(70 ILCS 2405/0.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 298.99)
Sec. 0.1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the “Sanitary
District Act of 1917”.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 945.)
(70 ILCS 2405/1) (from Ch. 42, par. 299)
Sec. 1.
Whenever any area of contiguous territory shall contain one
or more incorporated cities, towns or villages or parts of one or more
incorporated cities, towns or villages, and shall be so situated that
the construction and maintenance of a plant or plants for the
purification and treatment of sewage and the maintenance of one or more
outlets for the drainage thereof, after having been so treated and
purified by and through such plant or plants will conduce to the
preservation of the public health, comfort and convenience, the same may
be incorporated as a sanitary district under this Act in the manner
following:
Any 100 legal voters, resident within the limits of such proposed
sanitary district, may petition the Circuit Court in the county in which
the proposed district or the major portion thereof is located, to cause
the question to be submitted to the legal voters of such proposed
district whether such proposed territory shall be organized as a
sanitary district under this Act, such petition shall be addressed to
the Circuit Court and shall contain a definite description of the
territory to be embraced in such district, and the name of such proposed
sanitary district: However, no territory shall be included in any
municipal corporation formed hereunder which is not situated within the
limits of a city, incorporated town or village, or within 6 miles
outside thereof, and no territory shall be included within more than one
sanitary district organized under this Act or any other Act, except that
territory included within a sanitary district organized under the Metro-East
Sanitary District Act of 1974 may also be included within a sanitary district
organized under this Act. Upon filing
of such petition in the office of the circuit clerk in the county in
which such territory or the major portion thereof is situated, it shall
be the duty of the Circuit Court to name 3 judges of such Court who
shall constitute a board of commissioners which shall have power and
authority to consider the boundaries of any such proposed sanitary
district, whether the same shall be as described in such petition or
otherwise, and the decision of 2 of such commissioners shall be
conclusive and not subject to review in any manner, directly or
indirectly.
Notice shall be given by such court of the time and place where such
commissioners will meet, by a publication inserted in one or more daily
or weekly papers published in such proposed district, at least 20 days
prior to such meeting and if no such newspaper is published in such
proposed district, then by posting at least 5 copies of such notice in
such proposed district at least 20 days before such hearing.
At such meeting all persons in such proposed district shall have an
opportunity to be heard touching the location and boundary of such
proposed district and to make suggestions regarding the same, and such
commissioners, after hearing statements, evidence and suggestions, shall
fix and determine the limits and boundaries of such proposed district,
and for that purpose and to that extent may alter and amend such
petition. After such determination by the commissioners or a majority of
them, the same shall be incorporated in an order which shall be entered
of record in the Circuit Court. Upon the entering of
such order, the Circuit Court shall certify the question to the proper election
officials who shall submit the question of organization and
establishment of the proposed sanitary district as determined by the
commissioners, at an election in accordance with the general election law.
Each legal voter resident within such proposed sanitary district
shall have the right to cast a ballot at such election. The proposition
shall be in substantially the
following form:
————————————————————–
For Sanitary District
————————————————————–
Against Sanitary District
————————————————————–
The Circuit Court shall cause a statement of the result of such election
to be entered of record in the Circuit Court. If a majority of the
votes cast upon the question of incorporation of the proposed sanitary
district shall be in favor of the proposed sanitary district, such
proposed district shall thenceforth be deemed an organized sanitary
district under this Act.
(Source: P.A. 83-1425.)
(70 ILCS 2405/2) (from Ch. 42, par. 300)
Sec. 2.
All courts in this state shall take judicial notice of the
existence of all sanitary districts organized under this act.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/3) (from Ch. 42, par. 301)
Sec. 3. Board of trustees; creation; term. A board of trustees shall be created, consisting of 5 members
in any sanitary district which includes one or more municipalities with
a population of over 90,000 but less than 500,000 according to the most
recent Federal census, and consisting of 3 members in any other district.
However, the board of trustees for the Fox River Water Reclamation District, the Sanitary District of Decatur, and the Northern Moraine Wastewater Reclamation District
shall each consist of 5 members. Each board of trustees shall be created for the
government, control and management of the affairs and business of each
sanitary district organized under this Act shall be created in the
following manner:
- (1) If the district’s corporate boundaries are located wholly within a single county, the presiding officer of the county board, with the advice and consent of the county board, shall appoint the trustees for the district;
- (2) If the district’s corporate boundaries are located in more than one county, the members of the General Assembly whose legislative districts encompass any portion of the district shall appoint the trustees for the district.
In any sanitary district which shall have a 3 member board of trustees,
within 60 days after the adoption of such act, the appropriate
appointing authority shall appoint three trustees not more than 2 of
whom shall be from one incorporated city, town or village in districts
in which are included 2 or more incorporated cities, towns or villages,
or parts of 2 or more incorporated cities, towns or villages, who shall
hold their office respectively for 1, 2 and 3 years, from the first
Monday of May next after their appointment and until their successors
are appointed and have qualified, and thereafter on or before the second
Monday in April of each year the appropriate appointing authority shall
appoint one trustee whose term shall be for 3 years commencing the first
Monday in May of the year in which he is appointed. The
length of the term of the first trustees shall be determined by lot at
their first meeting.
In the case of any sanitary district created after January 1, 1978 in which
a 5 member board of trustees is required, the appropriate appointing authority
shall appoint 5 trustees, one of whom shall hold office for one year, two
of whom shall hold office for 2 years, and 2 of whom shall hold office for
3 years from the first Monday of May next after their respective appointments
and until their successors are appointed and have qualified. Thereafter,
on or before the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate
appointing authority shall appoint one trustee or 2 trustees, as shall be
necessary to maintain a 5 member board of trustees, whose terms shall be for 3
years
commencing the first Monday in May of the year in which they are respectively
appointed. The length of the terms of the first trustees shall be determined
by lot at their first meeting.
In any sanitary district created prior to January 1, 1978 in which a
5 member board of trustees is required as of January 1, 1978,
the two trustees already serving terms which do not expire on May 1, 1978
shall continue to hold office for the remainders of their respective terms,
and 3 trustees shall be appointed by the appropriate appointing authority
by April 10, 1978 and shall hold office for terms beginning May 1, 1978.
Of the three new trustees, one shall hold office for 2 years and 2 shall
hold office for 3 years from May 1, 1978 and until their successors are
appointed and have qualified. Thereafter, on or before the second Monday
in April of each year the appropriate appointing authority shall appoint
one trustee or 2 trustees, as shall be necessary to maintain a 5 member
board of trustees, whose terms shall be for 3 years commencing the first
Monday in May of the year in which they are respectively appointed. The
lengths of the terms of the trustees who are to hold office beginning May
1, 1978 shall be determined by lot at their first meeting after May 1, 1978.
No more than 3 members of a 5 member board of trustees may be of the same
political party; except that in any sanitary district which otherwise
meets the requirements of this Section and which lies within 4 counties of the
State of Illinois or, prior to April 30, 2008, in the Fox River Water Reclamation District; the
appointments of the 5 members of the board of trustees
shall be made without regard to political party. Beginning with the appointments made on April 30, 2008, all appointments to the board of trustees of the Fox River Water Reclamation District shall be made so that no more than 3 of the 5 members are from the same political party.
Beginning with the 2021 municipal election, the board of trustees of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District shall be elected as provided in this paragraph. The election of trustees shall be in accordance with Section 2A-1.1 of the Election Code. Any board member serving on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly whose term does not expire in 2021 shall serve until his or her successor is elected and qualified. The board of trustees of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District shall: on or before January 1, 2020, divide the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District into 5 trustee districts and assign the trustee districts to reflect the results of the most recent federal decennial census; and thereafter, in the year following each decennial census, redistrict the trustee districts to reflect the results of the most recent census. The board of trustees shall consist of 1 elected trustee in each trustee district. A petition for nomination for election of a trustee of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District shall contain at least 100 signatures of registered voters residing within the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District. The trustees shall be elected for staggered terms at the election as provided by the Election Code. Two trustees shall be elected at the 2021 election, and 3 trustees shall be elected at the following consolidated election. Elected trustees shall take office on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the month following the month of their election and shall hold their offices for 4 years and until their successors are elected and qualified. If a vacancy occurs before the 2021 election on the board of trustees of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District: (i) the District Manager shall, no later than 7 days from the date of the vacancy, notify the State legislators representing any portion of the District, publish notification of the vacancy on the District’s website, and send notification of the vacancy to local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations; (ii) each notification published or sent shall contain instructions on how to apply to the District Manager for the vacant trustee position; (iii) applications for the vacancy shall be accepted for at least 30 days after the date the notification of the vacancy was published and sent; (iv) applications for the vacancy shall include a letter of interest and resume; (v) once the application period has closed, the District Manager shall forward all applications received to the State legislators notified of the vacancy in item (i); (vi) the President of the board of trustees and the District Manager shall hold a public meeting with the State legislators notified of the vacancy to review all applications and, by unanimous vote of all State legislators representing any portion of the District, select a candidate to fill the trustee vacancy; and (vii) the board of trustees shall appoint the selected candidate at the next board of trustees meeting. If a vacancy exists after the 2021 election on the board of trustees of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the president of the board of trustees, with the advice and consent of the members of the board of trustees, until the next regular election at which trustees of the district are elected, and shall be made a matter of record in the office of the county clerk in the county where the district is located; for a vacancy filled by appointment, the portion of the unexpired term remaining after the next regular election at which trustees of the district are elected shall be filled by election, as provided for in this paragraph.
Within 60 days after the release of Federal census statistics showing that
a sanitary district having a 3 member board of trustees contains one
or more municipalities with a population over 90,000 but less than 500,000,
or, for the Northern Moraine Wastewater Reclamation District, within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the appropriate appointing authority shall appoint 2 additional trustees
to the board of trustees, one to hold office for 2 years and one to hold
office for 3 years from the first Monday of May next after their appointment
and until their successors are appointed and have qualified. The lengths
of the terms of these two additional members shall be determined by lot
at the first meeting of the board of trustees held after the additional
members take office. The three trustees already holding office in the sanitary
district shall continue
to hold office for the remainders of their respective terms. Thereafter,
on or before the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate appointing
authority shall appoint one trustee or 2 trustees, as shall be necessary
to maintain a 5 member board of trustees, whose terms shall be for 3 years
commencing the first Monday in May of the year in which they are respectively
appointed.
If any sanitary district having a 5 member board of trustees shall cease
to contain one or more municipalities with a population over 90,000 but
less than 500,000 according to the most recent Federal census, then, for
so long as that sanitary district does not contain one or more such
municipalities,
on or before the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate appointing
authority shall
appoint one trustee whose term shall be for 3 years commencing the first
Monday in May of the year in which he is appointed. In districts which
include 2 or more incorporated cities, towns, or villages, or parts of 2
or more incorporated cities, towns, or villages, all of the trustees shall
not be from one incorporated city, town or village.
If a vacancy occurs on any board of trustees, the appropriate appointing
authority shall within 60 days appoint a trustee who shall hold office for
the remainder of the vacated term.
The appointing authority shall require each of the trustees to enter
into bond, with security to be approved by the appointing authority, in
such sum as the appointing authority may determine.
A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum but a
smaller number may adjourn from day to day. No trustee or employee of
such district shall be directly or indirectly interested in any
contract, work or business of the district, or the sale of any article,
the expense, price or consideration of which is paid by such district;
nor in the purchase of any real estate or property belonging to the
district, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments, or by virtue
of legal process at the suit of the district. Provided, that nothing
herein shall be construed as prohibiting the appointment or selection of
any person as trustee or employee whose only interest in the district is
as owner of real estate in the district or of contributing to the
payment of taxes levied by the district. The trustees shall have the
power to provide and adopt a corporate seal for the district.
Notwithstanding any other provision in this Section, in any sanitary
district created prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1985, in which a five member board of trustees has been appointed and which
currently includes one or more municipalities with a population of over
90,000 but less than 500,000, the board of trustees shall consist of five
members.
Except as otherwise provided for vacancies, in the event that the appropriate appointing authority fails to appoint a trustee under this Section, the appropriate appointing authority shall reconvene and appoint a successor on or before July 1 of that year.
(Source: P.A. 101-523, eff. 8-23-19.)
(70 ILCS 2405/3a) (from Ch. 42, par. 302)
Sec. 3a.
Whenever a vacancy in the board of trustees shall occur, either from
death, resignation, refusal to qualify, or for any other reason, the
appropriate appointing authority shall fill such vacancy by appointment;
and such person so appointed shall qualify for office in the manner
hereinbefore stated and shall thereupon assume the duties of the office for
the unexpired term to which such person was appointed.
(Source: P.A. 77-694.)
(70 ILCS 2405/4) (from Ch. 42, par. 303)
Sec. 4.
The trustees shall constitute a board of trustees for the district.
The board of trustees is the corporate authority of such sanitary
district, and shall exercise all the powers and manage and control all
the affairs and property of the district. The board of trustees
immediately after their appointment and at their first meeting in May of
each year thereafter, shall elect one of their number as president, one
of their number as vice-president, and from or outside of their
membership a clerk and an assistant clerk. In case of the death,
resignation, absence from the State, or other disability of the
president, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office of the
president shall devolve upon the vice-president, until such disability
is removed or until a successor to the president is appointed and chosen
in the manner provided in this Act. The board may select a treasurer,
engineer and attorney for the district, and a board of local
improvements consisting of 5 members in any sanitary district which includes
one or more municipalities with a population of over 90,000 but less than
500,000 according to the most recent Federal census and consisting of
3 members in any other district, all of whom may be trustees or
other citizens of the sanitary district. The board may appoint such other
officers and hire such employees to manage and control the operations of
the district as it deems necessary; provided, however, that the
board shall not employ an individual as a wastewater operator whose Certificate
of Technical Competency is suspended or revoked under rules adopted by the
Pollution Control Board under item (4) of subsection (a) of Section 13 of the
Environmental Protection Act.
The board may appoint a chief administrative officer for a term not to
exceed 4 years subject to removal by the board for cause. Appointment of the
chief administrative officer may be renewed as often as the board deems
necessary. All other persons selected by the
board shall hold their respective offices during the pleasure of the
board, and all persons selected by the board shall give such bond as may be
required by the board. The board may
prescribe the duties and fix the compensation of all the officers and
employees of the sanitary district. However, no member of the board of
trustees shall receive more than $6,000 per year.
The board of trustees has full power to pass all necessary
ordinances, rules and regulations for the proper management and conduct
of the business of the board and the corporation, and for carrying into
effect the objects for which the sanitary district was formed. Such
ordinances may provide for a fine for each offense of not less than $100
or more than $1,000. Each day’s continuance of such violation shall be a
separate offense. Fines pursuant to this Section are recoverable by the
sanitary district in a civil action. The sanitary district is authorized
to apply to the circuit court for injunctive relief or mandamus when, in
the opinion of the chief administrative officer, such relief is necessary
to protect the sewerage system of the sanitary district.
(Source: P.A. 89-143, eff. 7-14-95; 89-502, eff. 6-28-96; 90-14, eff.
7-1-97.)
(70 ILCS 2405/4.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 303.1)
Sec. 4.1.
Whenever a sanitary district has 2 or more municipalities
or townships within its
boundaries, it may pass an ordinance expressing its desire
to change the name of the sanitary
district, and shall proceed as follows:
1. Proceedings. Before action is had upon such ordinance
the name proposed to be given to such
sanitary district shall be filed with the Secretary of State.
After the proposed name
has been on file for 60 days and it appears from information
in his office that the proposed
name has not been adopted by any sanitary district, the
Secretary of State shall grant
a certificate so stating. If the proposed name is the
same as the name of another
sanitary district in Illinois, the Secretary of State shall
inform the petitioners thereof.
The petitioners then may file another proposed name with the
Secretary of State
and they may proceed in the manner set forth in this Section.
The board of trustees shall not act
upon such ordinance until the Secretary of State has issued
such certificate.
2. The ordinance shall request that the name of the
sanitary district be changed,
and also shall request that the circuit court of the specified
county submit the question of the
change of name to the electors of the district by a public
hearing. The judge of the circuit court shall enter
an order fixing the time for the hearing upon the ordinance and the day
of the hearing shall be not less than 20 nor more than 30
days after the filing of the ordinance.
The board of trustees shall give notice of the ordinance
not more than 30 nor less
than 15 days before the date fixed for the hearing. This
notice shall state that an ordinance has
been filed and give the substance thereof, including the
proposed name change and the date fixed
for the hearing. This notice shall be given by publishing
a notice thereof at least once in one
or more newspapers published in the sanitary district
territory, or if no newspaper is published
therein, then in one or more newspapers with a general
circulation within
the sanitary district
territory. A copy of this notice shall be filed with the
clerk of the circuit court.
3. Hearing Petition and Objections. The court shall hold
a hearing on such ordinance
and all objections thereto, at the time fixed in such notice.
If the court is satisfied that
a change of name is desirable, it shall make an order changing
the name
and adopting the name requested
in the ordinance.
4. Order Filed with Secretary of State – Judicial Notice
of Change – Publishing or Posting Notice. If a change of name
is made the board of trustees shall file a copy of the order
making the change with the Secretary of State. The courts
shall take judicial notice of the change of name. The board
of trustees shall publish a notice of the change at least once
in one or more newspapers published in the sanitary district
territory, or if no newspaper is published therein, then in
one or more newspapers with a general circulation within the
sanitary district territory. In sanitary districts with less
than 500 population in which no newspaper is published,
publication may instead be made by posting a notice in 3
prominent places within the sanitary district.
5. No rights, duties or privileges of such sanitary district,
or those of any person, existing before the change of name, shall
be affected by a change of name as provided by this Act. All
proceedings pending in any court in favor of or against such
sanitary district may continue to final consummation under the
name in which they were commenced.
6. If the name of any sanitary district is changed without
complying with this Act; all proceedings instituted or acts done
under the name as changed shall be valid if they would have been
valid if done under the old name.
(Source: P.A. 86-129.)
(70 ILCS 2405/4.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 303.2)
Sec. 4.2.
Within 60 days after the effective date of this
Amendatory Act of 1977 every sanitary district organized under
the “Sanitary District Act of 1917” shall file with the
Secretary of State the official name of the district.
(Source: P.A. 80-424.)
(70 ILCS 2405/5) (from Ch. 42, par. 304)
Sec. 5.
All ordinances imposing any penalty or making any appropriations
shall, within one month after they are passed, be published at least once
in a newspaper published in such district, or if no such newspaper of
general circulation is published therein, by posting copies of the same in
three public places in the district; and no such ordinance shall take
effect until ten days after it is so published, and all other ordinances,
orders and resolutions, shall take effect from and after their passage
unless otherwise provided therein.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/6) (from Ch. 42, par. 305)
Sec. 6.
All ordinances, orders and resolutions, and the date of publication
thereof, may be proven by the certificate of the clerk under the seal of
the corporation, and when printed in book or pamphlet form, and purporting
to be published by the board of trustees, such book or pamphlet shall be
received as evidence of the passage and legal publication of such
ordinances, orders and resolutions, as of the dates mentioned in such book
or pamphlet in all courts and places without further proof.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/6.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 305.1)
Sec. 6.1.
Actions to impose a fine or imprisonment for violation of a
sanitary district ordinance or resolution adopted under authority of this
Act shall be brought in the corporate name of the sanitary district as
plaintiff. Such actions shall commence with a complaint or a warrant. A
warrant may issue upon execution of an affidavit by any person alleging
that he has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be named in
the warrant has violated a sanitary district ordinance or resolution. A
person arrested upon such a warrant shall be taken without unnecessary
delay before the proper officer for trial.
Fines for the violation of sanitary district ordinances or resolutions
shall be established by ordinance or resolution and when collected shall be
paid into the sanitary district treasury at such times and in a manner
prescribed by ordinance or resolution.
A person who is fined for violation of a sanitary district ordinance or
resolution may be committed to the county jail or to any place provided by
ordinance or resolution for the incarceration of offenders until the fine
and costs are paid. No incarceration, however, shall exceed 6 months for
any one offense.
The committed person shall be allowed, exclusive of his board, a credit
of $5 toward the fine and costs for each day of confinement. The sanitary
district may make agreements with a county or municipality for holding such
persons in a facility operated by them for the incarceration of violators
of laws, ordinances or resolutions.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 777.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7) (from Ch. 42, par. 306)
Sec. 7.
