By WILL BRUMLEVE
will@fordcountychronicle.com
Some long-awaited news came Monday, June 30, when an email with the subject line of “Local Journalism Sustainability Tax Credit Approval” landed in my inbox.
The email’s author identified herself as Ashley Knight, the tax incentive program manager for the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity’s Office of Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Technology.
“Dear Will,” Knight’s letter began. “Thank you for your participation in the Local Journalism Sustainability Tax Credit Program. We are pleased to inform you that Ford County Chronicle LLC’s application has been approved. Your local news organization has been awarded a tax credit in the amount of $30,000 for the applicable calendar year. Attached to this email you will find your official tax credit certificate for your records. … Congratulations, and thank you for your continued contributions to Illinois journalism.”
State Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, a former television news anchor, answers questions during the Illinois Press Association’s annual convention in East Peoria in June.
As president of Ford County Chronicle LLC — in addition to my roles as news editor and co-publisher alongside colleague Andrew Rosten — this news ended months of anxiety and stress over the uncertainty of whether the Local Journalism Sustainability Tax Credit would be awarded to our paper this year. If you recall, it was almost six months earlier when we first applied for the credit, only to be denied despite our paper appearing to qualify, at least in my opinion. So, we certainly did not have our hopes up in late June, even after we were told by DCEO staff several weeks earlier that our paper was back in the queue for consideration.
It took some resilient work — and not just on my part — to make this all happen. Our state lawmakers — who are so often criticized by the citizenry, no matter what they do, it seems — have my utmost respect and appreciation. Really, they are the ones who made this happen.
After all, our state lawmakers were the ones who passed the tax credit back in summer 2024, finally giving local, independently owned news outlets like my own — the ones committed to their communities — some hope for their survival in a long-struggling industry that needs all the help we can get.
And, after all, our state lawmakers were the ones who pulled some strings on behalf of the Chronicle to convince the DCEO to reconsider its denial of the Chronicle’s application for the tax credit, which the DCEO — thankfully — did. Among those who stepped up to help the Chronicle were state Rep. Jason Bunting, R-Emington, and state Sen. Chris Balkema, R-Channahon.
The one who made the biggest difference, though, was state Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, a former television news anchor who established the Illinois Local Journalism Task Force in 2023 to help find ways to sustain and grow our state’s existing newsrooms and hopefully add more, too.
Stadelman not only sponsored the bill that led to the creation of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, which included the Local Journalism Sustainability Tax Credit, but also must have said something to someone to help our cause specifically. Not long after I called Stadelman and begged for help — while arguing that we should have never been denied the tax credit to begin with — the DCEO sent an email indicating that our application was being reconsidered.
Still, weeks went by with no word on the approval of the application — until the last day of June, that is. I had anticipated some news — I just did not know when or whether it would be good or bad. Earlier in the month, while attending the Illinois Press Association’s annual convention and awards banquet, IPA officials told the audience of newspaper people that the DCEO had indicated approvals were coming pretty soon and to be on the lookout.
And, oh, how I was.
According to our tax credit certificate issued by the DCEO, our paper was awarded $30,000 in tax credits — one $15,000 credit per full-time journalist retained from the previous year, being Andrew and myself. The credit is “awarded against payments due” and “applied to the first reporting period after the credit certificate is issued,” the certificate said, adding that “if the amount of credit exceeds the liability for the reporting period, the excess credit shall be refunded to the taxpayer.”
The tax credits go only to local news organizations that are required to deduct and withhold payroll taxes under Article 7 of the Illinois Income Tax Act or are instead 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Mistakenly, it seems, the DCEO was initially under the impression that news outlets must have had payrolls in 2024 if they were seeking tax credits for payments due in 2025. It was my understanding that we were initially denied because we technically had no “employees” in 2024 but rather only two owners — Andrew and myself — who did all the work.
However, after researching the law further following the denial, I came to the conclusion that a full year of being on the payroll is not a requirement for a journalist to qualify for the retention tax credit. The DCEO apparently agreed with me, too, at least eventually. As I pointed out to the DCEO, Stadelman and others, the law says only that qualifying journalists must have been on the payroll “during the 12-month period immediately preceding the date on which the employer applies for a credit” — which I took to mean anytime in the year preceding the application’s filing, as opposed to an entire calendar year.
We took care of that requirement back in January when we filed legal paperwork electing to have our limited liability company — Ford County Chronicle LLC — be taxed as a Subchapter S corporation, effective for all of tax year 2025. With the switch to being taxed as a Subchapter S corporation starting Jan. 1, we have been paying taxes and Social Security each month, rather than each year as we had been doing. With 2024’s taxes not yet paid, it has been a struggle to pay that amount plus what is due for 2025 in a single year.
Now, though, there is at least hope for our sustainability this year and into the future. Through 2030, $5 million in tax credits are being made available per year for local news organizations statewide, including up to $4 million in credits of $15,000 per journalist retained, plus $1 million in $10,000 credits per new journalist hired. We plan to apply every year for two retainment credits, hopefully with a faster turnaround on approval moving forward.
More good news came the day after we learned of our eligibility for the tax credit: Our paper turned five years old on Tuesday, July 1. In those five years, it has been annually recognized among the best nondaily newspapers in the entire state. Both Andrew and I are happy to still be here in Ford County keeping you informed and hope to sustain this as long as we can.
Will Brumleve is co-publisher and news editor of the Ford County Chronicle and president of Ford County Chronicle LLC. He can be reached at will@fordcountychronicle.com or 217-781-4607.