Category: News
Elgin News Digest: Elgin Public Museum reopens Sunday with new exhibits; Carpentersville promotes Kevin Stankowitz to police chief
Elgin Public Museum reopens Sunday with new exhibits
After a month’s closure for cleaning, rearranging exhibits and creating new ones, Elgin Public Museum will reopen to the public on Sunday, Feb. 1.
Museum officials say there will be long-unseen items from its collection put on display in new glass cases purchased with a grant from the Seigle Foundation, according to a social media post.
New exhibits on Native American basketry, Elgin’s Jewish community and items seized at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport will open, the children’s discovery room has been refreshed, and a new scavenger hunt for kids is available, the post said.
The museum, located at 225 Grand Blvd. in Lords Park, is open from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children ages 3 to 12 and adults over 65, and free for children younger than 3 and anyone with an Elgin Township Senior Pass.
Kevin Stankowitz has been appointed the new chief of the Carpentersville Police Department. He’s been with the department for more than 20 years. (Carpentersville Police Department)
Carpentersville promotes Kevin Stankowitz to police chief
Kevin Stankowitz, a longtime veteran of the Carpentersville Police Department, will succeed Todd Shaver as its new chief.
Stankowitz began joined the department in 2003 as a community service officer and was sworn in as a police officer in 2004, according to the village. After starting in patrol, he went on to serve in the gang and drug units and was promoted to sergeant in 2016, commander in 2021 and deputy chief in 2023.
When Shaver retired in December, Stankowitz was named interim chief.
Stankowitz has received multiple honors, including Kane County Officer of the Year in 2019. He has a master’s degree in public safety from the University of Virginia and is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command and the FBI National Academy.
LWV holding primary candidate forums on Feb. 5 and 11
The League of Women Voters of Central Kane County is conducting public forums for county, state and federal candidates running in the March 17 primary.
Candidates for Kane County Sheriff and Kane County Board seats in districts 2, 11 and 13 have been invited to an event at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5. A second forum for those running for Illinois Senate District 33 and U.S. House District 11 will be at at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Both will be held at Batavia City Hall, 100 N. Island Ave., Batavia.
A trained member of the League of Women Voters will lead the forums, a news release said. Questions can be submitted in writing before and during the event, with LWV members selecting those that will be asked.
The forums will be streamed live at www.youtube.com/user/BATV1017, where the recordings will remain available through the election season. They can also be viewed at lwvckcil.com/candidate-issue-forum.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/27/elgin-museum-carpentersville-chief-lwv-candidate/
Indiana Senate sends library budgets bill onto House
An Indiana Senate bill that would shift how library budgets are approved has passed and moved to the House.
State senators passed Senate Bill 8 — authored by state Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrnesville — on its third reading Monday. The bill applies to libraries that don’t elect the majority of their board members, and would require a county, city or town fiscal body to review the proposed budget and property tax levy of a public library.
“Libraries are one of the only taxing units that can have a board containing a majority of unelected board members and impose a tax,” Byrne said during Monday’s session. “I believe that all units with power should be made by elected officials. This bill doesn’t get there all the way, but it puts some parameters in place.”
Byrne’s bill passed in a 31-13 vote, and state Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, will be the House sponsor. Senate Bill 8 passed with no discussion.
The bill would shift the review and approval of a library’s proposed budget and tax levies to the city, town or county council if the budget has an increase that is equal to or more than 50% of the maximum growth quotient for the upcoming year, Byrne said.
Byrne previously claimed that, as of Jan. 1, 2025, public libraries had an outstanding debt of $367.6 million and $59 million in debt payments due that year, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Julie Wendorf, director of the Crown Point Community Library and past president of the Indiana Library Foundation, previously testified against the bill, saying the changes are concerning and could lead to insufficient funding in a shorter period of time.
“Public libraries are not abstract budget lines,” Wendorf said. “They are community anchors. When funding becomes unstable, services are reduced, hours are cut and access is lost. (Senate Bill 8) does not strengthen libraries — it introduces instability.”
Lake County Public Library Executive Director Carol Daumer Gutjahr responded to Senate Bill 8 in a previous statement, saying the current budget adoption process for the library system works well.