The board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under this
Act shall have power to provide for the disposal of the sewage thereof
including the sewage and drainage of any incorporated city, town or village
within the boundaries of such district and to save and preserve the water
supplied to the inhabitants of such district from contamination and for
that purpose may construct and maintain an enclosed conduit or conduits,
main pipe or pipes, wholly or partially submerged, buried or otherwise, and
by means of pumps or otherwise cause such sewage to flow or to be forced
through such conduit or conduits, pipe or pipes to and into any ditch or
canal constructed and operated by any other sanitary district, after having
first acquired the right so to do, or such board may provide for the
drainage of such district by laying out, establishing, constructing and
maintaining one or more channels, drains, ditches and outlets, for carrying
off and disposing of the drainage (including the sewage) of such district
together with such adjuncts and additions thereto as may be necessary or
proper to cause such channels or outlets to accomplish the end for which
they are designed, in a satisfactory manner, including pumps and pumping
stations and the operation of the same. Such board may also treat and
purify such sewage so that when the same shall flow into any lake or other
water-course, it will not injuriously contaminate the waters thereof, and
may adopt any other feasible method to accomplish the object for which such
sanitary district may be created, and may also provide means whereby the
sanitary district may reach and procure supplies of water for diluting and
flushing purposes; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall
be construed to empower or authorize such board of trustees to operate a
system of waterworks for the purposes of furnishing or delivering water to
any such municipality or to the inhabitants thereof. Nothing in this Act
shall require a sanitary district to extend service to any individual
residence or other building within the district, and it is the intent of
the Illinois General Assembly that any construction contemplated by this
Section shall be restricted to construction of works and main or
interceptor sewers, conduits, channels and similar facilities, but not
individual service lines. Nothing in this Act
contained shall authorize the trustees to flow the sewage of such district
into Lake Michigan.
Every such sanitary district shall proceed as rapidly as is reasonably
possible to provide sewers and a plant or plants for the treatment and
purification of its sewage, which plant or plants shall be of suitable kind
and sufficient capacity to properly treat and purify such sewage so as to
conduce to the preservation of the public health, comfort and convenience
and to render the sewage harmless, insofar as is reasonably possible, to
animal, fish and plant life. Any violation of this proviso and any failure
to observe and follow same, by any sanitary district organized under this
Act, shall be held, and is hereby declared, to be a business offense and
fined on the part of the sanitary district not less than $1,000 nor more
than $10,000, and the trustees thereof may be ousted from office as
trustees of the district by an order of the court before whom the cause is
heard. Upon the complaint of the Environmental Protection Agency it shall
be the duty of the Pollution Control Board to cause the foregoing
provisions to be enforced in accordance with Section 31 of the
“Environmental Protection Act”. Nothing in this Act contained shall be
construed as superseding or in any manner limiting the provisions of the
“Environmental Protection Act”.
The board of trustees of any sanitary district formed under this Act may also enter into an agreement to sell, convey, or disburse treated wastewater to any public or private entity located within or outside of the boundaries of the sanitary district. Any use of treated wastewater by any public or private entity shall be subject to the orders of the Pollution Control Board. The agreement may not exceed 20 years.
In providing works for the disposal of industrial sewage, commonly
called industrial wastes, in the manner above provided whether the
industrial sewage is disposed of in combination with municipal sewage or
independently, the Sanitary District shall have power to apportion and
collect therefor, from the producer thereof, fair additional construction,
maintenance and operating costs over and above those covered by normal
taxes, and in case of dispute as to the fairness of such additional
construction, maintenance and operating costs, then the same shall be
determined by a board of three engineers, one appointed by the sanitary
district, one appointed by such producer or producers or their legal
representatives, and the third to be appointed by the two engineers selected
as above described. In the event the two engineers so selected shall fail
to agree upon a third engineer then upon the petition of either of the
parties the circuit judge shall appoint such third engineer. A decision of
a majority of the board shall be binding on both parties and the cost of
the services of the board shall be shared by both parties equally.
In providing works, including the main pipes referred to above, for the
disposal of raw sewage, in the manner above provided, whether such sewage
is disposed of in combination with municipal sewage or independently, the
Sanitary District shall have power to collect a fair and reasonable charge
for connection to its system in addition to those charges covered by normal
taxes, for the construction, expansion and extension of the works of the
system, the charge to be assessed against new or additional users of the
system and to be known as a connection charge. Such construction,
expansion and extension of the works of the system shall include proposed
or existing collector systems and may, at the discretion of such District,
include connections by individual properties. The charge for connection
shall be determined by the District and may equal or exceed the actual cost
to the District of the construction, expansion or extension of the works of
the system required by the connection. The funds thus collected
shall be used by the Sanitary District for its general corporate purposes
with primary application thereof being made by the necessary expansion of
the works of the system to meet the requirements of the new users thereof.
(Source: P.A. 97-1000, eff. 8-17-12.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.1)
Sec. 7.1.
Any sanitary district is authorized to acquire, by purchase or
contract, sanitary facilities, including but not limited to drains,
ditches, sewers, outlets and sewerage treatment plants, owned by any city,
village or incorporated town within the limits of the sanitary district,
upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed to with the corporate
authorities of the city, village or incorporated town, and to thereafter
maintain, operate, enlarge, reconstruct and repair any sanitary facilities
so acquired.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 517.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.2)
Sec. 7.2.
Where any sewer system under the jurisdiction of a city, village
or incorporated town is tributary to a sanitary district sewer system, and
the board of trustees of such sanitary district finds that it will conduce
to the public health, comfort or convenience, the board shall have the
power and authority to regulate, limit, extend, deny or otherwise control
any connection to such sewer tributary to the sanitary district sewer
system by any person or municipal corporation regardless of whether the
sewer into which the connection is made is directly under the jurisdiction
of the district or not.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 2894.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.3) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.3)
Sec. 7.3.
Any district formed hereunder shall have the right to require that
any sewer system, sewage treatment works or sewage treatment facility
constructed in or within 3 miles of the limits of such district which is
tributary thereto and not within the limits of any other sanitary district
be constructed in accordance with the accepted standards and specifications
of such district and shall further have the authority to cause inspection
of the construction of such sewer system, sewage treatment works or sewage
treatment facility to be made to ascertain that it does comply with the
standards and specifications of such sanitary district.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 2894.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.4) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.4)
Sec. 7.4.
The board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under
this Act may require that before any person or municipal corporation
connects to the sewage system of the district the district be permitted to
inspect the drainage lines of the person or municipal corporation to
determine whether they are adequate and suitable for connection to its
sewage system. In addition to the other charges provided for in this Act,
the sanitary district may collect a reasonable charge for this inspection
service. Funds collected as inspection charges shall be used by the
sanitary district for its general corporate purposes after payment of the
costs of making the inspections.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 2985.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.5) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.5)
Sec. 7.5.
The sanitary district, in addition to other powers
vested in it, is authorized to enter into agreements with any
city, village or incorporated town located partly within and
partly without the territorial limits of the sanitary district
and which has a sewage system to receive and dispose of all
sewage of such city, village or incorporated town collected
by its system; and for such purpose the sanitary district may
extend its drains, ditches or sewers to connect with the sewage
system of such city, village or incorporated town.
(Source: P.A. 85-1136.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.6) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.6)
Sec. 7.6.
The board of trustees of a sanitary district organized
under this Act may, in carrying out its responsibility under Section 7 of
this Act, plan for and establish general and specific locations for all conduits,
pipes, and pumping stations provided for in Section 7. A district is not obligated
to accept or maintain any conduit, pipe, or pumping station not built in
accordance with an established plan.
(Source: P.A. 86-129.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.7) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.7)
Sec. 7.7.
If one or more persons pay for building a sewer to be
dedicated to the sanitary district as a public sewer, and if the sewer
will, in the opinion of the board of trustees, be used for the benefit of
property whose owners did not contribute to the cost of the sewer’s
construction, the board of trustees may provide for reimbursement of some
or all of the expenses of the persons who paid for the sewer as provided in
this Section. The board of trustees may, by contract, agree to reimburse
the persons who paid for the sewer, in whole or in part, for a portion of
their costs. The reimbursement shall be made from fees collected from
owners of property who did not contribute to the cost of the sewer when it
was built. The contract shall describe the property that, in the opinion
of the board of trustees, may reasonably be expected to benefit from the
sewer and shall specify the amount or proportion of the cost of the sewer
that is to be incurred primarily for the benefit of that property. The
contract shall provide that the sanitary district shall collect the fees
charged to owners of property not contributing to the cost of the sewer at
any time before the connection to the sewer by the respective properties of
each owner. The contract may provide for the payment of a reasonable
amount of interest or other charge on the amount expended in completing the
sewer, with interest to be calculated from and after the date of completion
of the sewer.
(Source: P.A. 86-1333.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.8) (from Ch. 42, par. 306.8)
Sec. 7.8.
A contract entered into under Section 7.7 between the board
of trustees and persons building a sewer to be dedicated to the sanitary
district as a public sewer shall be filed with the Recorder of each county
in which all or a part of the property affected by the contract is located.
The recording of the contract in this manner shall serve to notify persons
interested in that property of the fact that there will be a charge in
relation to that property for the connection to and use of the facilities
constructed under the contract. Failure to record the contract does not
affect the validity of the contract.
(Source: P.A. 86-1333.)
(70 ILCS 2405/7.9)
Sec. 7.9. Private agreements for wastewater treatment.
(a) The board of trustees of the Sanitary District of Decatur may enter into an agreement to sell, convey, or disburse treated wastewater to a private entity located within 50 miles of the District’s boundaries. The agreement may not exceed 30 years. The Sanitary District of Decatur may also accept wastewater for treatment from a private entity located within 50 miles of the district’s boundaries.
(b) In addition, the Sanitary District of Decatur may acquire and accept, by gift, grant, purchase, or otherwise, pursuant to its authority under this Act, fee simple interest or any lesser interest as may be desired in real property necessary to carry out its powers under this Section.
(c) This Section does not apply to private entities located outside of the State.
(Source: P.A. 94-1109, eff. 2-23-07.)
(70 ILCS 2405/8) (from Ch. 42, par. 307)
Sec. 8. (a) The sanitary district may acquire by purchase, condemnation, or
otherwise all real and personal property, right of way and privilege,
either within or without its corporate limits that may be required for its
corporate purposes. If real property is acquired by condemnation, the
sanitary district may not sell or lease any
portion of the property
for a
period of 10
years after acquisition by condemnation is completed. If, after such 10-year
period, the sanitary district decides to sell or lease the property, it must
first offer the property for sale or lease to the previous owner of the land
from whom the sanitary district acquired the property. If the sanitary
district and such previous owner do not execute a contract for purchase or
lease of the property within 60 days from the initial offer, the sanitary
district then may offer the property for sale or lease to any other person.
If any district formed under this Act is unable to
agree with any other sanitary district upon the terms whereby it shall be
permitted to use the drains, channels or ditches of such other sanitary
district, the right to such use may be acquired by condemnation in any
circuit court by proceedings as provided in Section 4-17 of the Illinois
Drainage Code. The compensation to be paid for such use may be a gross sum,
or it may be in the form of an annual rental, to be paid in yearly
installments as provided by the judgment of the court wherein
such proceedings may be had. However, when such compensation is fixed at a
gross sum all moneys for the purchase and condemnation of any property
shall be paid before possession is taken or any work done on the premises
damaged by the construction of such channel or outlet, and in case of an
appeal from the circuit court taken by either party whereby the amount of
damages is not finally determined, then possession may be taken, if the
amount of judgment in such court is deposited at some bank or savings
and loan association to be designated by the court, subject to the payment
of such damages on orders signed by the circuit court, whenever the amount
of damages is finally determined. The sanitary district may sell, convey,
vacate and release the real or personal property, right of way and privileges
acquired by it when no longer required for the purposes of the district.
(b) A sanitary district may exercise its powers of eminent domain to acquire a public utility only if the Illinois Commerce Commission, following petition by the sanitary district, has granted approval for the sanitary district to proceed in accordance with the Eminent Domain Act. The following procedures must be followed when a sanitary district exercises its power of eminent domain to acquire a public utility.
- (1) The sanitary district shall petition the Commission for approval of the acquisition of a public utility by the exercise of eminent domain powers. The petition filed by the sanitary district shall state the following:
- (A) the caption of the case;
- (B) the date of the filing of the application;
- (C) the name and address of the condemnee;
- (D) the name and address of the condemnor;
- (E) a specific reference to the statute under which the condemnation action is authorized;
- (F) a specific reference to the action, whether by ordinance, resolution, or otherwise, by which the declaration of taking was authorized, including the date when such action was taken, and the place where the record may be examined;
- (G) a description of the purpose of the condemnation;
- (H) a reasonable description of the property to be condemned;
- (I) a statement of how just compensation will be made;
- (J) a statement that, if the condemnee wishes to challenge the proceeding, the condemnee shall file objections within 45 days after its receipt of the notice.
- (2) Within 30 days after the filing of a petition by the sanitary district of its intent to acquire by eminent domain all real and personal property, rights of way, and privileges of a public utility, the sanitary district shall serve a copy of the petition on the public utility and shall publish a notice of the filing of the petition in a newspaper of general circulation in the area served by the sanitary district. The sanitary district shall file a certificate of publication with the Commission as proof of publication.
- (3) Within 45 days after being served with the notice required by this Section, the condemnee may file objections to the petition with the Commission. All objections shall state specifically the grounds relied upon. All objections shall be raised at one time and in one document. The condemnee shall serve a copy of the objections upon the condemnor within 72 hours after the objections are filed with the Commission.
- (4) The Commission shall make a determination regarding the petition and any objections to the petition and shall make such orders and decrees as justice and law shall require. The Commission may take evidence by deposition or otherwise and shall entertain oral argument on all objections. The Commission shall make its determination within 105 days after its receipt of the objections of the condemnee, unless the Commission, in its discretion, extends the determination period for a further period not exceeding 6 months.
(c) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall approve
the taking of any property by a sanitary district under subsection (b), within or outside its boundaries, if it is in the public interest. The taking shall be considered to be in the public interest if the sanitary district establishes by a preponderance of the evidence:
- (1) that the sanitary district has been in existence as the operator of a wastewater system for at least 20 years;
- (2) that it will provide wastewater treatment service within the proposed area subject to condemnation at the same level of wastewater treatment service provided throughout the district;
- (3) that it will provide the wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal at the same or less operational and maintenance volumetric or bulk rate as the public utility whose property is subject to condemnation; and
- (4) that it is not financially impractical for the public utility to serve its remaining customers who are not in the area subject to condemnation. (Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09.)
(70 ILCS 2405/8.05)
Sec. 8.05. Eminent domain. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any power granted under this Act to acquire property by condemnation or eminent domain is subject to, and shall be exercised in accordance with, the Eminent Domain Act.
(Source: P.A. 94-1055, eff. 1-1-07.)
(70 ILCS 2405/8.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 307.1)
Sec. 8.1.
Every such sanitary district shall also have the power to lease
to others for any period of time, not exceeding 50 years, upon such terms
as its board of trustees may determine, any real estate, right-of-way, or
privilege, or any interest therein, or any part thereof, acquired by it
which, in the opinion of the board of trustees of such sanitary district,
is no longer required for its corporate purposes or which may not be
immediately needed for such purposes, and such leases may contain such
conditions and retain such interests therein as may be deemed for the best
interest of such sanitary district by such board of trustees; also any such
sanitary district shall have the right to grant easements and permits for
the use of any such real property, right-of-way, or privilege, which will
not in the opinion of the board of trustees of such sanitary district,
interfere with the use thereof by such sanitary district for its corporate
purposes, and such easements and permits may contain such conditions and
retain such interests therein as may be deemed for the best interests of
such sanitary district by such board of trustees.
(Source: P.A. 101-128, eff. 7-26-19.)
(70 ILCS 2405/8.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 307.2)
Sec. 8.2.
All bonds issued pursuant to this Act shall bear interest
at a rate or rates not exceeding that permitted by “An Act to authorize
public corporations to issue bonds, other evidences of indebtedness and
tax anticipation warrants subject to interest rate limitations set forth
therein”, approved May 26, 1970, as amended.
(Source: P.A. 83-591.)
(70 ILCS 2405/9) (from Ch. 42, par. 308)
Sec. 9.
Borrowing powers; debt limitation; referendum.
(a) The corporation may borrow money for corporate purposes and may issue
bonds for those purposes but shall not become indebted in any manner,
or for any purpose, to an amount in the aggregate exceeding 5.75% on the
valuation of taxable property in the district to be ascertained by the last
assessment for State and county taxes before the indebtedness was incurred or,
until January 1, 1983, if greater, the sum that is produced by multiplying the
district’s 1978 equalized assessed valuation by the debt limitation percentage
in effect on January 1, 1979.
The trustees shall also have the express power to borrow money from banks
or other financial institutions, execute a note or notes and a security
agreement to secure the payment of the note or notes, and provide security for
repayment of the note or notes by pledging district revenues or encumbering
district assets. The maximum amount that may be borrowed under this paragraph
shall not exceed $25,000,000 for the aggregate of all those
notes. The period
for repayment of any note shall not exceed 20 years.
The trustees shall also have the express power, without referendum, to
execute an agreement for a loan from the Water Pollution Control Revolving
Fund of the State of Illinois, under the Environmental Protection Act, and to
pledge revenues of the district for the repayment of the loan.
(b) Whenever the board of trustees of a district desires to issue bonds
under this Section they shall order a referendum to be held in the district on
the question. The board shall certify the question to the proper election
officials, who shall submit the question at an election in accordance with
the general election law. In addition to the requirements of the general
election law, the notice of referendum shall state the amount of bonds to
be issued. The question shall be in substantially the following form:
- Shall (name of district) issue bonds in the amount of $(amount)?
The votes shall be recorded as “Yes” or “No”. - The result of the referendum shall be entered in the records of the district.
If it appears that a majority of the voters voting at the election on the
question have voted in favor of the issue of the bonds, the board of trustees
shall order and direct the execution of the bonds for and on behalf of the
district. All bonds issued under this Section shall mature in not more than 20
annual installments.
(c) The corporation may borrow money for corporate purposes, and may issue
bonds for those purposes, without a referendum on the question if the
corporation or the board of trustees of the district has been directed, by an
order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or by an administrative
agency of the State of Illinois having jurisdiction to issue the order, to
abate its discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage and if the
borrowing is deemed necessary by the board of trustees of the sanitary district
to make possible compliance with the order. The amount of money that the
corporation may borrow to abate the sewage discharge shall be limited to that
required for that purpose plus any reasonable future expansion approved by the
court or an administrative agency of the State of Illinois having jurisdiction.
The ordinance providing for the bonds shall set out the fact that the bonds are
deemed necessary to make possible compliance with the order and shall be
published or posted in the manner provided in this Act for publication or
posting of ordinances making appropriations. The ordinance shall be in full
force and effect after its adoption and publication or posting as provided in
this subsection, notwithstanding any provision in this Act or any other law to
the contrary.
(Source: P.A. 89-558, eff. 7-26-96; 90-716, eff. 8-7-98.)
(70 ILCS 2405/9.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 308.1)
Sec. 9.1.
In addition to the powers and authority now possessed by it, the board
of trustees of any sanitary district organized under this Act shall have
the power by majority vote:
- (1) To lease from any public building commission created pursuant to the provisions of the Public Building Commission Act, approved July 5, 1955, and as amended from time to time, any real or personal property for the purpose of securing office or other space for its administrative corporate functions for a period of time not exceeding 40 years;
- (2) To pay for the use of this leased property in accordance with the terms of the lease and with the provisions of the Public Building Commission Act, approved July 5, 1955, as heretofore or hereafter amended;
- (3) To enter into such lease without making a previous appropriation for the expense thereby incurred; provided, however, that if the board of trustees of any sanitary district undertake to pay all or any part of the costs of operating and maintaining the property of a public building commission as authorized in sub-paragraph (4) of this section, such expense of operation and maintenance shall be included in the annual appropriation ordinance or annual budget, as the case may be, of such sanitary district annually during the term of such undertaking.
- (4) In addition, the board of trustees of any sanitary district may undertake, either in the lease with a public building commission or by separate agreement or contract with a public building commission, to pay all or any part of the costs of operating and maintaining the property of a public building commission for any period of time not exceeding 40 years.
(Source: P.A. 77-1349.)
(70 ILCS 2405/9.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 308.2)
Sec. 9.2.
