State Provides Funding For Rantoul Mortgages By JERRY COSENTINO, Illinois State Treasurer

The truly gratifying experiences of serving as state Treasurer are realized when our office has the opportunity of helping citizens who have run out of answers to their problems.

Such is the case with our newest Linked Deposit for the Village of Rantoul. Through an expansion of the Treasurer's Linked Deposit Program, our office has embarked on a $2 million program to provide low-interest mortgage money for the Rantoul housing market.

The Rantoul area has been devastated by the announcement that the U.S. will close the Chanute Air Force Base by 1998. The air base is one of Champaign County's largest employers with 5,000 jobs.

Through Linked Deposits, the Treasurer uses his discretionary investment powers to boost communities in economic development and emergency and disaster assistance.

It is the moral duty of government to provide help to those who are in need, to those who have exhausted all other means of helping themselves. Such is the situation that now exists in the Village of Rantoul.

The scheduled shutdown of the Chanute Air Force Base is nothing short of an economic catastrophe for the residents of not only Rantoul, but for all of Champaign County. We were approached early in the spring by two financial institutions in the Rantoul area and asked if the housing industry there qualified for assistance through the Linked Deposit Program.

Our staff was able to quickly research the Rantoul housing situation and compare it to other mortgage assistance programs funded through Linked Deposit.

The Linked Deposit Program has enabled our office to use investment funds to directly benefit communities throughout Illinois. By using money that otherwise would be invested in time deposits and other standard certificates, we have been able to create thousands of jobs for Illinois, help rehabilitate neighborhoods and assist our agricultural community's production efforts.

By providing low-interest housing money for home buyers in the Rantoul area, the Linked Deposit Program can provide a measure of economic relief for the area.

As is the case with all of our Linked Deposits, the state earns the highest available interest on the deposits but the borrowers are still able to get the lowest possible rates on the loans.

The project will provide residential real estate loans within the Village of Rantoul corporate limits. Individual loans will be limited to $100,000 or less. Loans will be secured with a first mortgage and no refinancing of current residences will be allowed. Interest rates charged for the first three years will be 1.5 percent over the interest costs linked to the deposit. No fees will be charged by the banks.

Since the scheduled closing of the Chanute Air Force Base was announced in 1988, the residential housing market has been significantly depressed. However, local officials believe our program can revitalize the market.

Local bankers, village officials and realtors believe a below-market interest rate mortgage program will help stimulate the market by enhancing the remaining economic base and prevent further deterioration in market values.

A revitalized housing market will buoy community spirit and positively focus the energy of Rantoul's citizens.

I publicly stated in announcing the low-interest mortgage program that if it proves successful, I stand prepared to invest even more public funds for home buyers in Rantoul. Government should work for the people who fuel it. This is a good example of making government funds work for the people who pay the freight.

Anyone interested in information about the Linked Deposit Program should contact the Treasurer's Chicago Office at 312/814-3571. •

October 1990 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 7