An Important Message About COVID-19
Dear Resident and Neighbor,

I pray that you and your family are doing well during this difficult time in our City. 

Below you will find resources regarding local businesses, employment, benefits and financial assistance for those most affected by COVID-19.

Through the Stay-At-Home Order, my office is still working on delivering city services and is available to answer your calls and e-mails remotely.


In these uncertain times, I want you to know that I will be there for you and together, we are taking the necessary steps to mitigate the spread of this virus.

Please stay safe, remain calm, and remember that this too shall pass.

Very truly yours,

Stephanie D. Coleman
Alderman, 16th Ward
Temporary Suspension of Debt Collection, Ticketing and Towing Practices

This penalty relief package directs a temporary suspension of late fees and defaults on payment plans, including city tickets, utility bills, parking and red-light citations, booting and other non-public safety relates violations. Additionally, there will be no new interest accumulated on current compliance plans.

These measures represent the first steps of the administration's efforts to help reduce the financial impact of COVID-19 on city residents and take effect immediately today through April 30, 2020.  Other financial relief efforts include:

Ticket Issuance
  • Enforcement will be prioritized for safety-related violations.
  • Enforcement on compliance-related violations will be suspended until April 30, 2020

Parking, Red Light, Speed Camera Violation Collections
  • Delay assessment of penalty (ticket doubling) until after April 30, 2020 
  • Delay driver’s license suspension until after April 30, 2020
  • No Booting until after April 30, 2020
  • Delay referral of tickets to collection firms until after April 30, 2020
  • No defaults of payment plans for until after April 30, 2020 

Utility Bills
  • Extend due dates until after April 30, 2020 delaying assessment of penalties
  • Delay referrals to collection firms until after April 30, 2020
  • No defaults of payment plans until after April 30, 2020

  Administrative Hearing Collections
  • Extend due dates until after April 30, 2020 (this will delay assessment of interest)
  • Delay referrals to collection firms until after April 30, 2020
  • No defaults of payment plans until after April 30, 202

Other Collection Efforts
  • Extend deadline for TNP and taxi drivers to pay debt to April 30
  • No debt holds on new licenses or permits
Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund

The Chicago Small Business Resiliency Loan Fund is a partnership with the City, the Chicago Community Catalyst Fund, and other private sponsors. The new fund is a $100M economic relief package to support Chicago's small businesses that are experiencing a temporary loss of revenue as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak .

Loan applications will be administered through our Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) partners, beginning on March 31, 2020.

The loan terms will follow the guidelines below:
1) Repayment Term: Low-interest loans for a term of up to 5 years
2) Loan Amount: Up to $50K
3) Loan Proceeds: Proceeds are required to be used for working capital

Elgiblity Requirements
• Suffered more than 25% revenue decrease due to COVID-19
• Employ fewer than 50 employees and gross revenues of less than $3M in 2019
• Provide a City business address or City business license
• No pre-existing tax liens or legal judgments 

Utility Resources

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced that the federal income   tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020.


COMED

  • Disconnections suspended 

  • Waiving new late payment thru May 1, 2020

  • CUSTOMER SERVICE (800) 334-7661 | Mon - Fri 7am -7pm

PEOPLES GAS

  • Safety comes first – We are rescheduling non-emergency appointments and will reach out to our customers at a later time to reschedule.

  • Shutoffs suspended – We suspended shutoffs for residential and business customers, unless unsafe conditions exist, to ensure the safety of our customers and employees. This is effective until this health crisis is behind us.

  • Late payment charges waived – We understand that some of our customers will face financial hardships due to the spread of COVID-19. We are now waiving new late payment charges.

  • Bill payment arrangement options and financial assistance – If customers are having difficulty paying their bill, we will work with them to arrange a payment plan or discuss financial assistance options. Customers can find additional information on our website

  • CUSTOMER SERVICE (866) 556-6001


COMCAST / XFINITY

  • Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots and then launch a browser.

  • Pausing Our Data Plan: With so many people working and educating from home, we want our customers to access the internet without thinking about data plans. While the vast majority of our customers do not come close to using 1TB of data in a month, we are pausing our data plans for 60 days giving all customers Unlimited data for no additional charge.

  • No Disconnects or Late Fees: We will not disconnect a customer’s internet service or assess late fees if they contact us and let us know that they can’t pay their bills during this period. Our care teams will be available to offer flexible payment options and can help find other solutions.

  • Internet Essentials Free to New Customers: As announced yesterday, it’s even easier for low-income families who live in a Comcast service area to sign-up for Internet Essentials, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program. New customers will receive 60 days of complimentary Internet Essentials service, which is normally available to all qualified low-income households for $9.95/month. Additionally, for all new and existing Internet Essentials customers, the speed of the program’s Internet service was increased to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. That increase will go into effect for no additional fee and it will become the new base speed for the program going forward.

  • News, Information and Educational Content on X1: For those with school-age students at home, we’ve created new educational collections for all grade levels in partnership with Common Sense Media. Just say “education” into your X1 or Flex voice remote. To help keep customers informed, we also have created a collection of the most current news and information on Coronavirus. Just say “Coronavirus” into your X1 or Flex voice remote.

Loans for Small Businesses

After submitting documentation demonstrating the impact of COVID-19 on more than 3,000 businesses across the state, Gov. Pritzker announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved the state's eligibility for disaster assistance loans for small businesses facing financial hardship in all 102 counties due to COVID-19.

Eligible businesses can apply for up to $2 million in low-interest loans at:  https://disasterloan.sba.gov.
New Positions Being Offered
Essential Services
Additional Opportunities
Alderman Coleman and the 16th Ward Office has no jurisdiction over the hiring process for any of the employment opportunities listed in this newsletter.
The information contained in this email is intended to be informative as a constituent service only.

Illinois Deparment of Employment Security
Unemployment insurance is a state-operated insurance program designed to partially replace lost wages when you are out of work. Like fire, accident, health, and other types of insurance, it is for an emergency, such as when you are temporarily or permanently out of a job, or if you work less than full time because of lack of work.
Assuming that you meet all eligibility requirements, this program ensures that you will have some income while you are looking for a job. You may receive up to 26 full weeks in a one-year period, depending on when the claim was​ established. Unemployment insurance, however, cannot and does not protect you against wage losses while you are absent from work due to illness or while you are idle by choice.  For more information visit IDES .
16TH WARD SERVICE OFFICE
5411 S. Ashland Ave • Chicago, Illinois 60609 • Tel 773-306-1981