We’ve got additional details on the Carmi Revolving Loan Closeout. After visiting with Mayor Jeff Pollard, we learned that last year, the State of Illinois made the decision to close out all partner loan programs with municipalities. The total amount of Principal owed on the 9 active loans at the time of action was $530,805.26. The amount in the Revolving Loan Fund Checking Account was $231,670.76. At the time, the state had approved the city’s grant for a Marguerite Street sewer project valued at $100,000 but city officials said the state wouldn’t release those funds unless and until the city closed out the loan program and submitted the funds. Buying out the 9 existing loans makes the city the owner of them. Payments and the authority to collect them becomes Carmi’s responsibility.
Those 9 active loans are to:
CARS (Certified Automotive Repair Specialists)
Gillard’s True Value Hardware
L&L Industrial
Lees Enterprises (Carmi Crossings Plaza Strip Mall)
HJP Properties (Taco Factory)
Joyful Start Children’s Center
Keller’s Landscaping
Harm’s Construction
Seiler Electric & Heating
Carmi is submitting to the State of Illinois $762,476.02 which will in turn be granted back to the city. The funds received from the state will be utilized to match the EDA Grant for the reconstruction of Industrial Avenue from Highway 1 to College Blvd and also a waste water treatment sludge beds upgrade. The total potential benefit in buying out the loans, Pollard expects, will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 million dollars. Instead of cashing in CDs, the city has decided to borrow against it in order to come up with the buyout funds. Pollard expects to refinance that loan in 2 years time.