“…there is existing oversight from the county council as, in addition to appointing library board members, the council has the ability to review and interrogate our annual budget recommendation,” Daumer Gutjahr said. “The Department of Local Government Finance has additional oversight and the State Board of Accounts conducts regular audits to ensure accountability, maintain internal controls, and confirm that the tax dollars entrusted to LCPL are used appropriately.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/27/indiana-senate-sends-library-budgets-bill-onto-house/
South Shore Line’s West Lake Corridor start set for mid-March
St. Patrick’s Day has been chosen as the tentative date for a ribbon-cutting for the South Shore Line’s new West Lake Corridor route.
The route, to be called the Monon Corridor, will transport riders between the Hammond Gateway station in north Hammond and Dyer. The east-west route that South Shore trains have followed for more than a century will be referred to as the Lakeshore route.
“I can’t think of a better St. Patrick’s Day celebration than to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony,” Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District President and General Manager Mike Noland told the NICTD board Monday.
Service along that north-south route has been delayed about a year and a half, most recently because of malfunctioning transformers, he said.
Three of the four transformers that power the electric trains on the new stretch of tracks failed, apparently because moisture got inside, he said.
Meanwhile, the railroad is using two transformers – one the railroad had on hand for a replacement and a Frankenstein one cobbled together out of pieces and parts the manufacturer had available – to get the testing and commissioning work done while waiting on the new transformers to be installed.
The new ones are due by the end of February, Noland said. “We’ll hook them up, we’ll test them, and we’ll be ready to go.”
“That’s the only thing left, is getting those replacement transformers to show up,” he said.
The transformers designed for the Monon Corridor route were different from the ones used for the Lakeshore Corridor. The Monon Corridor work is being done as a design/build project by the contractor, FH Paschen Ragnar Benson.
Noland said litigation over the malfunctioning transformers is possible. The railroad would try to recoup its costs, including the 77 employees hired for the new service who are on the payroll long before revenue service can begin.
“We’re finding things for them to do. We’re using them on the main line and we’re keeping them in training,” Noland said.
The railroad plans to operate 28 trains a day on weekdays and 29 trains a day on weekends and holidays. During weekday morning rush hours, five trains will skip the Hammond Gateway station and take riders to Millennium Station. The process will be reversed during weekday afternoon rush hours.
At the Munster/Dyer station, on the border between the two towns, the NICTD board decided Monday to add emergency access points into the west parking lot in case the main entrance via a CSX viaduct is ever blocked.
Residents had argued against allowing access through their neighborhoods, so the secondary access will be for emergency use only. Bollards will be placed and locked, with keys available to town and railroad police. Pedestrians and bike riders will still be able to get through.
As the railroad prepares for the new Monon Corridor service to begin, Director of Capital Investment and Implementation Nicole Barker has been busy getting marketing materials and other essential work done.
“This is the first line where people will actually have to transfer,” she said, so the railroad has to explain how it all works. There will be rack cards handed out on trains and at stations with a QR code for more information online.
The timetable is ready to go to print, awaiting a final selection of dates. Ticket vending machines had to be updated and tickets redesigned, too.
As additional questions come in, the railroad is adding to the FAQ section online.
An informational video about how to ride will be Noland’s final video. His last day is March 16, before the ribbon-cutting. David Dech, with more than 30 years of railroading experience, was hired Monday to replace him.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Government Steams Towards Partial Shutdown Amid Democrat Demands Over ICE
Government Steams Towards Partial Shutdown Amid Democrat Demands Over ICE
As a Friday deadline approaches for a partial government shutdown, Republicans are backed into a corner following national uproar over two deadly ICE shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis amid growing concern over the agency’s tactics.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) plans to move forward with a six-bill spending package, which includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which runs ICE. Democrats are insisting that R’s drop the DHS language from the package, however Republicans are refusing to do so.
The House-passed bill would allocate another $10 billion for ICE on top of the $76 billion the agency is already slated to receive over four years from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law last year.
Right now Trump is focusing on “de-escalatory measures,” as one administration official tells Punchbowl News. To that end, the admin has already demoted Gregory Bovino, the CBP official in charge of Minneapolis operations – who’s been replaced by border czar Tom Homan. Trump also spoke by phone with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday. Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee after months of refusing to do so. According to Punchbowl, Noem “has a real problem on both sides of the aisle on the Hill,” and her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, met with Trump for two hours on Monday night.
Polymarket odds of a shutdown by Jan. 31 (Saturday) are now hovering around 79%.
