Peotone Township Selects Old National Bank, Forgoes Higher Interest Rates

The Peotone Township Board of Trustees has selected Old National Bank to handle its finances for the next fiscal year, choosing its bid over a proposal from First Community Bank that offered significantly higher interest rates on deposits.

The decision was made during the board’s March 17 regular meeting after Clerk Kent Heisner publicly opened two sealed bids for the township’s banking services, covering the period from April 2025 to March 2026.

According to the bids, First Community Bank offered an interest rate of 0.16% for the township’s checking account, eight times higher than the 0.02% rate offered by Old National Bank. For the money market account, First Community’s rate was 0.0418%, slightly edging out Old National’s 0.04%.

Both financial institutions offered no-fee checking accounts, no overdraft fees, and confirmed that any funds exceeding FDIC insurance limits would be collateralized in compliance with the Illinois Public Fund Act.

Following a discussion, Trustee Ron Schubbe moved to accept the bid from Old National Bank, with Trustee Randy Swartz providing the second. The motion passed on a unanimous roll call vote that also included Supervisor Gene Younker and Trustees Grant Heatherwick and James Morgan. The meeting minutes did not include the board’s specific reasoning for selecting the bid with lower interest returns.