Approximately 17 Coles County residents attended Monday’s town hall meeting to get information about financial relief for weather related damages.

The Illinois State Treasurer’s office organized the event in the Coles County Courthouse in Charleston and Field Operations Manager Julie Vahling was the delegated official.

She explained how to apply for two possible loan programs worth up to $100,000 to aid in weather related damages.

Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, and Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, were also in attendance to support Vahling and provide clarification for their constituents.

“The program itself is always available throughout the state of Illinois to respond to a disaster,” Rose said.

However, this is the first time the program has been offered for flood damage in this area, Rose continued.

Vahling’s initially asked who in the audience were farmers, but no one raised their hand. She said other residents affected by the storms might not have been informed of the town hall meeting because damages may have caused computer accessibility to be limited. Newspaper and city Web sites posted various articles and notices about the times and places of the town hall meetings

Many residents in attendance were concerned that cleaning up their property would jeopardize their chances of getting a loan.

Vahling emphasized repeatedly to make sure pictures are taken to document the damages. She told residents to keep lists of where damaged property has been relocated in case assessors from the bank want verification.

A loan will only be given for the “estimated cost and repairs for recovery,” Vahling said.

A member of the audience explained how his family had to remove several inches of mud from his garage so they could live in it because the house is uninhabitable.

He was concerned that bank assessors would not arrive before more repairs are made and that an assessment would not reflect the initial damages.

Residents must apply for the loan from a participating bank. Only two banks in Coles County work with the treasurer’s office.

First Mid-Illinois Bank and Trust in Mattoon and Charleston is one of the possible lenders and Federal Savings and Loan in Charleston is the other.

Another audience member said his family has completely moved out of their home and plans to rebuild a house somewhere else in the county. He continued to express a concern about his bad credit and how he fears a bank may not give him a loan.

According to Vahling, if applicants do not qualify for a loan, then there are state grants that can be applied for. State grants are not guaranteed either.

If residents are awarded with grant money and receive a state loan, they would need to put the grant money toward the loan, Vahling said.

Only residents of a county that has been declared a disaster area can apply for the loans. Governor Rod Blagojevich declared Coles County a disaster area on June 10.

Residents have within 90 days to apply from when the area was declared a disaster area.

The loan amount depends on what the financial institution has approved. The program does not guarantee a loan. Vahling and Rose said the state is offering an unlimited amount of disaster relief money in total for effected areas.

The state deposits taxpayer’s money into the banks to insure payments. The funds given are then “guaranteed by the bank to be returned to the state of Illinois,” Vahling said.

Ashlei Maltman can be reached at 581-7942 or at anmaltman@eiu.edu.

Field Operations Manager of the State Treasurer Julie Vahling speaks to Charleston residents about possible loans that are available to them to help repair the damages incurred during the storms over the past weeks at the Charleston courthouse Monday even

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