In addition to the powers and authority now possessed by it,
the board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under this Act
shall have the power by majority vote:
(a) To use the general funds of the sanitary district to defend,
indemnify and hold harmless, in whole or in part, the board of trustees,
members of the board of trustees, officials and employees of the sanitary
district, including former members of the board of trustees and former
officials and employees, from financial loss and expenses, including court
costs, investigation costs, actuarial studies, attorneys’ fees and actual
and punitive damages, arising out of any proceedings (including but not
limited to proceedings alleging antitrust violations or the deprivation of
civil or constitutional rights), claims, demands or judgments instituted,
made or entered against such board, trustee, official or employee by reason
of its or his statements, acts or omissions, provided that such statements,
acts or omissions occur within the scope of employment of such board,
trustee, official or employee; and provided, further, that no sanitary
district shall elect to indemnify any member of the board of trustees,
officer, or employee for any portion of a judgment representing an award of
punitive or exemplary damages unless the statements, acts, or omissions
giving rise to such judgment do not constitute wilful and wanton misconduct.
(b) (i) To obtain and provide for any or all of the matters and purposes
described in paragraph (a) public officials’ liability, comprehensive
general liability and such other forms of insurance coverage as the board
of trustees shall determine necessary or advisable, any insurance so
obtained and provided to be carried in a company or companies licensed
to write such coverage in this State, and (ii) to establish and provide for
any or all of the matters and purposes described in paragraph (a) a program
of self-insurance and, in furtherance thereof, to establish and accumulate
reserves for the payment of financial loss and expenses, including court
costs, investigation costs, actuarial studies, attorneys’ fees and actual
and punitive damages associated with liabilities arising out of civil
proceedings, claims, demands or judgments instituted, made or entered as
set forth in paragraph (a), and (iii) in connection with providing for any
or all of the matters and purposes described in paragraph (a) and when
permitted by law to enter into an agreement with any special district, unit
of government, person or corporation for the use of property or the
performance of any function, service or act, to agree to the sharing or
allocation of liabilities and damages resulting from such use of property
or performance of function, service or act, in which event such agreement
may provide for contribution or indemnification by any or all of the
parties to the agreement upon any liability arising out of the performance
of the agreement.
If the board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under this
Act undertakes to provide insurance or to establish a program of
self-insurance and to establish and accumulate reserves for any or all of
the matters and purposes described in paragraph (a), such reserves shall be
established and accumulated for such matters and purposes subject to the
following conditions:
- (1) The amount of such reserves shall not exceed the amount necessary and proper, based on past experience or independent actuarial determinations;
- (2) All earnings derived from such reserves shall be considered part of the reserves and may be used only for the same matters and purposes for which the reserves may be used;
- (3) Reserves may be used only: for the purposes of making payments for financial loss and expenses, including actual and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, court costs, investigation costs and actuarial studies associated with liabilities arising out of civil proceedings, claims, demands or judgments instituted, made or entered as set forth in paragraph (a) in connection with the statements, acts or omissions of the board or of a trustee, official or employee of the board or the district which statements, acts or omissions occur while the board, trustee, official or employee is acting within the scope of its or his duties or employment and which statements, acts or omissions do not constitute wilful and wanton misconduct; for payment of insurance premiums; and for the purposes of making payments for losses resulting from any insured peril;
- (4) All funds collected for the matters and purposes specified in subparagraph (3) above or earmarked for such matters and purposes must be placed in the reserves; and
- (5) Whenever the reserves have a balance in excess of what is necessary and proper, then contributions, charges, assessments or other forms of funding for the reserves shall be appropriately decreased.
(Source: P.A. 85-782; 86-1307.)
(70 ILCS 2405/9.5) (from Ch. 42, par. 308 1/2)
Sec. 9.5.
In addition to the powers and authority now possessed by them,
the board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under this Act
shall have the power, by majority vote:
(a) To convey, grant, transfer or sell to the United States of
America, or to any proper agency thereof, any real or personal property
owned by the sanitary district upon such terms as may be agreed upon by
the board of trustees, or in consideration of a grant or loan of money
by the federal government, or any agency thereof, for the construction,
extension or improvement of any public works project or building.
(b) To enter into a lease or contract with the United States of
America, or any proper agency thereof with reference to any real or
personal property for use for any sanitary district purpose, for any
period of time not exceeding fifty years, with or without an option to
buy such property and with or without a clause to the effect that title
to such leased property shall vest in the district at the expiration of
such lease.
(c) To pay for the use of any such leased property in accordance
with the terms of such lease; provided that such lease may be entered
into without an appropriation for the expense thereby incurred having
been previously made; and provided further, that no obligation to pay
incurred under such lease shall be considered to be an indebtedness of
the district within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory
limitation upon such indebtedness, but such obligation shall be
considered a current expense of the year for which paid and not an
indebtedness of the district.
(d) To authorize any official to enter into any such lease and to
sign the same on behalf of the district, and to execute any deed or
other evidence of transfer of title on behalf of the district, to effect
or evidence any exercise of the powers hereby granted.
(Source: P.A. 87-895.)
(70 ILCS 2405/10) (from Ch. 42, par. 309)
Sec. 10.
At the time of or before incurring any indebtedness, the board of
trustees shall provide for the collection of a direct annual tax sufficient
to pay the interest on such debt as it falls due, and also to pay and
discharge the principal thereof, as the same shall fall due, and at least
within twenty years from the time of contracting the same.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/11) (from Ch. 42, par. 310)
Sec. 11.
Except as otherwise hereinafter provided, all contracts for
purchases or sales by a sanitary district organized under this Act, the expense
of which will exceed
the mandatory competitive bid threshold, shall be let to the
lowest responsible bidder therefor upon not
less than 14 days’ public notice of the terms and conditions upon which the
contract is to be let, having been given by publication in a newspaper of
general circulation published in the district, and the board may reject any
and all bids, and readvertise.
In determining the lowest responsible bidder, the board shall take into
consideration the qualities and serviceability of the articles supplied, their
conformity with specifications, their suitability to the requirements of the
district, the availability of support services, the uniqueness of the service,
materials, equipment, or supplies as it applies to network integrated computer
systems, the compatibility of the service, materials, equipment or supplies
with existing equipment, and the delivery terms. Contracts for services in
excess of the mandatory competitive bid threshold may, subject
to the provisions of this Section, be let by
competitive bidding at the discretion of the district board of trustees.
Cash, a cashier’s check, a certified check, or a bid bond with adequate
surety
approved by the board of trustees as a deposit of good faith, in a reasonable
amount, but not in excess of 10% of the contract amount, may be required of
each bidder by the district on all bids involving amounts in excess of
the
mandatory competitive bid threshold and, if so required, the advertisement for
bids shall so specify.
All contracts for purchases or sales that will not exceed the mandatory
competitive bid threshold may be made
in the open market without publication in a newspaper as above provided,
but whenever practical shall be based on at least 3 competitive bids. For
purposes of this Section, the “mandatory competitive bid threshold”
is a dollar amount equal to 0.1% of the total general fixed
assets of the district as reported in the most recent required audit report.
In
no event, however, shall the mandatory competitive bid threshold dollar amount
be less than $10,000, nor more than $40,000.
If a unit of local government performs non-emergency construction, alteration, repair, improvement, or maintenance work on the public way, the sanitary district may enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the unit of local government allowing similar construction work to be performed by the sanitary district on the same project, in an amount no greater than $100,000, to save taxpayer funds and eliminate duplication of government effort. The sanitary district and the other unit of local government shall, before work is performed by either unit of local government on a project, adopt a resolution by a majority vote of both governing bodies certifying work will occur at a specific location, the reasons why both units of local government require work to be performed in the same location, and the projected cost savings if work is performed by both units of local government on the same project. Officials or employees of the sanitary district may, if authorized by resolution, purchase in the open market any supplies, materials, equipment, or services for use within the project in an amount no greater than $100,000 without advertisement or without filing a requisition or estimate. A full written account of each project performed by the sanitary district and a requisition for the materials, supplies, equipment, and services used by the sanitary district required to complete the project must be submitted by the officials or employees authorized to make purchases to the board of trustees of the sanitary district no later than 30 days after purchase. The full written account must be available for public inspection for at least one year after expenditures are made.
Contracts which by their nature are not adapted to award by competitive
bidding, including, without limitation, contracts for the services of
individuals, groups or firms possessing a high degree of professional skill
where the ability or fitness of the individual or organization plays an
important part, contracts for financial management services undertaken
pursuant to “An Act relating to certain investments of public funds by
public agencies”, approved July 23, 1943, as now or hereafter amended,
contracts for the purchase or sale of utilities, contracts for materials
economically procurable only from a single source of supply, contracts for
the use, purchase, delivery, movement, or installation of
data processing equipment, software, or services and telecommunications and
interconnect equipment, software, or services, contracts for duplicating
machines and supplies, contracts for goods or services procured from another
governmental agency, purchases of equipment previously owned by an entity
other than the district itself, and leases of
real property where the sanitary district is the lessee shall not be
subject to the competitive bidding requirements of this Section.
The competitive bidding requirements of this Section do not apply to
contracts for construction of a facility or structure for the sanitary district
when the facility or structure will be designed, built, and tested before being
conveyed to the sanitary district.
The competitive bidding requirements of this Section do not apply to
contracts, including contracts for both materials and services incidental
thereto, for the repair or replacement of a sanitary district’s treatment
plant, sewers, equipment, or facilities damaged or destroyed as the result of a
sudden or unexpected occurrence, including, but not limited to, a flood, fire,
tornado, earthquake, storm, or other natural or man-made disaster, if the
board of trustees determines in writing that the awarding of those contracts
without competitive bidding is reasonably necessary for the sanitary district
to maintain compliance with a permit issued under the National Pollution
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) or any successor system or with any
outstanding order relating to that compliance issued by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
or the Illinois Pollution Control Board. The authority to issue contracts
without competitive bidding pursuant to this paragraph expires 6 months after
the date of the writing determining that the awarding of contracts without
competitive bidding is reasonably necessary.
Where the board of trustees declares, by a 2/3 vote of all members of the
board, that there exists an emergency affecting the public health or safety,
contracts totaling not more than the emergency contract cap may
be let to the extent necessary to
resolve such emergency without public advertisement or competitive bidding.
For purposes of this Section, the “emergency contract cap” is a dollar
amount equal to 0.4% of the total general fixed assets of
the
district as reported in the most recent required audit report.
In no event,
however, shall the emergency contract cap dollar amount be less than $40,000,
nor more than $100,000.
The ordinance or resolution embodying the
emergency declaration shall contain the date upon which such emergency will
terminate. The board of trustees may extend the termination
date if in its judgment the circumstances so require. A full written account
of the emergency, together with a requisition for the materials, supplies,
labor or equipment required therefor shall be submitted immediately upon
completion and shall be open to public inspection for a period of at least
one year subsequent to the date of such emergency purchase.
Within 30 days after the passage of the resolution or ordinance declaring an
emergency
affecting the public health or safety, the District shall submit to the
Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency the full written account of any such emergency
along
with a copy of the resolution or ordinance declaring the emergency, in
accordance with
requirements as may be provided by rule.
A contract for any work or other public improvement, to be paid for in
whole or in part by special assessment or special taxation, shall be entered into and the
performance thereof controlled by Division 2 of Article 9 of the “Illinois
Municipal Code”, approved May 29, 1961, as heretofore and hereafter
amended, as near as may be. The contracts may be let for making proper
and suitable connections between the mains and outlets of the respective
sewers in the district with any conduit, conduits, main pipe or pipes that
may be constructed by such sanitary district.
(Source: P.A. 100-882, eff. 8-14-18.)
(70 ILCS 2405/11.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 310.1)
Sec. 11.1.
Purchases made pursuant to this Act shall be made in
compliance with the “Local Government Prompt Payment Act”, approved by the
Eighty-fourth General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 84-731.)
(70 ILCS 2405/11.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 310.2)
Sec. 11.2.
It is the policy of this State that all powers granted,
either expressly or by necessary implication, by this Act or any other
Illinois statute to the district may be exercised by the district
notwithstanding effects on competition. It is the intention of the General
Assembly that the “state action exemption” to the application of federal
antitrust statutes be fully available to the district to the extent its
activities are authorized by law as stated herein.
(Source: P.A. 85-1136.)
(70 ILCS 2405/12) (from Ch. 42, par. 311)
Sec. 12.
After August 2, 1965, the board of trustees may levy and collect
other taxes for corporate purposes upon property within the territorial
limits of the sanitary district, the aggregate amount of which for each
year shall be at a rate not to exceed .083% of the value, as equalized
or assessed by the Department of Revenue, except that
if a higher rate has been established by referendum before August 2,
1965, it shall continue. If the board desires to levy such taxes at a
rate in excess of .083% but not in excess of .166% of the value of all
taxable property within the district as equalized or assessed by the
Department of Revenue, they shall order the question to be submitted in
a referendum held in the district. The board shall certify the question
to the proper election officials who shall submit the question at an election
in accordance with the general election law. The right to levy
an additional tax, heretofore or hereafter authorized by the legal
voters, may at any time after one or more tax levies thereunder, be
terminated by a majority vote of the electors of the district at a referendum
in accordance with the general election law. The
trustees of any such district shall cause submission of the proposition to terminate
the additional taxing power when petitioned so to do by not less than
10% of the legal voters of that district.
In addition to the other taxes authorized by this Section, the board
of trustees may levy and collect, without referendum, a tax for the
purpose of paying the costs of operation of the chlorination of sewage,
or other means of disinfection or additional treatment as may be
required by water quality standards approved or adopted by the Pollution
Control Board or by the court, which tax is not subject to the rate
limitations imposed by this Section but may be extended at a rate not to
exceed .03% of the value of all taxable property within the district as
equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue.
Such tax may be extended at a rate in excess of .03% but not to
exceed .05%, providing the question of levying such increase has first
been submitted to the voters of such district at any regular
election held in such district in accordance with the general election law
and has been approved by a majority of
such voters voting thereon.
The board shall cause the amount required to be raised by taxation in
each year to be certified to the county clerk by the second Tuesday in
September, as provided in Section 157 of the General Revenue Law of
Illinois. All taxes so levied and certified shall be collected and
enforced in the same manner and by the same officers as State and county
taxes, and shall be paid over by the officer collecting those taxes to
the treasurer of the sanitary district in the manner and at the time
provided by the General Revenue Law of Illinois.
The treasurer shall, when the moneys of the district are deposited
with any bank or savings and loan association,
require that bank or savings and loan association
to pay the same rates of interest for the moneys deposited as the bank
or savings and loan association is accustomed to
pay depositors under like
circumstances, in the usual course of its business.
All interest so paid shall be placed in the general fund of the
district, to be used as other moneys belonging to the district raised by
general taxation.
(Source: P.A. 83-541.)
(70 ILCS 2405/12a) (from Ch. 42, par. 311a)
Sec. 12a.
The board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under
the provisions of this Act, shall designate one or more banks or savings
and loan associations in which the funds and moneys of the sanitary district in the
custody of the treasurer or custodian of such district may be kept. When a
bank or savings and loan association has been designated as a depositary
it shall continue as such until 10
days have elapsed after a new depository is designated and has qualified by
furnishing the statements of resources and liabilities as is required by
this Section. When a new depository is designated, the board of trustees
shall notify the sureties of the treasurer or custodian of that fact, in
writing, at least 5 days before the transfer of funds. The treasurer or
custodian shall be discharged from responsibility for all such funds and
moneys which he deposits in a depositary so designated while such funds and
moneys are so deposited.
No bank or savings and loan association shall receive public funds as
permitted by this Section, unless it has complied with the requirements
established pursuant to Section 6 of “An Act relating to certain investments of public
funds by public agencies”, approved July 23, 1943, as now or hereafter amended.
(Source: P.A. 83-541.)
(70 ILCS 2405/12.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 311.1)
Sec. 12.1.
The provisions of Sections 18-120, 18-125, and 18-130 of the
Property Tax Code shall not apply to Section 12 of this Act unless
within 30 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1957 a
petition is filed with the clerk of the board of trustees signed by not less
than 5% of the registered voters of the district requesting the submission to a
referendum of the following proposition:
“Shall the provisions of Sections 18-120, 18-125, and 18-130 of the
Property Tax Code continue in effect in ….(name of sanitary
district)?”
The Board of trustees shall certify the proposition to the proper election
officials, who shall submit the proposition at an election in accordance
with the general election law.
If a majority of voters voting on the proposition vote in favor of
the proposition, then the provisions of Sections 18-120, 18-125, and 18-130
of the Property Tax Code
shall remain in effect in such district. If the majority vote is against the
proposition, then the board of trustees may levy taxes for corporate purposes
at the maximum rate permitted in Section 12 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 88-670, eff. 12-2-94.)
(70 ILCS 2405/13) (from Ch. 42, par. 312)
Sec. 13.
Every such district is authorized to construct, maintain, alter
and extend its sewers, channels, ditches and drains, as a proper use of
highways along, upon, under and across any highway, street, alley or public
ground in the state, but so as not to incommode the public use thereof, and
the right and authority are hereby granted to any such district to
construct, maintain and operate any conduit or conduits, main pipe or
pipes, wholly or partially submerged, buried or otherwise, in, upon and
along any of the lands owned by said state under any of the public waters
therein; Provided, that the extent and location of the lands and waters so
as to be used and appropriated by the Governor of said State of Illinois,
upon application duly made to him asking for such approval: And provided
further that the rights, permission and authority hereby granted shall be
subject to all public rights of commerce and navigation, and to the
authority of the United States in behalf of such public rights and also to
the right of said State of Illinois to regulate and control fishing in said
public waters.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/14) (from Ch. 42, par. 313)
Sec. 14.
Whenever there shall be located within the bounds of any such
sanitary district organized under the provisions of this act, any United
States military post, reservation or station, or any naval station, the
said board of trustees of such district are hereby authorized to enter into
contracts or agreements with the War Department, or other proper
authorities of the United States, permitting them to connect with any such
conduit or conduits, main pipe or pipes, and discharge the drainage, sewage
or other impure or contaminated liquids therein.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/15) (from Ch. 42, par. 314)
Sec. 15.
Whenever the board of trustees of any sanitary district shall pass
an ordinance for the making of any improvement which such district is
authorized to make, the making of which will require that private property
should be taken or damaged, such district may cause compensation therefor
to be ascertained, and may condemn and acquire possession thereof in the
same manner as nearly as may be as is provided for the exercise of the right
of eminent domain under the Eminent Domain Act, as amended, except
that (i) proceedings
to ascertain the compensation to be paid for taking or damaging private
property shall in all cases be instituted in the county where the property
sought to be taken or damaged is situated, and (ii) all damages
to property, whether determined by agreement or by final judgment of court,
shall be paid prior to the payment of any other debt or obligation.
(Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16) (from Ch. 42, par. 315)
Sec. 16.
When, in making any improvements which any district is authorized
by this Act to make, it shall be necessary to enter upon and take
possession of any existing drains, sewers, sewer outlets, plants for the
purification of sewage or water, or any other public property, or property
held for public use, the board of trustees of such district shall have the
power to do and may acquire the necessary right of way over any other
property held for public use in the same manner as is herein provided for
acquiring private property, and may enter upon, and use the same for the
purposes aforesaid: Provided, the public use thereof shall not be
unnecessarily interrupted or interfered with, and that the same shall be
restored to its former usefulness as soon as possible.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.1)
Sec. 16.1.
Any sanitary district created hereunder, after being authorized
by an affirmative vote of the legal voters of the district at an election
to be held as is hereinafter provided, may acquire, purchase or construct a
waterworks, and thereafter operate, improve and extend the same, and pay
the cost of such purchase, construction, improvement or extension by the
issuance and sale of revenue bonds of the district, payable solely from the
revenue to be derived from the operation of the waterworks.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 950.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.2)
Sec. 16.2.
The trustees of such district, when petitioned so to do by
not less than 10% of the legal voters of such district, shall certify
the proposition of whether the district should acquire,
purchase or construct, and thereafter operate, improve and extend a
waterworks, or any one or more waterworks, and to pay the cost of such
acquisition, purchase, construction, improvement or extension by the
issuance and sale of revenue bonds of the district, payable solely from
the revenue to be derived from the operation of the waterworks to the
proper election officials who shall submit the question at an election in
accordance with the general election law. Such election shall be governed
by the provisions of this
Act which relate to elections held to decide on the proposition of
issuing bonds of the district. The proposition shall be in substantially
the following form:
————————————————————–
Shall the…. Sanitary District
acquire by purchase or construction,
and thereafter operate, improve or YES
extend a waterworks and pay the cost
thereof by the issuance and sale of ———————–
revenue bonds of the district
payable solely from the revenues to NO
be derived from the operation of the
waterworks?
