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Village adopts identity theft prevention program  Share
The Manteno village board voted at its Oct. 19 meeting to approve a resolution implementing an Identity Theft Prevention program for the village. The board approved the program in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's Red Flags Rule Transactions Act of 2003. The board of trustees and Village President Timothy Nugent determined that this program was appropriate for the village in light of the village's operations and account systems. Trustee Annette LaMore noted that the Federal Trade Commission requires the village to implement the program by Nov. 1. According to the Rule, a municipal utility is a creditor subject to the Rule requirements. At its Sept. 21 board meeting, the board passed a resolution to implement an e-pay plan offered through the Illinois State Treasurer's office.
Citizens of Manteno will soon be able to pay fines and fees electronically for things such as building permits and ordinance fines. Under the Red Flags Rule, every financial institution and creditor is required to establish an Identity Theft Prevention Program tailored to the size, complexity and nature of its operation. The Red Flags Rule defines ''Identity Theft'' as ''fraud committed using the identity information of another person'' and a ''Red Flag'' as a ''pattern, practice or specific activity that indicates the possible existence of identity theft.'' Village staff members will be trained to recognize these Red Flags as they are encountered in the ordinary course of village business. Red Flags include: alerts, notifications and warnings from credit reporting agencies; suspicious documents, suspicious personal identifying information, suspicious account activity or unusual use of an account, and alerts from others - such as a notice from a customer or law enforcement. The village clerk will serve as administrator for the Identity Theft Prevention program. In the event that village personnel detect identity Red Flags, they must contact the village clerk. The village clerk will then decide on which steps to take, such as notifying law enforcement, closing an existing account, contacting the customer and not opening a new account. In other board news - Manteno High School class of 2013 will sell magazines door-to-door as a fund-raiser from Nov. 12 to Dec. 4. Funds from the sales will go towards saving money for its prom. - Trustee Noel Burke noted that this year in Manteno, only one building permit has been issued. This is probably due to the poor economy. - Trick-or-treat hours in Manteno will be 5:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31. - A Village of Manteno annual TIF (tax increment financing) report summary for 2008-2009 was presented at the board meeting. A copy of the report can be viewed by the public at the village hall, the Manteno Public Library and it will be posted on the village Web site at http://manteno.govoffice.com/ Tracy Ahrens is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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