LEGISLATIVE UPDATE AND COMMUNITY NEWS

Military Tax Assistance Program

Tax season will soon be here and CPAs for the Public Interest will again provide free tax assistance and guidance to immediate families of deployed military members. CPAs for the Public Interest is committed to serving those who serve us by providing this valuable service to military families.

With the largest call-up of the Illinois National Guard since World War II, this service is even more important to Illinois citizen soldiers and their families. The Society has worked closely with Illinois Army and Air National Guard family support coordinators in ensuring the widest possible dissemination of this program to members of the National Guard. They have also notified family support centers and legal offices at active duty bases in Illinois and military support organizations.

Eligible military members and their families should contact Jill Wiles, Community Service Manager for the Illinois CPA Society at: (800) 993-0407 (ext. 277).

Home Finance Program Offered through Treasurer

A homeownership initiative is being offered through the State of Illinois Treasurer's Office that is designed to assist low to moderate-income families in qualifying for sustainable financing in the purchase or refinance of an owner-occupied, primary residence. The Finally Home Program is being offered in conjunction with participating financial institutions throughout Illinois.

The program offers a five-year, 10 percent mortgage guarantee to the participating (non-predatory) lending institutions, allowing families to purchase a home or refinance a home loan due to an ARM reset or other financial hardships as defined by state statute. The following is a list of eligibility requirements for the Finally Home Program:

• You must be an Illinois resident and documented Illinois income taxpayer.
• The home must be a one-to-four-unit owner occupied property in Illinois that will serve as your primary residence.
• Your combined household income may not exceed 115 percent of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) median family income for the area in which your home is located. This limit is based on the number of people in your home and is updated annually.
• The price of your home cannot exceed the conforming loan size limits as established by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). This figure is updated annually.
• If you are purchasing a home, you must be unable to meet your lender's conventional mortgage guidelines due to a high debt-to-income ratio, credit score, or other factors.
• If refinancing, you must be at risk of missing or have missed a mortgage payment due to an ARM reset or as defined by statute.

   Road Construction Updates

North & Central Tri-State I-294/I-94 Update

Begun in 2006, the North and Central Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294) Rebuild & Widen Projects, which encompass interstate highway from Balmoral Avenue north up to the Wisconsin state line, have been completed. As many of you may have noticed while driving, this considerable stretch of interstate highway is now four lanes in each direction completing the corridor’s improvements. 

North Tri-State I-294/I-94 Grand Avenue Bridge Update

Bridge work at Grand Avenue is complete and all lanes on Grand Avenue are open.  Work is still continuing on the mainline Tri-State Tollway widening and reconstruction between Half Day Road and Stearns School Road.

Route 45 Construction

The Illinois Department of Transportation is currently engaged in the reconstruction of 1.5 miles of U.S. Route 45 from Illinois Route 120 to Illinois Route 137.

The $11 million project includes reconstruction of the existing two-lane highway to a four-lane divided highway with traffic signal modernization at U.S. Route 45 and Casey Road to address the frequency of accidents and general traffic congestion occuring at this intersection.

Project completion is slated for the end of the 2010 construction season.

Building demolition and removal at the southeast corner of Route 45 and Gages Lake Road is also scheduled to begin in November, 2009, and to be completed in December, 2009.  This is in anticipation of future road improvements to U.S. Route 45 in this area.

Local Road Updates

In November 2009, the Illinois Department of Transportation is expected to begin widening Washington Street from 2 through lanes to 5 lanes, adding curb and gutter, storm sewers, traffic signals and interconnect improvements starting east of Cemetery Road to west of Milwaukee Avenue (east of Six Flags Drive) and 350 feet of Tri-State Parkway in Gurnee.  Completion is expected in November, 2010.

Other scheduled reconstruction includes: Cemetery Road from south of Washington Street to the Tri-State Parkway, from west of Cemetery Road to east of Cemetery Road, the Tri-State Parkway from east of Cemetery Road to south of IL 132 (Grand Avenue) and traffic signals at the Cemetery Road and Washington Street intersection in Gurnee.  Estimated start date is December, 2009.  Estimated completion date is November, 2010.