Democrats Are Still A No
Senate Democrats – who are vowing to block the funding if it includes the DHS language, say the proposals being floated the the White House and Senate Republicans are unrealistic, and they’re a ‘no’ until they see significant reforms to the conduct of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis and other cities – including prohibiting them from wearing masks during federal operations and requiring judicial search warrants before entering a suspect’s home.
On Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that Democrats will gladly speed through procedural obstacles to pass the funding package as long as it doesn’t include DHS funding.
“If [Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)] puts those five bills on the floor this week, we can pass them right away. If not, Republicans will again be responsible for another government shutdown,” said Schumer.
Of note, stripping the DHS / ICE funding from the FY2026 package would require a new vote in the House, which is on recess this week – so there would be a short-term shutdown at minimum.
GOP congressional leaders and the White House are desperate to avoid a scenario in which the funding package has to go back to the House, which explains their opposition to splitting off the DHS bill.
Here’s the concern gripping the top levels of the Trump administration — the House simply can’t pass another DHS funding bill under any circumstances.
Even if Trump were to cut a deal with Democrats that can get through the Senate, House Republicans believe they can’t round up 218 votes to pass a rule to get it on the House floor. Or alternatively, find 290 lawmakers willing to pass it under suspension of the rules. Republicans just don’t believe there’s a coalition in the House that can pass another DHS bill.
That’s why Trump has been focused on “de-escalatory measures,” as one administration official told us, a first step toward placating Democrats. –Punchbowl News
The Senate is expected to hold an initial vote to advance the package on Thursday, the day before Friday’s deadline.
Republican Lawmakers Scramble
Following the incidents in Minnesota, Republican lawmakers in both chambers began calling for a thorough investigation into Saturday’s shooting, and have asked the Trump administration to immediately ease tensions in Minneapolis.
“If I were President Trump, I would almost think about, ‘OK, if the mayor and the governor are going to put our ICE officials in harm’s way and there’s a chance of losing more innocent lives, then maybe go to another city,” said Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in a Sunday comment to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called for “everyone” to “ratchet the anger down,” while noting that the two US citizens “who have been killed in confrontations with law enforcement” were “from all appearances … not violent criminals,” The Hill notes.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sent letters to the heads of CBP, ICE, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday calling on them to testify on Feb. 12 before his committee.
How Far Will Dems Push?
While Democrats currently appear to have the upper hand in this fight, Punchbowl asks how far should they push it? While specific targeted policy changes and reforms are likely to gain traction with the White House – which is desperate to get past the moment, calls to “abolish ICE” will be ignored.
There’s also the obvious risk for Democrats: The political fallout from triggering a partial government shutdown just a couple of months after instigating a record 43-day funding lapse. And for DHS, this would hit FEMA at a time when much of the country is dealing with the aftermath of a severe winter storm. The Coast Guard and TSA are under DHS too. Plus, ICE would be funded anyway because of the cash infusion it got from the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill last year. -Punchbowl
Then there’s the Pentagon, Labor, Transportation, and HUD departments which would be directly affected by the shutdown. The risk for Democrats is that Trump makes concessions on ICE but Democrats continue to ‘resist.’
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/27/2026 – 14:20
Oak Lawn promotes two police officers, sets funding for 95th Street lights
Stephen Scannell and Nick Kunke were sworn in as patrol sergeant and lieutenant, respectively, for the Oak Lawn Police Department during Tuesday’s Village Board meeting.
The promotions come as Division Chief Patrick Curran prepares to retire after 28 years of service.
Scannell has been with the force 18 years, working in the patrol and the tech division. Kunke has worked with the department for 20 years in the patrol and the detective division.
95th Street upgrades
The board unanimously also approved a funding agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation and authorized the use of local grant funds for the 95th Street Downtown Street Lighting Upgrades.
The upgrades will be made along the U.S. Route 20 from 69th Avenue to 54th Avenue and from Cicero Avenue to Pulaski Road.
A $722,000 grant will help fund changes to the outdated lightposts that need to be installed with LED lights.
New light will use Energy Star-rated LED technology which will reduce energy costs, improve visibility and safety and ensure faster and more reliable maintenance, according to the assistant village manager Jerry Dillon.
