Mayor Richard M. Daley today urged low-and-moderate-income Chicagoans to apply for the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and announced that the city will have 25 free tax preparation sites this year, four more than last year.

"The EITC is not welfare. It's money that working people have earned," Daley said at a news conference at one of the free tax preparation sites, Armitage Baptist Church, 2505 N. Kedzie Blvd. "This is money that will immediately be returned to the Illinois economy, because it will be spent on necessities - not on trips to fancy resorts."

The federal EITC is available to families that earned up to $34,178 with more than one child; up to $30,201 with one child; or up to $12,060 with no children. Even if a family owes no taxes, it could still be eligible for the credit. The average EITC credit in 2002 was $1,740.

The state EITC, equal to 5 percent of the federal EITC, provides up to $200 in additional relief.

The free tax preparation will be available to anyone making less than $35,000 a year. The services will be provided by two City-funded not-for-profit organizations, the Tax Counseling Project and the Tax Assistance Program-It Adds Up. Ten of the sites will file returns electronically to speed up the refunds. In addition to the 25 city sites, services will be offered at 18 sites in the suburbs.

Last year, the free tax preparation services served more than 13,000 families and returned to them more than $17.7 million.

"I urge everyone who is eligible to visit one of these sites soon - to avoid the last-minute rush right before April 15, and to get the money in your hands now, rather than three months from now," Daley said.

Many of the tax preparation sites will offer clients the opportunity to apply for savings or checking accounts, said City Treasurer Judith Rice, who joined the Mayor at the news conference.

She urged Chicagoans to take advantage of the service, saying, "A savings or checking account is the first building block of financial security."

Rice said one-third of Chicago residents "have no relationship with a financial institution - no savings account, non checking account, nothing.

"Without a bank account, an individual has no way to finance a car, a mortgage, or a child's education," she said. "The lack of a bank account also prevents an individual from participating in electronic banking, which is fast becoming the standard method of check transmission."

Rice reminded Chicagoans to beware of so-called - rapid tax refunds," which generally carry a very high interest rate.

Daley urged the federal government to simplify the EITC information sheet, "which is 57 pages long and barely understandable to a tax lawyer, let alone a struggling family with a lot of other things on their mind."

He also called on Congress to create a third tier of EITC benefits for families with three or more children. Right now, a family with eight children gets the same benefit as the family with two.

He asked the Illinois General Assembly to make the temporary state EITC permanent.

According to a study by the Brookings Institution, Chicago families received $462 million in EITC refunds in 2000.

The City's non-emergency number B 311 B will be the central point of contact, and information will also be available on the City web site, www.cityofchicago.org and the Internal Revenue Service web site, www.irs.gov.

The Chicago Tax Assistance Center is distributing EITC information from its office in Room 100 of City Hall and also from a special booth in the City Hall lobby.

Free tax preparation sites run by The Tax Counseling Project and The Tax Assistance ProgramBIt Adds Up are at 1116 N. Kedzie Blvd., 2505 N. Kedzie Blvd., 1145 W. Wilson Ave., Ashland Avenue and Morse Street, 30 E. Lake St., 7936 S. Cottage Grove Ave., 3401 S. King Dr., 6425 S. Lowe Ave, 4624 W. Madison St., 3517 W. Arthington St., 1805 S. Loomis St., 4521 S. Ashland Ave., 1147 N. Western Ave., 1746 W. Chicago Ave., 4622 W. Diversey Ave., 4835 N. Sheridan Rd., 121 N. La Salle St., 545 E. Oakwood Blvd., 2100 E. 87th St., 6800 S. Wentworth Ave., 10001 S. Woodlawn Ave., 2150 S. Laflin St., 4247 W. 31st St., 1900 W. Van Buren St. and 2800 S. Western Ave.