————————————————————–
If it appears that a majority of the voters, voting
on the proposition, have voted in favor thereof, then the trustees of
the district are authorized to acquire by purchase or construction, and
thereafter operate, improve or extend a waterworks, and to pay the cost
of such acquisition, purchase or construction, improvement or extension
by the issuance and sale of revenue bonds of the district payable solely
from the revenue to be derived from the operation of the waterworks.
(Source: P.A. 81-1489.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.3) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.3)
Sec. 16.3.
The trustees of any district, having been authorized by an
election held pursuant to the preceding Section, being desirous of
exercising such authority, shall have an estimate made of the cost of the
acquisition of the contemplated waterworks, and by ordinance shall provide
for the issuance of revenue bonds. The ordinance shall set forth a brief
description of the contemplated waterworks, the estimated cost of
acquisition or construction thereof, the amount, rate of interest, time and
place of payment, and other details in connection with the issuance of the
bonds. The bonds shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding that permitted
by “An Act to authorize public corporations to issue bonds, other evidences
of indebtedness and tax anticipation warrants subject to interest rate limitations
set forth therein”, approved May 26, 1970, as amended, payable
semi-annually, and shall be payable at such times and places not exceeding
20 years from their date as shall be prescribed in the ordinance providing
for their issuance.
This ordinance may contain such covenants and restrictions upon the
issuance of additional revenue bonds thereafter as may be deemed necessary
or advisable for the assurance of payment of the bonds thereby authorized
and as may be thereafter issued, and shall pledge the revenues derived from
the operation of the waterworks for the purpose of paying all maintenance
and operation costs, principal and interest on all bonds issued under the
provisions of this Act, and for providing an adequate depreciation fund,
which depreciation fund is hereby defined for the purposes of this Act to
be for such replacements as may be necessary from time to time for the
continued effective and efficient operation of the waterworks properties of
such district, and such fund shall not be allowed to accumulate beyond a
reasonable amount necessary for that purpose, the terms and provisions of
which shall be incorporated in the ordinance authorizing the issuance of
the bonds.
(Source: P.A. 83-591.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.4) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.4)
Sec. 16.4.
Any ordinance adopted pursuant to the preceding Section
shall be published in a newspaper published and having a general
circulation in the district undertaking the project or, if there is no
such newspaper, it shall be posted in at least 3 of the most public
places in the district. The publication or posting of the ordinance shall
be accompanied by a notice of (1) the specific number of voters required
to sign a petition requesting that the question of acquiring, constructing,
purchasing, improving or extending the waterworks, and the issuance of revenue
bonds to be submitted to the electors; (2) the time in which such petition
must be filed; and (3) the date of the prospective referendum. The clerk
of the district shall provide a petition form to any individual requesting one.
If no petition for an election is filed with the Clerk of the
district within 30 days after such publication or posting, then, at the
expiration of 30 days, the ordinance shall be in effect. If, however,
within the period of 30 days a petition is filed with the clerk, signed
by voters of the district numbering 10% or more of the registered voters
within the district, asking that the question of acquiring, constructing,
purchasing, improving or extending the waterworks, and the issuance of
revenue bonds therefor, as provided in the ordinance, be submitted to the
electors of the district, the trustees shall certify such question to the
proper election officials, who shall submit the question at an election in
accordance with the general election law to decide whether the project and
issuance of bonds of the district, as set forth in the ordinance, should
be approved.
If it appears that a majority of the votes cast on the question are in
favor thereof, the ordinance takes effect. But if a majority of the votes
cast on the question are unfavorable, the trustees shall proceed no further
and the ordinance does not take effect.
(Source: P.A. 87-767.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.5a) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.5a)
Sec. 16.5a.
Whenever the trustees of a district have
been authorized by the affirmative vote of the legal voters of the
district to acquire by purchase or construction and thereafter
operate, improve or extend waterworks, as provided in this Act,
the cost of the purchase or construction of waterworks and the
cost of making further improvements and extensions thereto may be paid
from the proceeds to be received from the sale of revenue bonds which
may not constitute an indebtedness of the district and shall be
payable solely and only from the revenues to be derived from
the operation of the waterworks of the district or from assessments to be
levied against property which will be benefited, or both, determined
by the board of trustees. If revenue bonds are to be issued under this
Section for the purpose of paying the cost of improving or extending
waterworks, the procedure for the issuance of those bonds and the rights,
duties, powers and authority of the board of trustees of the district shall
be the same as is provided in this Act for the issuance of revenue bonds for
the purchase or construction of waterworks by a sanitary district.
It shall constitute no objection to any special assessment that the
improvement for which the special assessment is levied is situated partly
outside the limits of such sanitary district but no special assessment may
be made upon property situated outside of such sanitary district and no
property may be assessed more than it will be benefited by the improvement
for which the assessment is levied or more than its proportionate share of
the cost of such improvement. Where the board of trustees determines to
issue revenue bonds provided for such waterworks such bonds shall be issued
in such amounts as may be necessary to provide sufficient funds to pay all
costs of acquisition, including engineering, legal, and other expenses,
together with interest to a date 6 months subsequent to the estimated date
of completion. Bonds issued for such waterworks are negotiable instruments.
They shall be executed by the president and by the district clerk and
shall be sealed with the corporate seal of the district. In case any of
the officers whose signatures appear on the bonds, or coupons attached
thereto, ceases to hold his office before delivery of the bonds, his
signature nevertheless shall be valid and sufficient for all purposes the
same as if he had remained in office until the delivery of the bonds. The
bonds shall be sold in such manner as the trustees shall determine except
that, if issued to bear interest at the maximum rate authorized by the Bond
Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the making of the contract,
the bonds shall be sold for not less than par and accrued interest, and
except that the selling price of bonds bearing less than the maximum rate
authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the
making of the contract, shall be such that the interest cost to the
district of the money received from the bond sale shall not exceed the
maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the
time of the making of the contract, computed to maturity according to
standard tables of bond values. The proceedings for making, levying,
collecting and enforcing of any special assessment levied under this
Section the letting of contracts, performance
of the work and all other matters pertaining to the construction and
making of the improvement shall be the same, as nearly as may be, as is
prescribed in Division 2 of Article 9 of the Illinois Municipal Code,
approved May 29, 1961, as now or hereafter amended. Whenever in that
Division 2 “city council” or “board of local improvements” are used, the term
applies to the board of trustees under this Act, “mayor” or “president of
the board of local improvement” applies to the president of the board of
trustees constituted by this Act, and any terms applying to the city or its
officers in that Article apply to the sanitary district under this Act and its
officers.
With respect to instruments for the payment of money issued under this
Section either before, on, or after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of 1989, it is and always has been the intention of the General
Assembly (i) that the Omnibus Bond Acts are and always have been
supplementary grants of power to issue instruments in accordance with the
Omnibus Bond Acts, regardless of any provision of this Act that may appear
to be or to have been more restrictive than those Acts, (ii) that the
provisions of this Section are not a limitation on the supplementary
authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts, and (iii) that instruments
issued under this Section within the supplementary authority granted
by the Omnibus Bond Acts are not invalid because of any provision of
this Act that may appear to be or to have been more restrictive than
those Acts.
(Source: P.A. 86-4.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.6) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.6)
Sec. 16.6.
Revenue bonds issued hereunder shall be payable solely from the
revenue derived from the operation of the waterworks properties maintained
and operated by said district. These bonds shall not in any event
constitute an indebtedness of the district within the meaning of any
constitutional or statutory limitation. It shall be plainly stated on the
face of each bond that the bond has been issued under this Act and that it
does not constitute an indebtedness of the district within the meaning of
any constitutional or statutory limitation.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 950.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.7) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.7)
Sec. 16.7.
Any holder of any bond or bonds issued under this Act, or of any
of the coupons appertaining thereto, may by a civil action, mandamus,
injunction or other proceeding,
enforce and compel the performance of all duties required by Section 16.1
to 16.12, inclusive, of this Act, including the making and collection of
sufficient rates for the specified purposes provided by such Sections and
the proper application of the income therefrom.
(Source: P.A. 83-345.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.8) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.8)
Sec. 16.8.
Any district issuing revenue bonds as provided by this Act shall
charge rates for all services performed by the waterworks properties of the
district, sufficient at all times to pay the cost of operation and
maintenance, to provide an adequate depreciation fund, and to pay the
principal of and interest upon all revenue bonds issued for such
waterworks.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 950.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.9) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.9)
Sec. 16.9. The trustees of the sanitary district may acquire, by purchase
or contract with an individual, corporation or municipality, a waterworks
sufficient for the needs of the inhabitants of the district. In the event
that the trustees are unable to agree with any person, corporation or
municipality upon the terms under which it may acquire such a waterworks
under this Act, then the right to obtain such waterworks may be acquired by
condemnation in a circuit court
by proceedings in the
manner as near as may be as is provided for the exercise of the right of
eminent domain under the Eminent Domain Act.
The compensation or rates to be paid for such
waterworks and the manner of payment shall be determined by the
judgment of the court wherein such proceedings take place.
(Source: P.A. 94-1055, eff. 1-1-07.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.10) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.10)
Sec. 16.10. For the purpose of purchasing any waterworks under this Act or
for the purpose of purchasing any property necessary therefor, the district
has the right of eminent domain as provided by the Eminent Domain Act.
(Source: P.A. 94-1055, eff. 1-1-07.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.11) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.11)
Sec. 16.11.
Whenever a district owns and operates a waterworks, whether
purchased or constructed under this Act, and desires to construct
improvements or extensions thereto, it may issue revenue bonds under this
Act to pay for that construction. The procedure for that issuance,
including the fixing of rates and the computation of the amount thereof,
shall be the same as is provided in this Act for the issuance of bonds for
the purchase or construction of a waterworks by a sanitary district.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 950.)
(70 ILCS 2405/16.12) (from Ch. 42, par. 315.12)
Sec. 16.12.
Any district issuing revenue bonds under this Act of a
waterworks shall install and maintain a proper system of accounts, showing
the amount of revenue received and its application. At least once a year
the district shall have the accounts properly audited by a competent
auditor. The report of that audit shall be open for inspection at all
proper times to any taxpayer, user, or any holder of bonds issued under
this Act, or to anyone acting for and on behalf of the taxpayer, user, or
bondholder. The treasurer of the district shall be custodian and ex-officio
collector of the funds derived from income received from a waterworks
purchased or constructed under the provisions of this Act. He shall give
proper bond for the faithful discharge of his duties as such custodian, and
this bond shall be fixed and approved by the trustees.
All of the funds received as income from a waterworks purchased or
constructed in whole or in part under the provisions of this Act, and all
of the funds received from the sale of revenue bonds shall be kept separate
and apart from the other funds of the district.
(Source: Laws 1967, p. 950.)
(70 ILCS 2405/17) (from Ch. 42, par. 316)
Sec. 17.
Any district formed hereunder shall have the right to permit
territory lying outside its limits whether within any other sanitary
district or not to drain into and use any channel or drain made by it, upon
such payments, terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon, and any
district formed hereunder is hereby given full power and authority to
contract for the right to use any drain or channel which may be made by any
other sanitary district, upon such terms as may be mutually agreed upon,
and to raise the money called for by any such contract in the same way and
to the same extent as such district is authorized to raise money for any
other corporate purposes.
(Source: Laws 1917, p. 396.)
(70 ILCS 2405/17.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 316.1)
Sec. 17.1. Acquiring district or municipal treatment works.
(a) After incorporation, any district organized under this Act may, in
accordance with this Act and an intergovernmental agreement with the sanitary
district being acquired or the municipality from whom the treatment works and
lines are to be acquired, acquire the territory, treatment works, lines,
appurtenances, and other property of (i) any sanitary district organized under
this Act, the Sanitary District Act of 1907, the North Shore Water Reclamation District
Act, the Sanitary District Act of 1936, or the Metro-East Sanitary District Act
of 1974 or (ii) any municipality whose treatment works were established under
the Illinois Municipal Code or the Municipal Wastewater Disposal Zones Act,
regardless of whether that district or municipality is contiguous to the
acquiring sanitary district. The distance between the sanitary district being
acquired or municipality and the acquiring sanitary district, however, as
measured between the points on their corporate boundaries that are nearest to
each other, shall not exceed 20 miles. In the case of a municipality, only that
property used by the municipality for transport, treatment, and discharge of
wastewater and for disposal of sewage sludge shall be transferred to the
acquiring sanitary district.
(b) The board of trustees of the sanitary district being acquired, or
the corporate authorities of a municipality whose treatment works is being
acquired, shall, jointly with the board of trustees of the acquiring sanitary
district, petition the circuit court of the county containing all or the larger
portion of the sanitary district being acquired or the municipality to permit
the acquisition. The petition shall show the following:
- (1) The reason for the acquisition.
- (2) That there are no debts of the sanitary district being acquired or municipality outstanding, or that there are sufficient funds on hand or available to satisfy those debts.
- (3) That no contract or federal or State permit or grant will be impaired by the acquisition.
- (4) That all assets and responsibilities of the sanitary district being acquired or municipality, as they relate to wastewater treatment, have been properly assigned to the acquiring sanitary district.
- (5) That the acquiring sanitary district will pay any court costs incurred in connection with the petition.
- (6) The boundaries of the acquired sanitary district or municipality as of the date of the petition.
(c) Upon adequate notice, including appropriate notice to the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, the circuit court shall hold a hearing to
determine whether there is good cause for the acquisition by the acquiring
district and whether the allegations of the petition are true. If the court
finds that there is good cause and that the allegations are true, it shall
order the acquisition to proceed. If the court finds that there is not good
cause for the acquisition or that the allegations of the petition are not true,
the court shall dismiss the petition. In either event, the costs shall be taxed
against the acquiring sanitary district. The order shall be final. Separate or
joint appeals may be taken by any party affected by the order as in other civil
cases.
(d) If the court orders the acquisition contemplated in the petition,
there shall be no further appointments of trustees if the acquired agency
is a sanitary district. The trustees of the acquired sanitary district acting
at the time of the order shall close up the business affairs of the sanitary
district and make the necessary conveyances of title to the sanitary district
property in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the
acquiring and acquired sanitary districts. In the case of a municipality, the
governing body of the municipality shall make the necessary conveyances of
title to municipal property to the acquiring sanitary district in accordance
with the intergovernmental agreement between the municipality and the acquiring
sanitary district. The acquiring sanitary district’s ordinances take effect in
the acquired territory upon entry of the order.
(e) The acquisition of any sanitary district by another sanitary
district or the acquisition of a treatment works from a municipality by
another sanitary district shall not affect the obligation of any bonds
issued or contracts entered into by the acquired sanitary district or
the municipality, nor invalidate the levy, extension, or collection of any
taxes or special assessments upon a property in the acquired sanitary district,
but all those bonds and contracts shall be discharged. The general obligation
indebtedness of the acquired sanitary district shall be paid from the proceeds
of continuing taxes and special assessments as provided in this Act.
All money remaining after the business affairs of the acquired sanitary
district or acquired treatment works of the municipality have been closed up
and all debts and obligations of the entities paid shall be paid to the
acquiring sanitary district in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement
between the parties.
(f) The board of trustees of the acquiring sanitary district required to
provide sewer service under this Act may levy and collect, for that purpose, a
tax on the taxable property within that district. The aggregate amount of the
tax shall be as provided in this Act.
(g) Any intergovernmental agreement entered into by the parties
under this Section shall provide for the imposition or continuance of a
user charge system in accordance with the acquiring district’s ordinance,
the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, and the federal Clean Water Act.
(h) All courts shall take judicial notice of the acquisition of the
sanitary district being acquired or municipal treatment works by the acquiring
sanitary district.
(Source: P.A. 99-669, eff. 7-29-16.)
(70 ILCS 2405/17.2)
Sec. 17.2. Acquisition of privately owned treatment works.
(a) After incorporation, any district organized under this Act may, in accordance with this Act, acquire by purchase or condemnation the territory, treatment works, lines, appurtenances, water treatment works, storage tanks, water lines, and other property of a privately owned public sewer and water utility treatment works that is not located within any other sanitary district, regardless of whether the area serviced by the treatment works is contiguous to the acquiring sanitary district. If, at the time of acquisition, the treatment works is located within a municipality, then the treatment works may not be acquired by the sanitary district without the consent of that municipality. The distance between the treatment works being acquired and the acquiring sanitary district, as measured from the point of discharge of the treatment works and the corporate boundary of the acquiring sanitary district at its nearest point, shall be within 15 miles and shall be located in the sanitary district’s facility planning area (FPA).
(b) The acquisition of the treatment works by a sanitary district shall not affect the obligation of any bonds issued in the sanitary district or in the territory serviced by the treatment works or invalidate the levy, extension, or collection of any taxes or special assessments within the sanitary district.
(c) The acquiring sanitary district may acquire by eminent domain, within or outside its boundaries, easements necessary to connect the treatment works to the sanitary district’s sewers or plants.
(d) The sanitary district may pass all necessary ordinances to regulate the connections to and use of the sewer or water system of the treatment works, including the establishment of a user fee for the area serviced by the treatment works, and may enforce those ordinances against all users of the acquired system, within or outside its boundaries. The sanitary district may own, operate, expand, and improve the private treatment works in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(e) The grant of powers set forth in this Section are a restatement of existing law.
(Source: P.A. 93-839, eff. 7-30-04.)
(70 ILCS 2405/18) (from Ch. 42, par. 317)
Sec. 18. (a) The board of trustees of any such sanitary district may
prevent the pollution of any waters from which a water supply may be
obtained by any city, town or village within the district, and may appoint
and support a sufficient police force, the members of which may have and
exercise police powers over the territory within such drainage district,
and over the territory included within a radius of 15 miles from the intake
of any such water supply in any such waters, for the purpose of preventing
the pollution of the waters, and any interference with any of the property
of such sanitary district. Such police officers when acting within the
limits of any such city, town or village, shall act in aid of the regular
police force thereof, and are subject to the direction of its chief of
police, city or village marshals or other head thereof. However, in so
doing, they shall not be prevented or hindered from executing the orders
and authority of the board of trustees of such sanitary district. Before
compelling a change in any method of disposal of sewage so as to prevent
the pollution of any water, the board of trustees of such district shall
first have provided means to prevent the pollution of the water from sewage
or refuse originating from their own sanitary districts.
(b) Where any such sanitary district has constructed a sewage disposal
plant and the board of trustees of such district finds that it will promote
the public health, comfort or convenience, the board may build and maintain
a dam or dams or other structures in any river or stream flowing in or
through such district at any point or points within the boundaries of such
district or within 3 miles outside the boundaries thereof so as to regulate
or control the flow of the waters of such river or stream and the
tributaries thereof, but shall not take or damage private property without
making just compensation as provided for the exercise
of the right of eminent domain under the Eminent Domain Act.
(c) After the construction of such sewage disposal plant, if the board
finds that it will promote the public health, comfort or convenience, such
board of trustees may by whatever means necessary, remove debris, refuse
and other objectionable matter from, keep clean and wholesome, and dredge,
dam, deepen or otherwise improve the channel, bed or banks of any such
river or stream, or any portion thereof, within the boundaries of any such
sanitary district or within 3 miles outside the boundaries thereof.
(d) After the construction of such sewage disposal plant, if the board
finds that it will promote the prevention of pollution of waters of the
State, such board of trustees may adopt ordinances or rules and
regulations, prohibiting or regulating the discharge to sewers of
inadmissible wastes or substances toxic to biological wastewater treatment
processes. Inadmissible wastes include those which create a fire or
explosion hazard in the sewer or treatment works; those which will impair
the hydraulic capacity of sewer systems; and those which in any quantity,
create a hazard to people, sewer systems, treatment processes, or receiving
waters. Substances that may be toxic to wastewater treatment processes
include copper, chromium, lead, zinc, arsenic and nickel and any poisonous
compounds such as cyanide or radioactive wastes which pass through
wastewater treatment plants in hazardous concentrations and menace users of
the receiving waters. Such ordinances or rules and regulations shall be
effective throughout the sanitary district, in the incorporated areas as
well as the unincorporated areas and all public sewers therein.
(e) The board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under
this Act is authorized to apply to the circuit court for injunctive relief
or mandamus when, in the opinion of the board of trustees, such relief is
necessary to prevent the pollution of any waters from which a water supply
may be obtained by any municipality within the district.
(f) The sanitary district shall have the power and authority to
prevent the pollution of any waters, as defined in Section 26 of this Act,
from which a water supply may be obtained by any city, town or village.