Cam’ron Hardy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/27/oak-lawn-police-promotions/
Assessor candidates spar over property tax donations, competence
In an often-heated session with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board, the Democratic candidates for Cook County Assessor this week hurled accusations about their each others’ character, competence, and plans for the office.
Incumbent two-term Assessor Fritz Kaegi and challenger Pat Hynes met for an endorsement session Monday afternoon, hours after Kaegi highlighted donations Hynes accepted from property tax attorneys Hynes responded that Kaegi had also taken thousands from real estate investors and developers.
The office assigns property values to 1.8 million parcels across Cook County. In recent years, Kaegi has pledged to level the playing field by raising assessments on commercial properties that were too low, or as a prior Tribune investigation found, were unchanged for several years. Over his last two terms, he’s earned the ire of some large developers and members of the county’s Board of Review, who say he has overshot his estimates and sowed instability.
Kaegi, a former investment portfolio manager, has largely been able to self-fund his campaigns. Recent tax returns show he has at times netted six-figure gains from personal investments. That personal wealth has allowed him to do without contributions from attorneys specializing in property tax appeals seeking assessment reductions from his office or at the Board of Review.
“They want to bring back pay-to-play in this office,” Kaegi said, noting he’d sworn off such donations since 2018, and that the county’s inspector general had flagged the contributions as ethically problematic years ago. “It did so much damage to our system. It did so much damage to the perceptions of taxpayers.”
Since June, Hynes has accepted nearly $90,000 from property tax firms and attorneys and nearly $13,000 from property tax appraisers, who offer property valuation reports for attorneys filing appeals.
Hynes, the current Lyons Township Assessor who previously worked in the Cook County Assessor’s Office under Kaegi, called the “pay-to-play” accusations “ridiculous.”
“Property tax appeal attorneys have had more to lose by supporting a challenger to an incumbent assessor than anyone,” Hynes said.
He said they are supporting him because the unpredictability of Kaegi’s assessments is hurting new development. Kaegi’s failure to account for new construction and update the tax rolls was also shifting the tax burden to other property owners, Hynes said. Even the property characteristics for the Pope’s suburban home were incorrect, he noted.
The Tribune and Illinois Answers Project tallied $444 million in property value that Kaegi had not added to the rolls in August of 2024, including new construction and renovations.
The office has since added most of those properties back and pledged reforms to better capture permits that should trigger fresh inspections. Kaegi argued missing those properties had a negligible impact on other residents’ bills — “about two bucks,” he estimated — and that under-assessments of big commercial buildings “is a far larger problem.”
Kaegi highlighted his work improving fairness in residential assessments and improving the accuracy of assessments for businesses, apartment buildings, and offices.
A study comparing sales prices to assessments found Kaegi had initially overshot commercial assessments in the south suburbs in 2020 and the city in 2021, but that appeals to his office or the Board of Review had brought them closer to the mark. North suburban assessments were lower than their sales prices across the board in 2022.
Hynes countered that Kaegi’s criticism was hypocritical because he accepted donations from other real estate interests, including development firms and real estate investors like Jerry Reinsdorf and Joe Mansueto.
“My record is very clear. I have a 30-year record of tenacious taxpayer advocacy. I’m doing this to keep the taxpayers front and center in the work that I do,” Hynes said, “and I will not involve any pay-to-play or any of that other nonsense. It’s insulting.”
Kaegi shot back that the unit Hynes worked in — field inspections — “was one of the least accountable patronage havens in our office. And I think it’s very telling that he doesn’t even admit that it’s wrong” to take donations from property tax attorneys.
Hynes said he made numerous objections to Kaegi’s work while still at the office and after leaving, worked to compile missed properties and add ones from Lyons township back on the county’s rolls. Hynes conceded Joe Berrios, Kaegi’s predecessor, “had no earthly idea what he was doing,” but said Kaegi dismantled systems in the office that had worked well decades before.
The COVID adjustment Kaegi instituted to reduce residential assessments both went against best practices and caused huge spikes in assessments in later years, Hynes said. He argued that assessments of South and West Side communities like North Lawndale and West Englewood, later leading to massive bill spikes, were evidence of Kaegi’s problematic practices.
Kaegi said those assessments were accurate and reflective of sales activity there. A Tribune and Illinois Answers Project analysis did show rising sales prices and evidence of some speculative investment in neighborhoods like West Englewood and North Lawndale, where housing costs are among the lowest in the city.
