Monday’s Sycamore City Council meeting covered a life cycle of sorts. This cycle begins with buying a house when funds are running short.

The lending bank is a key player in buying one’s first home. The Illinois Housing Development Authority and individual cities work alongside lending agencies, with the latter as the middle man. When the check for a home is first written, a homeowner is given a certificate. This certificate details the homeowner’s income tax, which he will use to establish credit.

The city drew up some numbers to explain how the IHDA mortgage credit certificate program will benefit six low-income families in Sycamore.

For example, a buyer takes out a $92,000 loan at a 6.25 percent rate. With the loan at a fixed rate for 30 years, the buyer would pay $5,719 the first year in mortgage interest. Each of these six families will need to show the MCCs to their lending agencies to receive this city-delegated aid. This certificate allows the buyer to take 20 percent, or in this example, $1,144, from his or her income tax figures. This is the same as saving $95 per month. During the loan’s lifetime, $34,320 of a buyer’s taxes would be saved.

“About five years ago, we lent most of our bond authority to a project apart from the MCC program,” said City Manager Bill Nicklas. “We only serve about six to seven families, because that will quickly take us up to our limit in terms of mortgage volume here. The program is still better than no program.”

While six to seven families may not seem like much, even a smaller town like Sycamore, the fact the city is able to help the families is indeed positive, said Mayor Ken Mundy.

“This is something to talk about,” Mundy said. “Know that there is some help to help [these people] afford their first home.”

One resident is pushing to preserve the old AdPro, Inc. building at 331 N. Main St. She wants to turn it into a bed and breakfast that would not only provide room and board but a place to scrapbook.

Sycamore resident Marykim Wood and her husband, Fred Wood, plan to move their scrapbooking venue, “The Paper Doll House,” into the space to allow those interested in throwing scrapbooking get-togethers to stay overnight and spend a weekend rather than a night embellishing their photo albums.

Elsewhere, the city’s annual budget passed, attracting only one resident’s comments at the previous public hearing.