The sanitary district, acting through the chief administrative officer of
such sanitary district, shall have the power to commence an action or
proceeding in the circuit court in and for the county in which the district
is located for the purpose of having the pollution stopped and prevented
either by mandamus or injunction. The court shall specify a time, not
exceeding 20 days after the service of the copy of the petition, in which
the party complained of must answer the petition, and in the meantime, the
party be restrained. In case of default in answer or after answer, the
court shall immediately inquire into the facts and circumstances of the
case and enter an appropriate order in respect to the matters
complained of. An appeal may be taken in the same
manner and with the same effect as appeals are taken
in other actions for mandamus or injunction.
(Source: P.A. 94-1055, eff. 1-1-07.)
(70 ILCS 2405/19) (from Ch. 42, par. 317a)
Sec. 19.
Construction of drains, sewers, and laterals; assessments.
The Board of Trustees shall have the power to build and construct and to
defray the cost and expenses of the construction of drains, sewers, or
laterals, or drains and sewers and laterals and other necessary adjuncts
thereto, including pumps and pumping stations, made by it in the execution
or in furtherance of the powers heretofore granted to such sanitary
district by special assessment or by general taxation or partly by special
assessment and partly by general taxation, as they shall by ordinance
prescribe. It shall constitute no objection to any special assessment that
the improvement for which the same is levied is partly outside the limits
of such sanitary district, nor shall it constitute an objection to
confirmation of a special assessment as to any property outside the district at
the time of confirmation of the assessment roll if that property will be
contiguous to the district and served upon the completion of the project, and
in no case shall
any property be assessed more than it will be benefited by the improvement
for which the assessment is levied. The procedure in making improvements by
special assessment shall be the same as nearly as may be as is prescribed
in Article 9 and Division 87 of Article 11 of the “Illinois Municipal
Code,” as heretofore and hereafter amended. The functions and duties of the
“City Council”, the “Council”, the “Board of Trustees” and the “Board of
Local Improvements” under said Code shall be assumed and discharged by the
Board of Trustees of the Sanitary district; and the duties of the officers
designated in said places in the Illinois Municipal Code as mayor of the
city or president of the village or incorporated town or president of the
Board of Local Improvements, shall be assumed and discharged by the
President of the Board of Trustees of the Sanitary district. Likewise, the
duties of other municipal officers designated in said Code shall be
performed by similar officers of the sanitary district.
(Source: P.A. 90-194, eff. 1-1-98.)
(70 ILCS 2405/19.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 317a.1)
Sec. 19.1.
Special service areas.
(a) A sanitary district organized under this Act may provide special
services limited to the construction, maintenance, alteration, and
extension of the district’s drains, sewers, laterals, and other necessary
adjuncts, including pumps and pumping stations, in any special service area
within the district. The district may levy a tax to provide those special
services or to provide for the payment of debt incurred to provide those
special services in accordance with this Act.
(b) The manner of providing special services and of levying the tax
authorized by subsection (a) shall be as provided in this Section.
(c) “Special Service Area” means a contiguous area within a district
in which special governmental services are provided in addition to those
services provided generally throughout the district, the cost of those special
services to be paid from revenues collected from taxes levied or imposed upon
property within that area. Territory is contiguous for purposes of this
Section even though certain completely surrounded portions of the territory are
excluded from the special service area. A district may create a special
service area within a municipality or municipalities when the municipality or
municipalities consent to the creation of the special service area. A district
may create a special service area within the unincorporated area of a county
when the county consents to the creation of the special service area.
(d) The corporate authorities of the district shall be the
governing body of the special service area.
(e) Taxes may be levied or imposed by the district in the special service
area at a rate or amount of tax sufficient to produce revenues required to
provide the special services. Before the first levy of taxes in the special
service area, notice shall be given and hearing shall be held under the
provisions of subsections (f) and (g). For purposes of this subsection the
notice shall include:
- (1) the time and place of hearing;
- (2) the boundaries of the area by legal description and by street location, where possible;
- (3) a notification that all interested persons, including all persons owning taxable real property located within the special service area, will be given an opportunity to be heard at the hearing regarding the tax levy and an opportunity to file objections to the amount of the tax levy if the tax is a tax upon their property; and
- (4) the maximum rate of taxes to be extended in any year and may include a maximum number of years the taxes will be levied.
After the first levy, taxes may be extended against the special
service area for the services specified without additional hearings,
provided the taxes shall not exceed the rate specified in the notice
and, if a maximum number of years is specified in the notice, the taxes
shall not be extended for a longer period. Tax rates may be increased
and the period specified may be extended, provided notice is given and
new public hearings are held in accordance with subsections (f) and (g).
(f) Before or within 60 days after the adoption of the ordinance proposing
the establishment of a special service area, the district shall fix a time and
a place for a public hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be given by
publication and mailing. Notice by publication shall be given by publication at
least once not less than 15 days before the hearing in a newspaper of general
circulation within the district. Notice by mailing shall be given by depositing
the notice in the United States mails addressed to the person or persons in
whose name the general taxes for the last preceding year were paid on each lot,
block, tract or parcel of land lying within the special service area. The
notice shall be mailed not less than 10 days before the time set for the public
hearing. In the event taxes for the last preceding year were not paid, the
notice shall be sent to the person last listed on the tax rolls before that
year as the owner of the property.
(g) At the public hearing any interested person, including all persons
owning taxable real property located within the proposed special service area,
may file with the district clerk written objections to and may be heard orally
in respect to any issues embodied in the notice. The district shall hear and
determine all protests and objections at the hearing, and the hearing may be
adjourned to another date without further notice other than a motion to be
entered upon the minutes fixing the time and place of its adjournment. At the
public hearing or at the first regular meeting of the corporate authorities
thereafter, the district may delete area from the special service area, except
that the special service area must still be a contiguous area as provided in
subsection (c).
(h) Bonds secured by the full faith and credit of the area included in the
special service area may be issued for providing the special services.
Bonds, when so issued, shall be retired by the levy of taxes, in addition to
the taxes specified in subsection (e), against all of the taxable real property
included in the area as provided in the ordinance authorizing the issuance of
the bonds or by the imposition of another tax within the special service area.
The county clerk shall annually extend taxes against all of the taxable
property situated in the county and contained in the special service area in
amounts sufficient to pay maturing principal and interest of such bonds without
limitation as to rate or amount and in addition to and in excess of any taxes
that may now or hereafter be authorized to be levied by the district. Before
the issuance of such bonds, notice shall be given and a hearing shall be held
under the provisions of subsections (f) and (g). For purposes of this
subsection a notice shall include:
- (1) the time and place of hearing;
- (2) the boundaries of the area by legal description and by street location, where possible;
- (3) a notification that all interested persons, including all persons owning taxable real property located within the special service area, will be given an opportunity to be heard at the hearing regarding the issuance of such bonds and an opportunity to file objections to the issuance of such bonds; and
- (4) the maximum amount of bonds proposed to be issued, the maximum period of time over which the bonds shall be retired, and the maximum interest rate the bonds shall bear.
The question of the creation of a special service area, the levy or
imposition of a tax in the special service area, and the issuance of bonds for
providing special services may all be considered together at one hearing.
Any bonds issued shall not exceed the number of bonds, the interest rate,
and the period of extension set forth in the notice, unless an additional
hearing is held. No bonds issued under this Section shall be regarded as
indebtedness of the district for the purpose of any limitation imposed by any
law.
(i) Boundaries of a special service area may be enlarged, but only after
hearing and notice as provided in subsections (f) and (g), the notice to be
served in the original area of the special service area and in any areas
proposed to be added to the special service area, except where the property
being added represents less than 5% of the assessed valuation of the entire
original area, as determined by the clerk of the county wherein the land
is located, then the notice by mailing requirement of subsection (f) shall be
limited only to the area to be added and not to the original special service
area. The property added to the area shall be subject to all taxes levied
therein after that property becomes a part of the area and shall become
additional security for bonded indebtedness outstanding at the time the
property is added to the area.
(j) If a petition signed by at least 51% of the electors residing within
the special service area and by at least 51% of the owners of record of
the land included within the boundaries of the special service area is
filed with the district clerk within 60 days following the final adjournment of
the public hearing objecting to the creation of the special service district,
the enlargement thereof, the levy or imposition of a tax or the issuance of
bonds for the provision of special services to the area, or to a proposed
increase in the tax rate, no such district may be created or enlarged, no such
tax may be levied or imposed nor the rate increased, or no such bonds may be
issued. The subject matter of the petition shall not be proposed relative to
any signatories of the petition within the next 2 years. Each resident of the
special service area registered to vote at the time of the public hearing held
with regard to the special service area shall be considered an elector. Each
person in whose name legal title to land included within the boundaries of the
special service area is held according to the records of the county wherein the
land is located shall be considered an owner of record. Owners of record shall
be determined at the time of the public hearing held with regard to a special
service area. Land owned in the name of a land trust, corporation, estate, or
partnership shall be considered to have a single owner of record.
(k) Any territory located within the boundaries of any special service area
organized under this Section may become disconnected from the area in the
manner provided in this subsection. A majority of the resident electors and a
majority of the record owners of land in the territory sought to be
disconnected from the area may sign a petition. The petition shall be
addressed to the circuit court and shall contain a definite description of the
boundaries of such territory and recite as a fact that, as of the date the
petition is filed, such territory was not, is not, and is not intended by the
corporate authority which created the special service area to be either
benefited or served by any work or services either then existing or then
authorized by the special service area, and that such territory constitutes
less than 1 1/2% of the special service area’s total equalized assessed
valuation.
Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall set the petition for public
hearing within 60 days after the date of the filing of the petition. The
court shall give at least 45 days notice of the hearing by publishing notice
of the hearing once in a newspaper having a general circulation within the
special service area from which the territory is sought to be disconnected.
The notice (1) shall refer to the petition filed with the court, (2) shall
describe the territory proposed to be disconnected, (3) shall indicate the
prayer of the petition and the date, time and place at which the public hearing
will be held and (4) shall further indicate that the corporate authority which
created the special service area and any persons residing in or owning property
in the territory involved or in the special service area from which such
territory is sought to be disconnected shall have an opportunity to be heard on
the prayer of the petition. Notice of the filing of the petition, the
substance of which shall be as prescribed for the published notice, shall also
be mailed to the presiding officer of the corporate authority from which the
territory is sought to be disconnected.
The public hearing may be continued from time to time by the court. After
the public hearing and having heard all persons desiring to be heard, including
such corporate authority and all persons residing in or owning property in the
territory involved or in the special service area from which such territory is
sought to be disconnected, if the court finds that all the allegations of the
petition are true, the court shall grant the prayer of the petition and shall
enter an order disconnecting the territory from the special service area, which
order shall be entered at length in the records of the court, and the clerk of
the court shall file a certified copy of the order with the clerk of the
district which created the special service area from which such territory has
been disconnected. If the court finds that the allegations contained in the
petition are not true, then the court shall enter an order dismissing the
petition.
Any disconnected territory shall cease to be subject to any taxes levied
under this Section and shall not be security for any future bonded
indebtedness. When the amount of any taxes levied by a special service area is
cancelled due to disconnection of territory, the court may, in the same
disconnection proceeding, distribute the cancelled amount upon the other
property in the area assessed, in such manner as the court finds just and
equitable, not exceeding, however, the amount by which such property will
benefit from the special service.
(l) If a property tax is levied, the tax shall be extended by the county
clerk in the special service area in the manner provided by the Property Tax
Code based on assessed
values as established under that Code. In that case, the district
shall file a
certified copy of the ordinance creating the special service area, including an
accurate map of the area, with the county clerk. The corporate authorities of
the district are authorized to levy taxes in the special service area for the
same year in which the ordinance and map are filed with the county clerk. In
addition, the corporate authorities shall file a certified copy of each
ordinance levying taxes in the special service area on or before the third
Tuesday of September of each year and shall file a certified copy of any
ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds and providing for a property tax
levy in that ordinance by December 31 of the year of the first levy.
Instead of or in addition to such property tax, a special tax may be
levied and extended within the special service area on any other basis that
provides a rational relationship between the amount of the tax levied
against each lot, block, tract and parcel of land in the special service
area and the special service benefit rendered; a special tax roll shall be
prepared containing: (1) an explanation of the method of spreading the
special tax, (2) a list of lots, blocks, tracts and parcels of land in
the special service area and (3) the amount assessed against each. The
special tax roll shall be included in the ordinance establishing the
special service area or in an amendment thereto, and shall be filed with
the county clerk for use in extending the tax.
(m) An ordinance establishing a special service area shall not take effect
until a certified copy of the ordinance, containing a description of the
territory of the area, is filed for record in the office of the recorder in
each county in which any part of the area is located.
(Source: P.A. 90-697, eff. 8-7-98.)
(70 ILCS 2405/20) (from Ch. 42, par. 317b)
Sec. 20.
When any special assessment is made under this Act, the ordinance
authorizing such assessment may provide that the entire assessment and each
individual assessment be divided into annual installments, not more than
twenty in number. In all cases such division shall be made so that all
installments shall be equal in amount, except that all fractional amounts
shall be added to the first installment so as to leave the remaining
installments of the aggregate equal in amount and each a multiple of one
hundred dollars. The said several installments shall bear interest at a
rate not to exceed that permitted for public corporation
bonds under “An Act to authorize public corporations to issue bonds, other
evidences of indebtedness and tax anticipation warrants subject to interest
rate limitations set forth therein”, approved May 26, 1970, as now or hereafter
amended, except that for the purposes of this Section, “the time the contract
is made” shall mean the date of adoption of the original ordinance authorizing
the assessment; both principal and interest shall be payable,
collected and enforced as they shall become due in the
manner provided for the levy, payment, collection and enforcement of such
assessments and interest, as provided in Article 9 and Division 87 of Article
11 of the “Illinois Municipal Code,” as heretofore and hereafter amended.
(Source: P.A. 83-1525.)
(70 ILCS 2405/21) (from Ch. 42, par. 317c)
Sec. 21.
Whenever any ordinance providing for any improvement shall in
pursuance of authority conferred in this Act provide for the payment of the
same, either in whole or in part, by special assessment, said Board of
Trustees may issue bonds to anticipate the collection of the second and
succeeding installments of said assessments payable only out of such
assessment when collected and bearing interest at the same rate as provided
upon the installments of such assessments. Said bonds shall be issued and
subject to call and retirement in the same manner as provided in Article 9
and Division 87 of Article 11 of the “Illinois Municipal Code,” as
heretofore and hereafter amended.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 872.)
(70 ILCS 2405/21a) (from Ch. 42, par. 317c.1)
Sec. 21a.
Any sanitary district having any undistributed or unclaimed money
received from the making of any local improvement paid for wholly or in
part by special assessment, after complying with all the provisions for the
distribution of such rebates or refunds as prescribed in Division 2 of
Article 9 of the “Illinois Municipal Code”, approved May 29, 1961, as
amended, may dispose of such unclaimed rebates or refunds as is
prescribed by Sections 9-1-5 through 9-1-14, inclusive, of the “Illinois
Municipal Code”, approved May 29, 1961, as amended.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 2896.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d)
Sec. 22.
Whenever the board of trustees of any sanitary district organized
under this Act shall pass an ordinance for the making of any improvement
authorized by this Act and shall provide that the same shall be paid for by
special assessment, as provided in Section 19 of this Act, as amended, the
making of which will require the taking or damaging of property, the
proceeding for the taking, or damaging of property and for making just
compensation therefor shall be described in Article 9 and Division 87 of
Article 11 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as heretofore and hereafter
amended.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 872.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.1)
Sec. 22a.
The Board of Trustees may provide by ordinance for the
levy, in addition to the taxes now authorized by law, and in addition to
the amount authorized to be levied for corporate purposes, as provided
by Section 12 of this Act, of a direct annual tax not exceeding .05 per
cent of the value, as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue
of the State of Illinois, of all taxable property in
such sanitary district. The fund arising therefrom shall be known as a
public benefit fund and shall be used solely for the purpose of paying
that portion of the several amounts assessed against the district for
public benefit as well as paying any such amounts as may be assessed for
public benefit under any ordinance that may be adopted by the Board of
Trustees.
The foregoing limitation upon tax rate may be increased or decreased
according to the referendum provisions of the General Revenue Law of
Illinois.
(Source: P.A. 81-1509.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.2)
Sec. 22a.1.
Alternative special assessment procedure.
As an alternative to using the procedure prescribed by
Division 2 of Article 9 and Division 87 of Article 11 of the
Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, for making local
improvements by special assessment or special taxation as
provided in Section 19 of this Act, any sanitary district
organized under this Act shall have the power
to make local improvements by special assessment or special
taxation in accordance with the procedure set forth in
Sections 22a.1 through 22a.55 of this Act. The use of this
alternative procedure is not mandatory, but shall be at the
sole discretion of the board of trustees of the
district. The procedure under the Illinois Municipal Code and the procedure
under this Act shall not be combined, and the provisions of
the Illinois Municipal Code shall not be applicable to any such alternative
proceeding under this Act, except that the procedure under
this Act may be used in conjunction with the following provisions of the
Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended: Sections
9-2-3, 9-2-4, 9-2-9, 9-2-12, 9-2-45, 9-2-47,
9-2-74 and 9-2-113 relating to federal grants,
federal defense projects and governmental aid and assistance,
Sections 9-2-14 through 9-2-37 and 9-2-49 through 9-2-51
relating to the taking of property, Sections
9-2-66 through 9-2-71 relating to liens, Sections 9-2-81
through 9-2-98 relating to the collection of special
assessments and Sections 9-2-120 through 9-2-137 relating
to bonds. When such procedures are combined the committee
of local improvements created under this Act may perform all
acts to be performed by the board of local improvements
under the Illinois Municipal Code.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.3)
Sec. 22a.2.
Appointed committee of local improvements.
The board of any
district may appoint a committee of local improvements consisting of the
members of the board of trustees. The board’s right to raise or lower the
compensation of any committee member on account of any other office or
employment shall not be restricted on account of such person’s committee
membership. The committee shall elect one member as chairman, one member
as vice chairman and from within or outside its membership a clerk and such
other assistant clerks or officers as the committee may determine to be
appropriate. The board shall provide by resolution for compensation not to
exceed $15 per day for each member of the committee while performing his or
her duties as a member of the committee.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.3) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.4)
Sec. 22a.3.
Ordinance authorizing improvements.
When any district
provides by ordinance for the making of any local improvement, it shall
prescribe by the same ordinance whether the improvement shall be made by
special assessment or special taxation of benefited property, by general
taxation, by special assessment of benefited property and by general
taxation or by special taxation of benefited property and by general taxation.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.4) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.5)
Sec. 22a.4.
Restriction on passage of ordinance and abandonment of
proposed improvement. No ordinance for any local improvement, to be paid
wholly or in part by special assessment or special taxation, shall be
considered or passed by the board of any district unless the ordinance is
first recommended by the committee of local improvements; provided,
however, that after the ordinance for any local improvement has been
adopted by the board and before the same is confirmed in court, the board
may by ordinance abandon any portion of the proposed improvement without
further action by or hearing before the committee.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.5) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.6)
Sec. 22a.5.
Estimate of cost and first resolution.
All ordinances for local improvements to be paid for wholly
or in part by special assessment or special taxation shall originate with
the committee of local improvements to whom petitions for any local
improvement may be addressed, but the committee may
originate a scheme for any such local improvement with or
without a petition, and in either case the validity of any
subsequent resolution, ordinance or proceeding shall not
depend upon the validity or authenticity of any such
petition. The committee may request the board’s engineer to
prepare preliminary plans and specifications for the
proposed improvement together with an estimate of the cost
of the improvement (omitting land to be acquired), itemized
to the satisfaction of the committee and certified by the
engineer’s signature to be an estimate which does not exceed
the probable cost of the proposed improvement, including the
lawful expenses attending the improvement. Upon presentation
of such preliminary plans and specifications and the
estimate of cost, the committee may adopt a resolution
describing the proposed improvement and scheduling a public
hearing before the committee to consider whether such scheme
shall be recommended to the board. The resolution may
provide that the plans and specifications for the proposed
improvement be made part of the resolution by reference to
plans and specifications on file in the office of the
district’s engineer or to plans and specifications adopted
or published by the State of Illinois or any political
subdivision or agency thereof. Whenever the proposed
improvement requires that private or public property be
taken or damaged, the resolution shall describe the property
proposed to be taken or damaged for that purpose. The
committee shall also fix in the resolution a place, day and
time for a public hearing thereon. The hearing shall not be
less than 10 days after the adoption of the resolution.