Hynes echoed skepticism among residents about their property values. In discussions with taxpayers in North Lawndale, Hynes said “I asked them, ‘Can you sell your house for three times as much as you could have three years ago? Can you sell your house for twice as much as you could have three years ago?’ And if the answer is no, you need a new Cook County assessor.”
Kaegi said bills only hit those neighborhoods as hard as they did because of massive drops in commercial assessments downtown granted by the county’s Board of Review. “It is a fact that cuts to commercial assessments shifted half a billion dollars of levies onto homeowners, which translates to about $700 per Chicago homeowner, which constitutes almost the entire increase that was felt in neighborhoods like Englewood, Austin and South Shore.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/27/assessor-candidates-property-tax-donations/
Glencoe spends $1.75 million to renovate Council Chambers, public safety quarters
After more than a year of renovations, the second floor of the Glencoe Village Hall — including the council chambers — has reopened.
Glencoe trustees held their first board meeting in the renovated space at Village Hall on Jan. 15, marking a return to the village hall chambers after work that began in October 2024.
“It’s wonderful to be back in this room again,” Village Manager Phil Kiraly said during the meeting.
Kiraly noted the project marked the first major renovation of the council chambers in more than 35 years. The building itself is approximately 70 years old.
Highlights of the upgrade include new lighting, furniture, enhanced sound equipment and improvements to the HVAC system.
“It feels like a place where a public meeting should happen,” Kiraly said in an interview after the meeting.
“It’s bright, it’s comfortable, and you can see what is being presented from the dais. It’s a much more hospitable space.”
Kiraly said the chambers can now also be used as an emergency operations center and for other training purposes.
The work was completed as part of a two-phase project that also included renovations to living quarters and locker rooms used by village public safety personnel (firefighters and police) on the second floor of the building, adjacent to the chambers.
The Village of Glencoe renovated its Council Chambers, adding new lighting, furniture, enhanced sound equipment and improvements to the HVAC system, as of January 2026. It also made renovations to the second-floor living quarters for public safety employees. (Village of Glencoe)
During that phase, the council chambers were temporarily converted into a sleeping space for approximately nine months.
Kiraly said the project experienced some delays due to incorrect measurements during construction, pushing completion back by a couple of months.
The renovation cost $1.725 million paid for through the village’s general fund, village officials said.
The January board meeting was not livestreamed, but Kiraly said new website technology is expected to be in place for the February meeting, allowing meetings to be broadcast live. Recordings of board meetings will continue to be posted on YouTube.
In addition to the village board, the plan commission and zoning board of appeals also use the chambers. While renovations were ongoing, most village board meetings were held at the Takiff Center, the Glencoe Park District headquarters.
Community news: New leader at Avery Coonley School, chamber music concerts, more
The Avery Coonley School names new leader
After a six-month search process, Nancy Nassr has been named head of school at The Avery Coonley School in Downers Grove, starting in the role July 1.
Jennifer Reenan, chairman of the board for the independent school founded in 1906, made the announcement earlier this month. About 325 academically gifted students in preschool through eighth grade attend the school.
“Ms. Nassr brings a depth and breadth of experience in education that will be an outstanding asset to our beloved home on Maple Avenue,” Reenan shared in a news release. “Under her leadership, we look forward to a future defined by continued excellence and innovation in which our gifted learners are challenged, supported, and inspired to reach their fullest potential.”
Nassr founded a consultancy that “focuses on strategic curriculum implementation and instructional coaching for educators,” the release noted, and served as assistant head of school and academic dean at Lake Forest Academy, as well as lead roles at Ancona School. She also was associate director of the Chicago International Charters Schools Chicago Quest School. She has a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Chamber music comes to Oak Park church
“Chamber Voices: Strings, Winds, Brass” will be performed by the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest and the Symphony Chorus at 3 p.m. Feb. 1 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 611 Randolph St. in Oak Park.
Pieces include Brahms’ “Sextet in Bb Major, Op. 18” by the Symphony Strings, “Air” by Michale Valentini and “Roaring Fork Quintet for Wind Instruments” by Eric Ewazen by 8th Avenue Winds and Baroque pieces by the Leaf Trombone Quintet.
Tickets to the performance cost $20 per person or $45 for a series of three concerts; students up through college may attend for free.
