSIP
• CHICAGO RIDGE
• EVERGREEN PARK
• JUSTICE
• MERRIONETTE PARK
• ORLAND HILLS

LIST OF VILLAGES IN CHICAGO'S SOUTHWEST SUBURBS WITH A VILLAGE TRUSTEE/STATUTORY MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT:

• OAK LAWN
• ORLAND PARK