Notice of the time and place of the public hearing
shall be sent by mail directed to the person or entity shown
by the County Collector’s current warrant book to be the
party in whose name the general real estate taxes were last
assessed on each lot, block, tract or parcel of land
fronting on the proposed improvement. Such notices shall be
mailed not less than 5 days prior to the time set for the
public hearing and shall be mailed to each such party at the
address shown for such party in the County Collector’s
current warrant book. The notices shall contain the
substance of the resolution adopted by the committee,
the date when an estimate is required by this Act, the estimate of
the cost of the proposed improvement, and a notification
that the extent, nature, kind, character and (when an
estimate is required by the Act) the estimated cost of the
proposed improvement may be changed by the committee at the
public hearing thereon. If upon the hearing the committee
deems the proposed improvement desirable, it shall adopt a
resolution and prepare and submit an ordinance therefor to
the board.
In the event that a local improvement is to be
constructed with the assistance of any agency of the federal
government or other governmental agency, the committee’s
resolutions shall set forth that fact, and the estimate of
cost shall set forth and indicate the estimated amount of
assistance to be so provided.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.6) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.7)
Sec. 22a.6.
Public hearing and second resolution.
At the time and place fixed in the specified notice for the
public hearing, the committee of local improvements shall meet and
hear the representations of any person desiring to be heard on the
subject of the necessity for the proposed improvement, the
nature thereof or the cost as estimated. The district’s
engineer may revise the plans, specifications or estimate of
cost at any time prior to the committee’s adoption of a
resolution recommending passage of an ordinance as
hereinafter set forth. The committee may adopt a second or
further resolution abandoning the proposed scheme or
adhering thereto, or changing, altering or modifying the
extent, nature, kind, character and estimated cost, provided
the change does not increase the estimated cost of the
improvement to exceed 20% of the estimate set forth in the
mailed notice of the public hearing without a further public
hearing pursuant to a new mailed notice given in like manner
as the first. Thereupon, if the proposed improvement is not
abandoned, the committee shall have an ordinance prepared
therefor to be submitted to the board. This ordinance shall
prescribe the nature, character, locality and description of
the improvement and shall provide whether the improvement
shall be made wholly or in part by special assessment or
special taxation of benefited property and may provide that
plans and specifications for the proposed improvement be
made part of the ordinance by reference to plans and
specifications on file in the office of the district’s
engineer or to plans and specifications adopted or published
by the State of Illinois or any political subdivision or
agency thereof. If the improvement is to be paid in part
only by special assessment or special taxation, the
ordinance shall so state. If the improvement requires the
taking or damaging of property, the ordinance shall so
state, and the proceedings for making just compensation
therefor shall be as described in Sections 9-2-14 through
9-2-37 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.7) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.8)
Sec. 22a.7.
Recommendation by committee.
Accompanying any ordinance for
a local improvement presented by the committee of local improvements to the
board shall be a recommendation of such improvement by the committee signed
by a least a majority of the members thereof, together with an estimate
of the cost of the improvement, including the cost of engineering services,
as originally contemplated or as changed, altered or modified at the public
hearing, itemized so far as the committee deems necessary and signed by the
board’s engineer. The recommendation by the committee shall be prima facie
evidence that all the preliminary requirements of the law have been
complied with. If a variance is shown on the proceedings in the court, it
shall not affect the validity of the proceeding unless the court deems the
variance willful and substantial.
In the event the improvement is to be constructed with assistance from
any agency of the federal government or other governmental agency, the
estimate of cost shall state this fact and shall set forth the estimated
amount that is to be provided by the agency of the federal government or
other governmental agency.
The person appointed to make the assessments as provided hereinafter
shall make a true and impartial assessment upon the petitioning district
and the property benefited by such improvement of that portion of the
estimated cost that is within the benefits exclusive of the amount to be
provided by the agency of the federal government or other governmental agency.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.8) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.9)
Sec. 22a.8.
Publication of ordinance.
Upon the
presentation to the board of the proposed ordinance,
together with the required recommendation and estimate, if
the estimate of costs exceeds the sum of $500,000, exclusive
of the amount to be paid for land to be taken or damaged,
the ordinance shall be published in the usual way, in full,
with the recommendation and estimate, at least 10 days
before any action is taken thereon by the board. Whenever
any plat, plan, specification, profile or drawing is a part
of the ordinance or attached thereto as a part thereof or is
referred to by the ordinance, it is not necessary to publish
that plat, plan, specification, profile or drawing in
connection with the publication of the ordinance.
Publication shall be in a newspaper having general
circulation within the district.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.9) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.10)
Sec. 22a.9.
Special tax.
When the ordinance under
which a local improvement is ordered provides that the
improvement shall be made wholly or in part by special
taxation of benefited property, that special tax shall be
levied, assessed and collected, as nearly as may be, in the
manner provided in the Sections of this Act providing for
the mode of making, assessing and collecting special
assessments. No special tax shall be levied or assessed
upon any property to pay for any local improvement in an
amount in excess of the special benefit which the property
will receive from the improvement. The ordinance shall not
be deemed conclusive of the benefit, but the question of the
benefit and of the amount of the special tax shall be
subject to the review and determination of the court, and
shall be tried in the same manner as in proceedings by
special assessment.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.10) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.11)
Sec. 22a.10.
Special assessment.
When the ordinance
under which a local improvement is ordered to be made
contains no provisions for the condemnation of private
property therefor and provides that the improvement shall be
wholly or in part paid for by special assessment, the
proceedings for the making of that assessment shall be as
provided in the following Sections.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.11) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.12)
Sec. 22a.11.
Petition and jurisdiction of courts.
Upon the passage of any ordinance for a local improvement
the district, by and through an attorney employed for that
purpose, shall file a petition in the circuit court in the
county where the affected territory lies, or if the district
is situated in more than one county and the proposed
improvement lies in more than one county, then in the
circuit court in the county in which the major part of the
territory to be affected thereby is situated, in the name of
the district, requesting that steps be taken to levy a
special assessment for the improvement in accordance with
the provision of that ordinance. There shall be attached to
or filed with this petition a copy of the ordinance,
certified by the clerk under the corporate seal, and also a
copy of the recommendation of the committee of local improvements and of the
estimate of cost as approved by the board. The failure to
file any of these copies shall not affect the jurisdiction
of the court to proceed in the cause and to act upon the
petition, but if it appears in any such cause that the
copies have not been attached to or filed with the petition
before the filing of the assessment roll therein, then, upon
motion of any objector for that purpose on or before
appearance day in the cause, such copies shall be so filed.
The several circuit courts of this State have jurisdiction
of any proceeding under this Act.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.12) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.13)
Sec. 22a.12.
Appointment of assessing officer.
Upon or before the filing
of such a petition, some resident of the district appointed by the chairman
of the committee of local improvements shall make a true and impartial
assessment of the cost of the specified improvement upon the petitioning
district and the property benefited by the improvement. This officer need
not file an oath, and his appointment need not be confirmed by the court.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.13) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.14)
Sec. 22a.13.
Apportionment of cost.
The officer
specified in Section 22a.12 shall estimate what portion of
the total cost of such improvement will be of benefit to the
public and what proportion thereof will be of benefit to the
property to be benefited, and he shall apportion the total
cost between the district and that property so that each
will bear its relative equitable proportion. Having found
these amounts, such officer shall apportion and assess the
amount so found to be of benefit to the property upon the
several lots, blocks, tracts and parcels of land in the
proportion in which they will be severally benefited by the
improvement. No lot, block, tract or parcel of land shall
be assessed a greater amount than it will be actually
benefited. When the proposed improvement is for the
construction of a sewer, it is the duty of such officer to
investigate and report the district which will be benefited
by the proposed sewer, describing the district by boundaries.
Where the improvement is to be constructed with aid
from any agency of the federal government, or other
governmental agency, the proportion of the total cost of the
improvement to be raised by the district in addition to such
aid shall be the amount allocated between public benefits
and benefits of the property affected as above provided.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.14) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.15)
Sec. 22a.14.
Determination of benefit to private
property owners by assessing officer. In determining
the benefit to be received by private property owners as a
result of a proposed improvement, the assessing officer, in
his or her discretion, may take into account any one or more of the
following elements and assign a weight to each: front
footage, lot area, lot depth, assessed valuation, number of
buildable sites, zoning, highest and best use, acreage,
health benefits or a mandate from any governmental agency or
a certification from the district’s engineer as to the need
to construct or install the proposed improvement in order to
comply with any existing applicable legislation.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.15) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.16)
Sec. 22a.15.
Description of property assessed.
In
levying any special assessment or special tax, each lot,
block, tract or parcel of land shall be assessed separately
in the same manner as upon assessment for general taxation,
except that several lots or parts of land, owned and
improved or listed in the warrant book as one parcel may be
assessed as one parcel. However, this requirement shall not
apply to the property of railroad companies or the right of
way and franchise of street railway companies. Such
property and right of way and franchise may be described in
any manner sufficient to reasonably identify the property
intended to be assessed.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.16) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.17)
Sec. 22a.16.
Assessment roll, notice and affidavit
of compliance. The assessment roll shall contain (1) a list
of all the lots, blocks, tracts and parcels of land assessed
for the proposed improvement, (2) the amount assessed
against each, (3) the name of the person or entity shown by
the county collector’s current warrant book to be the party
in whose name general real estate taxes were last assessed
on each such lot, block, tract or parcel and (4) the
address, if any, for such person or entity as shown on such
current warrant book. In case of an assessment in
installments the amount of each installment shall also be
stated. The officer making the roll shall certify under
oath that he believes that the amounts assessed against the
public and each parcel of property are just and equitable
and do not exceed the benefit which in each case will be
derived from the improvements and that no lot, block, tract
or parcel of land has been assessed more than its
proportionate share of the cost of the improvement.
Notice shall be given of the nature of the improvement,
of the pendency of the proceeding, of the time and place of
filing the petition therefor, of the time and place of
filing the assessment roll therein, and of the time and
place at which application will be made for confirmation of
the assessment, the same to be not less than 15 days after
the mailing of such notices. The notices shall be sent by
mail postpaid to each of the specified persons or entities
in whose names general real estate taxes were last assessed
at the addresses as shown in the assessment roll, but no
such notice need be mailed to any such person or entity
whose address is not so shown.
The notice shall state the amount assessed against the
specific property on account of which the notice is sent,
the total amount of the cost of the improvement and the
total amount assessed as benefits upon the public.
Where the improvement is to be constructed with aid
furnished by any agency of the federal government or other
governmental agency, the notice shall set forth the
estimated amount of aid to be so furnished.
An affidavit shall be filed before the final hearing
showing a compliance with the requirements of this Section
and also showing that either the officer making the
specified return or some one acting under his direction
made a careful examination of the collector’s current
warrant book and that the report correctly states the
persons and addresses as thereby ascertained. This report
and affidavit shall be conclusive evidence, for the purpose
of this proceeding, of the correctness of the assessment
roll in these particulars. In case the affidavit is found
in any respect wilfully false, the person making it is
guilty of perjury and upon conviction thereof shall be
punished according to the laws of this State.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.17) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.18)
Sec. 22a.17.
Installments and interest.
The
ordinance provided for in this Act may provide that the
aggregate amounts assessed in each individual assessment
shall be divided into annual installments not more than 10
in number. Such division shall be made so that all
installments shall be equal in amount except that any
fractional amount shall be added to the first installment.
The first installment together with interest thereon and
on the unpaid balance of the assessment shall be due and
payable on first January 2nd after the date of the first
voucher issued on account of the work, and successive
installments and interest shall be due on each January 2nd
thereafter until the assessment is paid. The district shall
file with the clerk of the circuit court in which such
assessment was confirmed a certificate signed by its clerk
or assistant clerk of the date of the issuance of the first
voucher within 30 days after the issuance thereof. All
installments shall bear interest until paid at a rate
specified in the ordinance, which shall not exceed the
greater of 9% per annum or 125% of the rate for the most
recent date shown in the 20 G.O. Bonds Index or average
municipal bond yields as published in the most recent
edition of The Bond Buyer, published in New York, New York,
at the time the ordinance is passed. Interest on
assessments shall begin to run from 30 days after the date
of the first voucher issued on account of construction work
done, and all accrued interest shall be payable with each
successive annual installment. In all cases the district’s
collector, whenever payment is made on any installment,
shall collect interest on the entire unpaid balance of the
assessment up to the date of such payment whether the
payment be made at or after maturity. Any person may at any
time pay the whole assessment against any lot, piece or
parcel of land or any installment thereof with interest up
to the date of the payment.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.18) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.19)
Sec. 22a.18.
Notice by publication.
Petitioner, in
addition to other required notices, shall
publish a notice at least twice, not more than 30 nor less
than 15 days in advance of the time at which confirmation of
the specified assessment is to be sought, in a newspaper
having a general circulation within the district. The
notice may be substantially as follows:
Notice is hereby given to all persons interested that
the board of trustees of the …….. sanitary district
having ordered that (here insert a brief description of the
nature of the improvement), the ordinance for the
improvement being on file in the office of the district
clerk, having applied to the circuit court of …….
County for an assessment of the costs of the improvement,
according to benefits, and an assessment therefor having
been made and returned to that court, the final hearing
thereon will be had on (insert date), at ……. o’clock, or as soon thereafter
as the business of
the court will permit. All persons desiring may file
objections in that court before that day and may appear on
the hearing and make their defense.”
Where the assessment is payable in installments, the
number of installments and the rate of interest also may be
stated.
(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.19) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.20)
Sec. 22a.19.
Objections.
Any person interested in
any real estate to be affected by an assessment may appear
and file objections to the report by the time mentioned in
the notice or within such further time as the court may
allow.
As to all lots, blocks, tracts and parcels of land to
the assessment of which objections are not filed within the
specified time or such other time as may be ordered by the
court, default may be entered, and the assessment may be
confirmed by the court notwithstanding the fact that
objections may be pending and undisposed of as to other
property. Such order of partial confirmation shall be final
and appealable with respect to the property as to which the
assessment is confirmed.
It shall be no objection to confirmation of the assessment roll that some
or all of the lots, blocks, tracts, and parcels of land of the assessment lie
outside the then existing corporate boundaries of the district at the time
confirmation is sought, provided that at the commencement of the project a
portion of the project area is included in or contiguous to existing district
boundaries, and at the completion of the project, all of the lots, blocks,
tracts, and parcels of land not within
the corporate boundaries of the district at the commencement of the project
are served within the meaning of Section 23.5 of this
Act, and provided further that persons interested in such real estate may
assert any other objection they may have in connection with the special
assessment project, including without limitation that the property is assessed
more than it is benefitted by the improvement or that there is no benefit at
all to their property. Where any of the properties contained in a special
assessment project lie outside of, but contiguous to, the corporate boundaries
of
the sanitary district, the Committee of Local Improvements may not commence
the project without receiving a written petition requesting the project signed
by at least a majority of the affected landowners, their agents, or
assigns.
(Source: P.A. 90-194, eff. 1-1-98.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.20) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.21)
Sec. 22a.20.
Review of assessment roll by the court.
Upon written objections or motions for that purpose the
court in which the specified proceeding is pending may
inquire in a summary way whether the officer making the
report has omitted any property benefited and whether or not
the assessment as made and returned is an equitable and just
distribution of the cost of the improvement, first, between
the public and the property, and second, among the parcels
of property assessed. The court has the power on such
application being made to revise and correct the assessments
levied, to change or modify the distribution of the total
cost between the public and property benefited, to change
the manner of distribution among the parcels of private
property and to strike out of the roll of awards by the
commissioners filed in the case the amount or amounts shown
as compensation for property which property has been
theretofore donated by any person or persons for the making
of the proposed improvement so as to produce a just and
equitable assessment, considering the nature of the property
assessed and its capacity for immediate use of the
improvement when completed.
The court may either make such corrections or changes,
or determine in general the manner in which the corrections
or changes shall be made and refer the assessment roll to
the officer making the assessment or the district’s attorney
for revision, correction or alteration in such manner as the
court may determine. The determination of the court as to
the correctness of the distribution of the cost of the
improvement between the public and the property to be
assessed is appealable as in other civil cases.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.21) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.22)
Sec. 22a.21.
Hearing of legal objections.
On the
application of the petitioner at any time after the return
day the court may set down all objections, except the
objection that the property of the objector will not be
benefited to the amount assessed against it, and that it is
assessed more than its proportionate share of the cost of
the improvement, for a hearing at a time to be fixed by the
court. Upon this hearing the court shall determine all
questions relating to the sufficiency of the proceedings,
the distribution of the cost of the improvement between the
public and the property, and of the benefits between the
different parcels of property assessed, together with all
other questions arising in that proceeding, with the
exception specified, and shall thereupon enter an order in
accordance with the conclusions it reaches. But this order
shall not be a final disposition of any of those questions
for the purpose of appeal unless the objectors waive further
controversy as to the remaining question upon the record.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.22) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.23)
Sec. 22a.22.
Trial by jury.
If it is objected on
the part of any property assessed for such an improvement
that it will not be benefited thereby to the amount assessed
thereon and that it is assessed more than its proportionate
share of the cost of the improvement, and a jury is
expressly demanded in the written objection filed with
respect to such property, the court shall impanel a jury to
try that issue as to that property. As to any property as
to which the written objection fails to demand a jury, the
court shall try that issue as to such property without a
jury. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, all such
objections in which a jury is demanded shall be tried and
disposed of before a single jury. The assessment roll, as
returned by the officer who made it or as revised and
corrected by the court on the hearing of the legal
objections, shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness
of the amount assessed against each objecting owner but
shall not be counted as the testimony of any witness or
witnesses in the cause. That assessment roll may be
submitted to the jury and may be taken into the jury room by
the jury when it retires to deliberate on its verdict.
Either party may introduce such other evidence as may bear
upon that issue or issues. The hearing shall be conducted
as in other civil cases. If it appears that the property of
any objector is assessed more than it will be benefited by
the specified improvement or more than its proportionate
share of the cost of the improvement, the jury or court
shall so find, and it shall also find the amount for which
that property ought to be assessed, and judgment shall be
rendered accordingly.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.23) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.24)
Sec. 22a.23.
Distribution of deficiency and new
notice. Wherever on a hearing by the court or before a
jury the amount of any assessment is reduced or canceled
so that there is a deficiency in the total amount remaining
assessed in the proceeding, the court may in the same
proceeding distribute this deficiency upon the other
property assessed or upon the district on account of public
benefit in such manner as the court finds just and
equitable. In case any portion of this deficiency is
charged against such property not represented in court, a
new notice of the same nature as the original notice shall
be given in like manner as the original notice to show the
cause why the assessment as thus increased should not be
confirmed. The owners of or parties interested in such
property have the right to object in the same form and with
the same effect as in case of the original assessment, and
the court has the same power to dispose thereof.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.24) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.25)
Sec. 22a.24.
Precedence for trial.
The hearing in
all cases arising under this Act shall have precedence over
all other cases in any court where they are brought except
criminal cases or other cases in which the public is a
moving party.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.25) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.26)
Sec. 22a.25.
Modification by court or abandonment of
proposed improvements. The court before which any such
proceedings may be pending may modify, alter, change, annul
or confirm any assessment returned as specified in addition
to the authority already conferred upon it and may take all
such proceedings and make all such orders as may be
necessary to the improvement according to the principles of
this Act and may from time to time continue the application
for that purpose as to the whole or any part of the
premises.
After an ordinance for any local improvement has been
filed in court and before or after the court has entered its
final judgment thereupon, but before any contract for the
work has been entered into, the board may abandon all or any
portion of the proposed improvement by filing with the court
a petition supported by an ordinance adopted by the board,
which need not be preceded by any action or resolution of
the committee. Upon the filing of such petition the court
shall order the adjustment of the assessment roll according
to the changes requested in the petition.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.26) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.27)
Sec. 22a.26.
Acquisition of lands as prerequisite
to special assessment. No special assessment or special tax
shall be levied for any local improvement until the land
necessary therefor has been acquired and is in possession of
the district except in cases where proceedings to acquire
such land have begun and have proceeded to judgment.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.27) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.28)
Sec. 22a.27.
Prior improvement of same kind as objection.
It is no
objection to the legality of any local improvement that a similar
improvement has been previously made in the same locality if the ordinance
therefor is recommended by the committee of local improvements as provided
in this Act. But nothing contained in this Act shall interfere with any
defense in this proceeding relating to the benefits received therefrom.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.28) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.29)
Sec. 22a.28.
Judgment on installment assessments.
In case of a special assessment or a special tax levied to
be paid by installments under the provisions of this Act the
order of confirmation that is entered upon the return of the
assessment roll shall apply to all of the installments
thereof and may be entered in one order.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.29) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.30)
Sec. 22a.29.
Effect of judgment.
The judgments of
the court shall be final as to all the issues involved, and
the proceedings in the specified cause shall be subject to
review by appeal as hereinafter provided and not otherwise.