Information is at SymphonyOPRF.org, TheSymphonyOPRF@gmail.com or 708-218-2648.
Quintet performs at church in Western Springs
Temp Primo’s woodwind quintet will perform dance music from the 17th to 20th centuries during a performance from 2 to 2:50 p.m. Feb. 8 at All Saints Episcopal Church, 4370 Woodland Ave. in Western Springs.
Doors open at 1:30 p.m., and light refreshments will be served.
Cash donations will be accepted to support the Asylum Seekers Emergency Fund, which was started by the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago’s Sanctuary Task Force. The fund helps support immediate needs of new immigrants to help them achieve independence.
Information can be found at 708-246-0030.
Dance contest raises funds for cancer research
Area residents are invited to help raise money for Cancer Smashers at Dancing with the Darien Starz on Feb. 6 at Ashton Place, 341 75th St. in Willowbrook.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the event, which features competing dancers from the City of Darien, Darien Swim and Recreation Club, Darien Historical Society, Hinsdale South High School, Darien Youth Club, Darien Rotary Club, Darien Woman’s Club, Darien Rotary Club and Cancer Smashers.
The cost is $85 per person, which includes dinner, a four-hour open bar and competitive dance performance. Split-the-pot and raffles will be available, and attendees vote on the winner. RSVP at darien.il.us.
Darien Garden Club meeting set
Early spring wildflowers take the spotlight when the Darien Garden Club meets 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at St. John Lutheran Church, 7214 S. Cass Ave.
Guest speaker Cindy Crosby will present stories about Illinois spring wildflowers, their uses by Native Americans and early settlers and their folklore.
Information about the club is at dariengardenclub.com.
Blood bank history program offered in Oak Park
A program about the creation of a blood bank as part of the Monday Enrichment Series presented by the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association at 1:15 p.m. Feb. 2 in the second-floor ballroom at the facility, 178 Forest Ave. in Oak Park.
Alan Hoffstadter, a certified specialist in blood banking, will share the story of Dr. Bernard Fantus, an Oak Park physician who found a safe, efficient way to carry out transfusions after other medical practitioners had been trying to do so for centuries, with limited success and often disastrous results.
The series, which features music, literature, science, art and social sciences, is free to the public, although donations will be accepted. Details are at www.nineteenthcentury.org.
Send news to pioneerwest@tribpub.com.
White House Expects Largest Tax Refund Season As IRS Opens 2026 Filing
White House Expects Largest Tax Refund Season As IRS Opens 2026 Filing
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,
The IRS announced on Jan. 26 the opening of the 2026 tax filing season.
“The IRS expects about 164 million individual tax returns for tax year 2025 to be filed ahead of the Wednesday, April 15, federal deadline. Taxpayers can find a range of tools and filing options on IRS.gov to help them prepare and file their returns,” the agency said in a news release.
The IRS has various online tools and resources that taxpayers can use before, during, and after filing their federal tax returns, the agency said in a Jan. 8 statement. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, carries provisions that can help taxpayers lower their tax bills and raise their refund amounts.
“The Internal Revenue Service is ready to help taxpayers meet their tax filing and payment obligations during the 2026 filing season,” IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano said.
“As always, the IRS workforce remains vigilant and dedicated to their mission to serve the American taxpaying public. At the same time, IRS information systems have been updated to incorporate the new tax laws and are ready to efficiently and effectively process taxpayer returns during the filing season.”
The White House said in a Jan. 26 statement that millions of Americans are poised to receive “significantly larger tax refunds” this filing season due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The legislation is set to deliver the “largest tax refund season in U.S. history,” the White House said, projecting average refunds to jump by $1,000 or more, citing various analyses.
Some of the key provisions of the bill contributing to higher refunds are no taxes on tips or overtime up to certain income thresholds, an additional deduction for seniors, and a deduction in auto loan interest payments.
An analysis made by the Tax Foundation cited by the White House expects tax refunds in 2026 to average $3,800 per taxpayer due to the legislation.
Comparatively, the refund amount was $3,052 in tax year 2024 and $3,004 in 2023.
In its latest statement, the IRS said that most refunds are issued within 21 days. However, refunds that require additional review from the agency may take longer.
Direct deposit is the fastest way for taxpayers to receive a refund, according to the agency. The IRS began phasing out paper refund checks beginning Sept. 30, in line with a March 25 executive order signed by Trump.
The order, “Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account,” stated that the use of paper-based payment systems by the federal government was imposing “unnecessary costs; delays; and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies.”
It asked all departments and agencies to comply with the directive by transitioning to an electronic funds transfer system. Paper checks were allowed for certain exceptions, such as individuals who do not have access to banking services, and emergency situations where electronic payments would cause “undue hardship” for the recipient.
Taxpayers are urged to provide their bank account and routing numbers for their refunds to be electronically deposited.
The IRS estimates most refund payments for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) to be reflected in the bank accounts or debit cards of taxpayers by March 2. This is only applicable for taxpayers who have chosen the direct deposit option, and whose returns do not face any issues with processing.
Taxpayers can track their refund status by using the IRS Individual Online Account, IRS2Go app, or the Where’s My Refund? tool, the agency said. Where’s My Refund? is expected to offer projected deposit dates for most of the early EITC and ACTC refund filers by Feb. 21.
“As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, the IRS and its employees are excited to once again serve American taxpayers in meeting their tax filing obligations during the 2026 filing season,” Bisignano said. “The IRS encourages taxpayers to speed the processing of their returns by using e-file, instead of paper.”
IRS Readiness
Meanwhile, a Sept. 29 audit report issued by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration had raised concerns about the IRS’s ability to handle the 2026 filing season.
“Several initiatives reduced the IRS workforce since January 2025,” the report said. “Key IRS functions responsible for managing the filing season have lost 17 to 19 percent of their workforce.” In addition, the IRS’s Information Technology function has faced staffing losses as well, it said.
“We expect workforce reductions to impact key processing programs and customer service going forward. We are concerned about how this will impact the 2026 Filing Season.”
However, in the Jan. 8 IRS statement, Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent said that the agency had prepared for the 2026 filing season.
Even before the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, “Treasury and IRS were diligently preparing to update forms and processes for the benefit of hardworking Americans,” Bessent said.
“President Trump is committed to the taxpayers of this country and improving upon the successful tax filing season in 2025.”
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/27/2026 – 14:00
Naperville News Digest: Comptroller candidate forum at the 95th Street Library; DuPage Symphony Orchestra planning spring gala
Comptroller candidate forum at the 95th Street Library
The four candidates running in the Democratic primary for state comptroller will take part in a public forum on Wednesday, Feb. 11, being held by Indivisible Naperville.
Candidates state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, of Oswego; state Sen. Karina Villa, of West Chicago; state Rep. Margaret Croke, of Chicago; and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim will also meet with voters at the event being held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the 95th Street Library, 3015 Cedar Glade Drive.
The comptroller is the state’s top fiscal officer. Incumbent Comptroller Susana Mendoza is not seeking reelection in the March 17 primary.
Event co-sponsors are Indivisible Illinois, Indivisible DuPage, Indivisible Evanston, Indivisible West Suburban Chicago, Indivisible Wheaton, Indivisible NWSOFA, Fox Valley Rising and We Can Lead Change Fox Valley, organizers said.
Candidates will make an opening statement and take turns answering questions on such topics as the Illinois budget, the state’s bonded indebtedness and rainy day fund, bill prioritzation and the impact of the Trump program cuts on state payments.
Candidates will have a chance to speak directly with guests and pass out campaign literature.
In addition to being held live, it will be live-streamed on Indivisible Illinois’ YouTube channel.
DuPage Symphony Orchestra planning spring gala
The DuPage Symphony Orchestra, based in Naperville, will hold its “Community in Harmony: Celebrating the Power of Music” spring fundraising gala from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 10, at The Abbington, 3S002 Route 53, Glen Ellyn.
Money raised at the event, which includes a cocktail reception, dinner, silent auction and live music, will help fund the orchestra’s community engagement efforts, a news release said.
Tickets are $100 until Saturday, Jan. 31, and $150 from Feb. 1 to March 20. Sponsorships for individuals and corporations are also available, with discounted rates for those purchased by Jan. 31.
As part of its mission, musicians visit schools in the days prior to each scheduled performance at Wentz Concert Hall at Naperville’s North Central College to inspire students and ensure music is accessible to all, the release said.
For tickets or sponsorships, email patronservices@dupagesymphony.org or go to www.dupagesymphony.org.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/27/comptroller-forum-naperville-dupage-symphony/