However, by mutual consent of the district and the affected
property owner or owners such a judgment may be vacated or
modified notwithstanding the expiration of 30 days from the
rendition of the judgment except as hereinafter provided.
Such judgment shall have the effect of several judgments
as to each tract or parcel of land assessed, and no appeal
from any such judgment shall invalidate or delay the
judgments except as to the property concerning which the
appeal is taken.
Such judgment shall be a lien on behalf of the district
making an improvement, for the payment of which the special
tax or special assessment is levied, on the property assessed
from the date upon which a certified copy of said judgment and assessment
roll is recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of each county in
which any part of the property is located, to the same extent and of equal
force and validity as a lien for the general taxes until the judgment is
paid or the property against which any such judgment is entered is sold to
pay the judgment.
Nothing in this Section shall interfere with the right
of the petitioner to dismiss its proceedings and for that
purpose to vacate such a judgment at its election at any
time before commencing the actual collection of the
assessment. The court in which the judgment is rendered
shall enter an order vacating or annulling the judgment of
confirmation on motion of petitioner entered at any time
after the expiration of 30 days from the rendition of that
judgment or confirmation upon a showing by petitioner that
no contract was let or entered into for the making of the
specified improvement within the time fixed by law for the
letting of the contract, that the making of the improvement
under the original proceeding was never commenced or that
the making of the improvement under the prior proceedings
was abandoned by petitioner. No judgment entered in such a
proceeding so dismissed and vacated shall be a bar to
another like or different improvement. However, after the
contract for the work has been entered into or the
improvement bonds have been issued, no judgment shall be
vacated or modified or any petition dismissed after the
expiration of 30 days from the rendition of the judgment,
nor the collection of the assessment be in any way stayed or
delayed by the board or any officer of the district without
the written consent of the contractor and any and all
bondholders.
Subject to the provisions of Sections 9-2-66 through
9-2-71 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, the
district or its assignee may file a complaint to foreclose the lien in
the same manner that foreclosures are permitted by law in
case of delinquent general taxes. However, no forfeiture of
the property shall be required as a prerequisite to such
foreclosure.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.30) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.31)
Sec. 22a.30.
Validity of special tax for accepted
work and new ordinance. No special assessment or special
tax shall be held invalid because levied for work already
done if it appears that the work was done under a contract
which has been duly let and entered into pursuant to an
ordinance providing that such an improvement should be
constructed and paid for by special assessment or special
tax and that the work was done under the direction of the
committee of local improvements and has been accepted by that committee.
It shall not be a valid objection to the confirmation of this new
assessment that the original ordinance has been declared
invalid or that the improvement as actually constructed does
not conform to the description thereof as set forth in the
original special assessment ordinance if the improvement so
constructed is accepted by the committee. The provisions of
this Section shall apply whenever the prior ordinance is
held insufficient or otherwise defective, invalid or void so
that the collection of the special assessment or special tax
therein provided for becomes impossible. In every such case
when such an improvement has been so constructed and
accepted and the proceedings for the confirmation and
collection of the special assessment or special tax are thus
rendered unavailing, the board shall pass a new ordinance
for the making and collection of a new special assessment or
special tax, and this new ordinance need not be initiated by
the committee.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.31) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.32)
Sec. 22a.31.
Supplemental assessments, rebates and
new hearing in case of deficiency. At any time after the
bids have been received pursuant to the provisions of this
Act, if it appears to the satisfaction of the committee of local
improvements that the first assessment is insufficient to pay the
contract price or the bonds or vouchers issued or to be issued in
payment of the contract price, together with the amount
required to pay the accruing interest thereon, the
committee shall make and file an estimate of the amount of
the deficiency. Thereupon a second or supplemental
assessment for the estimated deficiency of the cost of the
work and interest may be made in the same manner as nearly
as may be as in the first assessment and so on until
sufficient money has been realized to pay for the
improvement and the interest. Alternatively, the district’s
board may, pursuant to a new ordinance which need not be
initiated by the committee, file a petition with the court
to assess all or any part of the deficiency against the
district on account of public benefit whereupon the court
shall enter judgment in accordance with the petition. It
shall be no objection to the supplemental assessment that
the prior assessment has been levied, adjudicated and
collected.
If too large a sum is raised at any time, the excess
shall be abated in accordance with Section 22a.48 of this
Act. If the estimated deficiency exceeds 20% of the
original estimate, no contract shall be awarded until a
public hearing has been held on the supplemental proceeding
in like manner as in the original proceedings unless the
board files a petition to assess the entire deficiency
against the district on account of the public benefit as
above provided. More than one supplemental assessment may
be levied to meet a deficiency.
The petitioner, in case it so elects, may dismiss the
petition and vacate the judgment of confirmation at any time
after the judgment of confirmation is rendered and begin
new proceedings for the same or a different improvement as
provided in Section 22a.29.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.32) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.33)
Sec. 22a.32.
New assessment against delinquents.
If
from any cause any district fails to collect the whole or any
portion of any special assessment or special tax which may be
levied, which is not canceled or set aside by the order of
any court, for any public improvement authorized to be made
and paid for by special assessment or a special tax, the
board, at any time within 5 years after the confirmation of
the original assessment, may direct a new assessment to be
made upon the delinquent property for the amount of the
deficiency and interest thereon from the date of the
original assessment, which assessment shall be made as
nearly as may be in the same manner as is prescribed in this
Act for the first assessment. In all cases where partial
payments have been made on such former assessments, they
shall be credited or allowed on the new assessment to the
property for which they were made so that the assessment
shall be equal and impartial in its results. If this new
assessment proves insufficient, either in whole or in part,
the board, at any time within the specified period of 5
years, may order a third new assessment to be levied in the
same manner and for the same purpose. It shall constitute
no legal objection to any new assessment that the property
may have changed hands or been encumbered subsequent to the
date of the original assessment.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.33) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.34)
Sec. 22a.33.
Certification of roll.
Within 10
working days after the filing of the report of the amount
and date of the first voucher issued on account of work
done, as provided in Section 22a.17 of this Act, the clerk
of the court in which such judgment is rendered shall
certify the assessment roll and judgment to the district’s
collector, who may be any person designated by the board
from time to time to serve as such collector, or, if there
has been an appeal taken on any part of the judgment, he
shall certify such part of the judgment as is not included
in that appeal. This certification shall be filed by the
collector in his office. With the assessment roll and
judgment the clerk of the designated court shall also issue
a warrant for the collection of the assessment. The court
has the power to recall such warrants as to all or any of
the property affected at any time before payment or sale in
case the proceedings are abandoned by the petitioner or the
judgment is vacated or modified in a material respect as
hereinbefore provided, but not otherwise. In case the
assessment roll has been abated and the judgment reduced in
accordance with the provisions of Section 22a.48, the clerk
of the designated court, within 10 working days thereafter,
shall certify the order of reduction or the roll as so
reduced or recast, under the directions of the court, to
the district’s collector and shall issue a warrant for the
collection of the assessment as so reduced or recast.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.34) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.35)
Sec. 22a.34.
Payment in advance for land taken and
credit. Whenever any warrant is issued by the clerk of the
court in which the judgment of confirmation is rendered, for
the collection of any special assessment specified in
Section 22a.33, that warrant shall not authorize the
collection of any assessment levied against the district for
and on account of public benefits, but the clerk shall
likewise certify the assessment roll and judgment to the
collector of the district upon being requested so to do by
that officer. The several and respective installments of
the amounts that may be assessed against the district for
and on account of public benefits and confirmed by the
court, shall be paid out by the district treasurer out of
any money arising from the collection of the direct annual
tax provided for in Section 22a of this Act and out of any
other money in his hands that may be used for that purpose
whenever he is authorized and directed so to do by the
board. Any such district may pay for any land to be taken
or damaged in the making of any local improvement specified
in Section 9-2-19 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter
amended, before any such assessment or any installment thereof becomes due,
and when the same becomes due, the amount so paid shall be credited upon
the assessment against the district so paying in advance.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.35) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.36)
Sec. 22a.35.
Warrant to collector.
If an appeal is
taken on any part of such judgment and if the board elects
to proceed with the improvement notwithstanding such an
appeal, as provided for in Section 22a.41 of this Act, the
clerk shall certify the appealed portion from time to time
in the manner provided in Sections 22a.33 and 22a.34 as the judgment is
rendered thereon, and the warrant accompanying this certificate in each
case shall be authority for the collection of so much of the assessment as
is included in the portion of the roll thereto attached.
The warrant in all cases of assessment under this Act
shall contain a copy of the certificate of the judgment
describing the lots, blocks, tracts and parcels of land
assessed so far as they are contained in the portion of the
roll so certified and shall state the respective amounts
assessed on each lot, block, tract or parcel of land and
shall be delivered to the district’s collector. The
collector having a warrant for any assessment levied to be
paid by installments may receive any or all of the
installments of that assessment, but if he receives only a
part of the installments, then he shall receive them in
their numerical order.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.36) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.37)
Sec. 22a.36.
Collector’s notice.
The collector
receiving such a warrant shall give notice thereof within
30 days by publishing a notice at least twice in a newspaper
having a general circulation within the district. This
notice may be substantially in the following form:
Notice is hereby given that the (here insert title of
court) has rendered judgment for a special assessment (or
special tax) upon property benefited by the following
improvement: (here briefly describe the character and
location of the improvement in general terms) as will more
fully appear from the certified copy of the judgment on file
in my office; that the warrant for the collection of this
assessment (or special tax) is in my possession. All
persons interested are hereby notified to call and pay the
amount assessed at the collector’s office (here insert
location of office) within 30 days from the date hereof.
Dated (insert date).
………………………….
Collector.”
When such an assessment or special tax is levied to be
paid in installments, the notice shall also contain the
aggregate amount of each installment, the rate of interest
deferred installments bear and the date when payable.
(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.37) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.38)
Sec. 22a.37.
Collector’s demand.
The collector
into whose possession the warrant comes as far as
practicable shall mail a notice to all persons whose names
appear on the assessment roll at the addresses shown
thereon, informing them of the special assessment and
requesting payment thereof. A collector’s omission to mail
such notice shall not affect the validity of the special
assessment or the right of the district to apply for and
obtain a judgment thereon. The collector shall maintain
accurate records of payments received on assessments.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.38) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.39)
Sec. 22a.38.
Contracts payable from assessments and
claims limited to funds collected. Except as otherwise
provided in Section 9-2-113 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or
hereafter amended, no person obtaining contracts from the district and
agreeing to be paid out of special assessments or special
taxes has any claim or lien upon the district in any event
except from the collection of special assessments or
special taxes made or to be made for the work contracted
for. However, the district shall cause collections and
payments to be made with all reasonable diligence. If it
appears that such an assessment or tax cannot be levied or
collected, the district nevertheless is not in any way
liable to a contractor in case of failure to collect the
assessment or tax, but, so far as it can legally do so, with
all reasonable diligence, it shall cause a valid assessment
or assessments, or special taxes, to be levied and collected
to defray the cost of the work until all contractors or bond
holders are fully paid. Any contractor is entitled to the
summary relief of mandamus or injunction to enforce the
provisions of this Section.
The district treasurer shall keep a separate account of
each special assessment and of the money received
thereunder.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.39) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.40)
Sec. 22a.39.
Letting contracts and performance of
work by municipality. Except as otherwise provided in
Section 9-2-113 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter
amended, any work or other public improvement, to be paid for in whole or
in part by special assessment or special taxation, when the expense thereof
will exceed $10,000, shall be constructed by contract let to the lowest
responsible bidder in the manner prescribed in this Act.
In case of any work which it is estimated will not cost
more than $10,000, if, before or after receiving bids, it
appears to the committee of local improvements that the work can be
performed better and cheaper by the district, the committee may perform
that work and employ or contract for the necessary help or contractor
without the necessity of obtaining bids therefor.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.40) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.41)
Sec. 22a.40.
Assessment roll in case of alternate specification.
Except
as otherwise provided in Section 9-2-113 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as
now or hereafter amended, if the ordinance provides for alternate
specifications for the kind, nature, character and description of a proposed
improvement or the materials to be used in its construction and more
than one estimate has been prepared, the engineer shall make his estimate
based upon the highest estimate of the cost of the proposed improvement.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.41) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.42)
Sec. 22a.41. Manner and time of letting of
contracts. Except as otherwise provided in Section 9-2-113
of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, within 6
months after judgment of confirmation of any special assessment or
special tax levied in pursuance of this Act has been entered,
if there is no appeal perfected, or other stay of
proceedings by a court having jurisdiction, or in case the
judgment for the condemnation of any property for any such
improvement, or the judgment of confirmation as to any
property is appealed from, then, if the petitioner files in
the cause a written election to proceed with the work,
notwithstanding the appeal, or other stay, steps shall be
taken to let the contract for the work in the manner
provided in this Act. If the judgment of condemnation or of
confirmation of the special tax or special assessment levied
for the work is appealed from, or stayed by a supersedeas or
other order of a court having jurisdiction, and the
petitioner files no such election, then the steps provided
in this Act for the letting of the contract for the work
shall be taken within 6 months after the final determination
of the appeal or the determination of the stay unless the
proceeding is abandoned as provided in this Act.
(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.42) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.43)
Sec. 22a.42.
Notice for letting contracts and bids.
Except as otherwise provided in Section 9-2-113 of the
Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, notice shall be given
by the committee of local improvements that bids will be received for the
construction of such an improvement, either as a whole or in such sections
as the committee shall specify in its notice, in accordance
with the ordinance therefor. This notice shall state the
time of opening of the bids, and shall further state where
the specifications for the improvement are to be found, and
whether the contracts are to be paid in cash, vouchers or
bonds, and if in vouchers or bonds, then the rate of
interest the vouchers or bonds shall draw. The notice shall
be published at least twice, not more than 30 nor less than
15 days in advance of the opening of the bids, in one or
more newspapers designated by the committee with a general
circulation within the district.
Proposals or bids may be made either for the work as a
whole or for specified sections thereof if permitted by the
specifications which are part of the ordinance. All
proposals or bids offered shall be accompanied by a bid bond
satisfactory to the committee. These proposals or bids
shall be delivered to the committee, and at the time and
place fixed in the specified notice the committee’s engineer
or his delegate shall examine and publicly declare the
proposals or bids.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.43) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.44)
Sec. 22a.43.
Bond of contractor and suit on bond.
Except as otherwise provided in Section 9-2-113 of the
Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, the successful bidder
for the construction of such an improvement shall be required to
enter into a performance and labor and materials bond in a
sum equal to 100% of the amount of his bid with sureties to
be approved by the committee. This bond shall be filed with
the district’s clerk and shall be deemed to contain the
provisions set forth in Section 1 of “An Act in relation to bonds of
contractors entering into contracts for public construction”, approved June
20, 1931, as now or hereafter amended. When
entering into the contract for the construction of an
improvement the bond shall provide that the contractor shall
well and faithfully perform and execute the work in all
respects according to the complete and detailed
specifications, and full and complete drawings, profiles,
and models therefor, and according to the time and terms and
conditions of the contract, and also that the contractor
shall promptly pay all debts incurred by him in the
prosecution of the work, including those for labor and
materials furnished.
Suit may be brought on the bond in case of default or
failure to pay these debts promptly by and in the name of
the district for all damages sustained either by the
district or by any person interested, or for the damages
sustained by the district and all parties in interest or
by any beneficiary or party interested in the name of the
district for the use of the party interested as beneficial
plaintiff to recover for the labor and materials furnished.
However, in no case shall costs be adjudged against the
district in any suit brought by any party in interest
wherein the district is the nominal, but not the beneficial,
plaintiff.
In advertising for bids or proposals for the
construction of such an improvement, the committee shall
give notice that such a bond will be required, and all bids
or proposals shall be deemed to contain an offer to furnish
such a bond upon the acceptance of such a bid or proposal.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.44) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.45)
Sec. 22a.44.
Acceptance of bid, contract and
forfeiture. Except as otherwise provided in Section 9-2-113
of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, the committee
of local improvements may reject
any and all proposals or bids should they deem it best for
the public good. If the committee is of the opinion that a
combination exists between contractors, either to limit the
number of bidders, or to increase the contract price, and
that the lowest bid is made in pursuance thereof, the
committee shall reject all proposals or bids. The committee
may reject the bid of any party who does not have sufficient
financial responsibility, equipment or manpower to perform
the contract, or who has performed unsatisfactorily in
completing other projects for the district. It shall reject
all proposals or bids other than the lowest regular
proposals or bids of any responsible bidder and may award
the contract for the specified work or improvement to the
lowest responsible bidder at the prices named in his bid.
Such an award shall be recorded in the record of its
proceedings. Such an award, if any, shall be made within 90
days after the time fixed for receiving bids or such longer
or shorter period of time as may be specified in the
district’s bid documents.
If no award is made within that time, another
advertisement for proposals or bids for the performance of
the work, as in the first instance, may be made, and
thereafter the committee shall proceed in the manner above
provided in this Act. Such a readvertisement shall be
deemed a rejection of all former bids, and thereupon the
bonds corresponding to the bids so rejected shall be
returned to the proper parties. However, the check or bid
bond accompanying any accepted proposal or bid may be
retained in the possession of the district until the
contract for doing the work, as hereinafter provided, has
been entered into by the lowest responsible bidder. But if
that bidder fails, neglects or refuses to enter into a
contract to perform the work or improvement, as provided in
this Act, the bond accompanying his bid and the amount
therein mentioned, shall be declared to be forfeited to the
district and shall be collected by it and paid into its
fund for the repairing and maintenance of like improvements.
Any bond forfeited may be prosecuted and the amount due
thereon collected and paid into the same fund.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.45) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.46)
Sec. 22a.45.
Rejection of bids in case of default.
Except as otherwise provided in Section 9-2-113 of the
Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, if such original
bidder fails or refuses to enter into a contract, which shall be
simultaneously executed by the district and signed by the chairman of the
committee of local improvements and attested by the district’s
clerk under the district’s seal, then the committee without
further proceedings may again advertise for proposals or
bids as in the first instance and award the contract for the
work to the then regular lowest bidder. The bids of all
persons who have failed to enter into the contract as
provided in this Act shall be rejected in any bidding
subsequent to the first for the same work and in no event
treated as the regular lowest bidder.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.46) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.47)
Sec. 22a.46.
Completing unfinished work and
contractor’s bond. Except as otherwise provided in Section
9-2-113 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, if the
contractors who may have taken any contract do not complete the work
within the time mentioned in the contract or within such
further time as the committee may give them, the committee
may relet the unfinished portions of that work after
pursuing the bidding formalities prescribed in this Act for
the letting of the whole in the first instance.
All contractors at the time of executing any contract
for such unfinished work shall execute a bond as provided
for in Section 22a.43 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.47) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.48)
Sec. 22a.47.
Appointment of engineers, clerks and
inspectors, execution and acceptance of work and recourse
on District. The committee of local improvements may appoint an engineer
for the committee and such assistant engineers, clerks and inspectors as
may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this Act.
The committee is hereby authorized to make or cause to
be made the written contracts and receive all bonds
authorized by this Act and to do any other act, expressed or
implied, that pertains to the execution of the work provided
for by the ordinance authorizing such work. The committee
shall fix the time for the commencement of the work under
such ordinance and for the completion of the work under
all contracts entered into by it. This work shall be
prosecuted with diligence thereafter to completion, and the
committee may extend the time so fixed from time to time as
they may think best for the public good. The work to be
done pursuant to such contracts in all cases must be done
under the direction and to the satisfaction of the
committee, and all contracts made therefor must contain a
provision to that effect, and also express notice that in no
case, except as otherwise provided in the ordinance, or the
judgment of the court, shall the committee, or district,
except as otherwise provided in this Act, or any officer
thereof, be liable for any portion of the expenses nor for
any delinquency of persons or property assessed.
The acceptance by the committee of any improvement
shall be conclusive in the proceeding to make the
assessment and in all proceedings to collect the assessment
or installments thereof on all persons and property assessed
therefor that the work has been performed substantially
according to the requirements of the ordinance therefor.
However, if any property owner is injured by any failure so
to construct the improvement or suffers any pecuniary loss
thereby, he may recover the amount of the injury in a civil
action against the district making the improvement if the
action is commenced within one year from the date of the
acceptance of the work by the committee.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.48) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.49)
Sec. 22a.48.
Excess of assessments over improvements
and abatement. Except as otherwise provided in Section
9-2-117 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, within
30 days after the final completion and acceptance of the work by the
committee as provided in Section 22a.47, the committee of local
improvements shall have the cost thereof, including the cost of engineering
services, certified in writing to the court in which the
assessment was confirmed, together with an amount estimated
by the committee to be required to pay the accruing interest
on bonds or vouchers issued to anticipate collection.
Thereupon, if the total amount assessed for the improvement
upon the public and private property exceeds the cost of the
improvement, all of that excess, except the amount required
to pay such interest as is provided for in this Act, shall
be abated and the judgment reduced by applying all of the
excess first to the abatement and reduction of the amount
assessed against the district for public benefit and the
remaining excess, if any, to the abatement and reduction of
the amount assessed against the private property to be
benefited by the improvement, which abatement of the
assessment against benefited property shall be credited pro
rata upon the respective assessments for the improvement
under the direction of the court. In case the assessment is
collectible in installments, this reduction shall be made by
reducing the amount of the last installment or installments.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.49) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.50)
Sec. 22a.49.
Report to court, notice of hearing,
certificate of board as prima facie evidence and order. In
every assessment proceeding in which the assessment is divided into
installments, the committee of local improvements shall state in the
certificate whether or not the improvement conforms
substantially to the requirements of the original ordinance
for the construction of the improvements and shall make an
application to the court to consider and determine whether
or not the facts stated in the certificate are true.
Thereupon the court, upon such an application, shall fix a
time and place for a hearing upon the application, and shall
record the application. The time of this hearing shall be
not less than 15 days after the filing of the certificate
and application. Public notice shall be given at least
twice of the time and place fixed for that hearing by
publishing in a newspaper, in the same manner and for the
same period as provided in this Act for publishing notice of
application for the confirmation of the original assessment,
the publication of this notice to be not more than 30 more
less than 15 days before the day fixed by the order for that
hearing.
At the time and place fixed by the notice or at any
time thereafter, the court shall proceed to hear the
application and any objection which may be filed thereto
within the time fixed in the order. Upon the hearing the
specified certificate of the committee shall be prima facie
evidence that the matters and things stated are true, but if
any part thereof is controverted by objections duly filed
thereto, the court shall hear and determine the objections
in a summary manner and shall enter an order according to
the fact.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.50) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.51)
Sec. 22a.50.
Finding against certificate, completion of
improvement, supplemental applications and bonds. If
upon the hearing the court finds against the allegations of
the certificate, it shall enter an order accordingly. The
committee of local improvements shall then procure the completion of the
improvement in substantial accordance with the ordinance.
The committee from time to time may file additional or
supplemental applications or petitions in respect thereto
until the court eventually is satisfied that the
allegations of the certificate or applications are true and
that the improvement is constructed in substantial
accordance with the ordinance.
If before the entry of such an order upon such a
certificate there has been issued to the contractor in the
progress of any such work bonds to apply upon the contract
price thereof, that contractor or the then owner or holder
of those bonds shall be entitled to receive in lieu thereof
new bonds of equivalent amount, dated and issued after the
entry of that order. Nothing contained in Sections 22a.48
through 22a.50 shall apply to any proceedings under Section
22a.30 for the confirmation of new assessments levied to pay
for the cost of work already done.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.51) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.52)
Sec. 22a.51.
Inspection of work.
The committee of local improvements
shall designate someone to carefully inspect the entire work
done pursuant to any such proceeding and contract and the
materials therefor during the progress of the work to the
end that the contractor shall comply fully and adequately
with all the provisions of the ordinance and of the contract
under which the work is to be done and the specifications therefor.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.52) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.53)
Sec. 22a.52.
Rebates.
If, after final settlement
with the contractor for any improvement and after full
payment of all vouchers or bonds except those bonds and
interest coupons not presented for payment, although called
and for which funds are available and reserved, within the
period of time specified in Section 9-1-5 of the Illinois
Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, issued on account of that
improvement, there is any surplus remaining in the special assessment or
special tax above the specified payments and above the
amount necessary for the payment of interest on those
vouchers or bonds, such surplus shall be applied to
reimbursing the public benefit fund for any amounts paid
from such fund on account of the improvement. If, after the
public benefit fund has been reimbursed, a surplus still
remains, the trustees of the district shall declare at once
a rebate upon each lot, block, tract or parcel of land
assessed of its pro rata proportion of that surplus,
provided that no property shall be entitled to a rebate
unless the amount thereof exceeds $25, and on any property
as to which the amount is less than $25 the amount shall be
credited to the district’s general fund. Such rebate shall
be paid to the owner of record of each such lot, block,
tract or parcel at the time of the declaration of the
rebate. Should any additional funds be collected after the
original rebate is declared, the district shall not be
required to declare a supplemental rebate for 5 years from
the date the original rebate is declared. The district may
deduct for its cost and expenses for declaring and making
any rebate not more than 5% of the amount declared to be
rebated. The committee shall keep and exhibit publicly in
its office an index of all warrants upon which rebates are
due and payable and upon proper proof, the warrants shall be
repaid to the persons entitled thereto.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.53) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.54)
Sec. 22a.53.
Manner of payment of expenses and costs.
The costs and
expenses of maintaining the committee of local improvements,
for paying salaries of the members of the committee, and the
expense of making and levying special assessments or special
taxes and of letting and executing contracts and also the
entire cost and expense attending the making and return of
the assessment rolls and the necessary estimates,
examinations, advertisements and like matters connected with
the proceedings provided for in this Act, including the
court costs and the fees to commissioners in condemnation
proceedings, which are to be taxed as provided in this Act,
shall be paid by the district out of its general corporate
fund, provided that any district may, in the ordinance
providing for the prescribed assessment, provide that a
certain sum, not to exceed 6% of the amount of this
assessment, shall be applied toward the payment of the
specified and other costs of making and collecting this
assessment. The estimate of cost of the improvement may
also provide an item setting forth a reserve for deficiency
in interest not to exceed 6% of the amount of the
assessment.
The limitation in the preceding paragraph shall not
apply to the costs of engineering and inspection connected
with any local improvement, but these costs may be included
in the cost of the improvement to be defrayed by special
assessment or special tax.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.54) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.55)
Sec. 22a.54.
Appeals.
Appeals from final judgments
or orders of any court made in the proceedings provided for
by this Act may be taken in the manner provided in other
civil cases by the district or by any of the owners or
parties interested in land taken, damaged, or assessed
therein. However, no appeal may be taken after 30 days
from the entry of the final judgment or order. Such an
appeal may be prosecuted jointly, and upon a joint bond, or
severally, and upon several bonds, as may be specified in
the order fixing the amount and terms of such bonds.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/22a.55) (from Ch. 42, par. 317d.56)
Sec. 22a.55.
Validation of assessments.
No special assessment shall be
considered illegal or invalid on account of any informality in making the
assessment, on account of any step in the procedure specified in this Act
not being made or completed within the time required by law or on account
of any notice or listing, including the assessment roll, having been sent
or referred to a person other than the rightful owner of any property assessed.
(Source: P.A. 85-1137.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e)
Sec. 23.
Additional contiguous territory may be added to any sanitary
district organized under this Act in the manner following:
Ten per cent or more of the legal voters resident within the limits
of such proposed addition to such sanitary district may petition the
circuit court for the county in which the original petition for the
formation of said sanitary district was filed, to cause the question to
be submitted to the legal voters of such proposed additional territory
whether such proposed additional territory shall become a part of any
contiguous sanitary district organized under this Act and whether such
additional territory and the taxpayers thereof shall assume a
proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness, if any, of such sanitary
district. Such petition shall be addressed to the court and shall
contain a definite description of the boundaries of the territory sought
to be added. Provided that no territory disqualified in Section 1 of
this Act shall be included.
Upon filing such petition in the office of the circuit clerk of the
county in which the original petition for the organization of such
sanitary district was filed it shall be the duty of the court to
consider the boundaries of such proposed additional territory. The
decision of the court is appealable as in other civil cases.
Notice shall be given by the court of the time and place when and
where all persons interested will be heard substantially as provided in
and by Section 1 of this Act. The court shall certify the proposition to
the proper election officials, who shall submit the proposition to the voters
at an election in accordance with the general election law. The proposition
shall be in substantially the following form:
————————————————————–
For joining sanitary district
and assuming a proportionate
share of bonded indebtedness, if
any.
————————————————————–
Against joining sanitary district
and assuming a proportionate
share of bonded indebtedness, if
any.
————————————————————–
If a majority of the votes on the proposition
shall be in favor of
becoming a part of such sanitary district and if the trustees of such
sanitary district accept the proposed additional territory by ordinance
annexing the same, the court shall enter an appropriate order of record
in the court, and such additional territory shall thenceforth be
deemed an integral part of such sanitary district. Any such additional
contiguous territory may be annexed to such sanitary district upon
petition addressed to such court, signed by a majority of the owners of
lands constituting such territory who, in the case of natural persons,
shall have arrived at lawful age and who represent a majority in area of
such territory, which said petition shall contain a definite description
of the boundaries of such territory and shall set forth the willingness
of the petitioners that such territory and the taxpayers thereof assume
a proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness, if any, of such
sanitary district. Upon the filing of such petition and notice of and
hearing and decision upon the same by the court, all as hereinbefore
provided, the court shall enter an order containing his or their
findings and decision as to the boundaries of the territory to be
annexed; and thereupon, if the trustees of such sanitary district shall
pass an ordinance annexing the territory described in such order to said
sanitary district, said court shall enter an appropriate order as
hereinabove provided, and such additional territory shall thenceforth be
deemed an integral part of such sanitary district.
(Source: P.A. 83-343.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e.1)
Sec. 23.1.
Whenever any contiguous, uninhabited, unincorporated territory
is owned by any sanitary district organized under this Act, that territory
may be annexed by that sanitary district by the passage of an ordinance to
that effect by the board of trustees of the sanitary district, describing
the territory to be annexed. After the passage of such ordinance of
annexation a copy of such ordinance, with an accurate map of the territory
annexed, certified as correct by the Clerk of the District, shall be filed
with the County Clerk of the County in which the annexed territory is
situated.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 552.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23.2) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e.2)
Sec. 23.2.
Any sanitary district may annex any territory contiguous to it
even though the annexed territory is dedicated or used for street or
highway purposes if no part of the annexed territory is within any other
sanitary district. After passage of the ordinance of annexation a copy of
the ordinance with an accurate map of the territory annexed certified as
correct by the Clerk of the District shall be filed with the County Clerk
of the County in which the annexed territory is situated.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 552.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23.3) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e.3)
Sec. 23.3.
Whenever any unincorporated territory, containing 60 acres or
less, is wholly bounded by any sanitary district organized under this Act,
that territory may be annexed by that sanitary district by the passage of
an ordinance to that effect by the board of trustees of the sanitary
district, describing the territory to be annexed. After the passage of such
ordinance of annexation a copy of such ordinance, with an accurate map of
the territory annexed, certified as correct by the clerk of the board of
trustees, shall be filed with the County Clerk of the County in which the
annexed territory is situated.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 552.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23.4) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e.4)
Sec. 23.4.
Any territory which is not within the corporate limits of any
sanitary district but which is contiguous to a sanitary district and which
territory has no electors residing therein; or any such territory with
electors residing thereon; may be annexed to the sanitary district in the
following manner: a written petition signed by the owners of record of all
land within such territory, or if such territory is occupied, by the owners
of record and by all electors residing thereon, shall be filed with the
clerk of the sanitary district, which petition shall request annexation and
shall state that no electors reside thereon (or that all such electors
residing thereon join in the petition, whichever shall be the case) and
shall be under oath. The board of trustees of the sanitary district to
which annexation is sought shall then consider the question of the
annexation of the described territory. A two-thirds vote of the board of
trustees is required to annex. A copy of the ordinance annexing the
territory together with an accurate map of the annexed territory, certified
as correct by the Clerk of the District, shall be filed with the County
Clerk of the county in which the annexed territory is located.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 552.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23.5) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e.5)
Sec. 23.5. Any sanitary district may annex any territory which is not
within the corporate limits of the sanitary district but which is
contiguous to it and is served by the sanitary district or by a
municipality with sanitary sewers that are connected and served by the
sanitary district by the passage of an ordinance to that effect by the
board of trustees, describing the territory to be annexed. A copy of the
ordinance with an accurate map of the annexed territory, certified as
correct by the clerk of the district shall be filed with the county clerk
of the county in which the annexed territory is located. For purposes of
this Act, a property is served by a sanitary district if a sewer that is
part of the sanitary district’s sewer system, part of the sewer system of a
municipality that is connected to the sanitary district, or part of any
other sewer system that connects to and is served by the sanitary district
has been extended to, across, or along the property, whether or not the
buildings on the property are physically connected to the sewer.
(Source: P.A. 94-1106, eff. 2-9-07.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23.6) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e.6)
Sec. 23.6.
The corporate authorities of any sanitary district may enter
into an agreement with one or more of the owners of record of land in any
territory which may be annexed to such sanitary district as provided in
this Act. Such agreement may provide for the annexation of such territory
to the sanitary district, subject to the provisions of this Act, and any
other matter not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, nor
forbidden by law. Such agreement shall be valid and binding for a period
not to exceed 10 years from the date of execution thereof.
Any action taken by the corporate authorities during the period such
agreement is in effect, which, if it applied to the land which is the subject
of the agreement, would be a breach of such agreement, shall not apply to
such land without an amendment of such agreement.
Any such agreement executed after the effective date of this Amendatory
Act of 1983 and all amendments of annexation agreements, shall
be entered into in the following manner. The corporate authorities shall
fix a time for and hold a public hearing upon the proposed annexation agreement
or amendment, and shall give notice of the proposed agreement or amendment
not more than 30 nor less than 15 days before the date fixed for the hearing.
This notice shall be published at least once in one or more newspapers
published within the sanitary district. After such hearing the agreement
or amendment may be modified before execution thereof. The annexation
agreement or amendment shall be executed by the president of the board of
trustees only after such hearing and upon the adoption of a resolution
directing such execution, which resolution must be passed by a vote of
two-thirds of the corporate authorities then holding office.
Any annexation agreement executed pursuant to this Section shall be binding
upon the successor owners of record of the land which is the subject of
the agreement and upon successor corporate authorities of the sanitary district
and successor sanitary districts.
Any party to such agreement may by civil action, mandamus or other proceeding,
enforce and compel performance of the agreement.
Any annexation agreement executed prior to the effective date of this
Amendatory Act of 1983 which was executed pursuant to a two-thirds vote
of the corporate authorities and which contains provisions not inconsistent
with this Section is hereby declared valid and enforceable as to such
provisions for the effective period of such agreement, or for 10 years from
the date of execution thereof, whichever is shorter.
The effective term of any Annexation Agreement executed prior to the
effective date of this Amendatory Act of 1983 may be extended at any time
prior to the original expiration date to a date which is not later than
ten years from the date of execution of the original Annexation Agreement.
(Source: P.A. 83-745.)
(70 ILCS 2405/23.7) (from Ch. 42, par. 317e.7)
Sec. 23.7. For purposes of this Act, territory to be organized as a
sanitary district shall be considered to be contiguous territory, and territory
to be annexed to a sanitary district shall be considered to be contiguous
to the sanitary district notwithstanding that the territory to be so organized
is divided by,
or
that the territory to be so annexed is separated from the sanitary district
by, one or more railroad rights-of-ways, public easements,
property owned by a public utility, or property owned by a forest preserve district or any public agency or not-for-profit corporation, provided that the property does not require sanitary sewer service. However, upon
such organization or annexation, the area included within any such
right-of-way, public easement, property owned by a public
utility, or property owned by a forest preserve district or any public agency or not-for-profit corporation shall not be considered a part of or
annexed to the sanitary district and shall not be subject to rights-of-way for access or services without the approval of the legal owner of the property.
(Source: P.A. 94-1106, eff. 2-9-07.)
(70 ILCS 2405/24) (from Ch. 42, par. 317f)
Sec. 24.
Any contiguous territory located within the boundaries of
any sanitary district organized under this Act, and upon the border of
such district, may become disconnected from such district in the manner
following, to-wit: 10% or more of the legal voters resident in the
territory sought to be disconnected from such district, may petition the
circuit court for the county in which the original petition for the
organization of said district was filed, to cause the question of such
disconnection to be submitted to the legal voters of such territory
whether said territory shall be disconnected. Said petition shall be
addressed to the court and shall contain a definite description of the
boundaries of such territory and recite as a fact, that there is no
bonded indebtedness of such sanitary district incurred while such
territory was a part of such sanitary district and that no special
assessments for local improvements were levied upon or assessed against
any of the lands within such territory or if so levied or assessed, that
all of such assessments have been fully paid and discharged and that
such territory is not, at the time of the filing of such petition, and
will not be, either benefited or served, as defined in Section 23.5 of this
Act, by any work or improvements either then existing or then authorized by
said sanitary district. Upon filing such petition in the office of the
circuit clerk of the county in which the original petition for the
formation of such sanitary district has been filed it shall be the duty of
the court to consider the boundaries of such territory and the facts upon
which the petition is founded. The court may alter the boundaries of such
territory and shall deny the prayer of the petition, if the material
allegations therein contained are not founded in fact. The decision of the
court is appealable as in other civil cases.
Notice shall be given by the court of the time and place when and
where all persons interested will be heard substantially as provided in
and by Section 1 of this Act. The court shall certify the question to the
proper election officials who shall submit the question at an election in
accordance with the general election law. The question shall be in
substantially the following form:
————————————————————–
For disconnection from
Sanitary District.
————————————————————–
Against disconnection from
Sanitary District.
————————————————————–
If a majority of the votes on the question shall be in favor of
disconnection, and if the trustees of such sanitary district shall, by
ordinance, disconnect such territory, thereupon the court shall enter an
appropriate order of record in the court and thereafter such territory
shall henceforth be deemed disconnected from such sanitary district.
(Source: P.A. 86-296.)
(70 ILCS 2405/25) (from Ch. 42, par. 317g)
Sec. 25.
The board of trustees of any sanitary district may arrange to
provide for the benefit of employees and trustees of the sanitary district
group life, health, accident, hospital and medical insurance, or any one or
any combination of such types of insurance. The Board of trustees may also
elect to self insure the district’s employees. In the event the board
arranges to provide insurance, such insurance may include provision for
employees and trustees who rely on treatment by prayer or spiritual means alone
for healing in accordance with the tenets and practice of a well recognized
religious denomination. The board of trustees may provide for payment by the
sanitary district of the premium or charge for such insurance.
If the board of trustees elects to provide the insurance, but does not
provide for a plan pursuant to which the
sanitary district pays the premium or charge for any group insurance plan,
the board of trustees may provide for the withholding and deducting from
the compensation of such of the employees and trustees as consent thereto
the premium or charge for any group life, health, accident, hospital and
medical insurance.
If the board of trustees elects to provide insurance under the provisions
of this Section, it may exercise the powers granted in this Section only
if the kinds of such group insurance are obtained from any insurance company
authorized to do business in the State of Illinois or any other for-profit or
not-for-profit organization or service offering similar coverage including
without limitation, hospitals, clinics, health maintenance organizations, and
physicians’ groups. The board of trustees may enact an ordinance prescribing
the method of operation of the insurance or self-insurance program and for
entering into contracts with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations or
services providing health care services.
(Source: P.A. 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 90-697, eff. 8-7-98; 91-357, eff.
7-29-99.)
(70 ILCS 2405/26) (from Ch. 42, par. 317h)
Sec. 26.
(1) The terms used in this Section are defined as follows:
The term “Board of Trustees” means the Board of Trustees of a sanitary
district organized under this Act.
The term “District Director” means the chief administrative officer of
such sanitary district.
The term “Waters” means all accumulations of water, surface and underground,
natural and artificial, public and private, or parts thereof, which are
wholly or partially within, or flow through, the territorial boundaries
of such sanitary district.
The term “Wastewater” means the combination of liquid and water-carried
wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and
institutions, including polluted cooling water.
The term “Sanitary Wastewater” means the combination of liquid and
water-carried wastes discharged from toilet and other sanitary
plumbing facilities.
The term “Industrial Wastewater” means a combination of liquid and
water-carried waste, discharged from any industrial establishment and
resulting from any trade or process carried on in that establishment including
the wastewater from pretreatment facilities and polluted cooling water.
The term “Combined Wastewater” means wastewater including sanitary
wastewater, industrial wastewater, storm water, infiltration and inflow
carried to the sewage treatment plant by a sewer.
The term “Pollutant” means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator
residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes,
biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged
equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and
agricultural waste discharged into any waters as will or is likely to
create a nuisance or render such waters harmful or detrimental or injurious
to public health, safety or welfare, or to domestic, commercial,
industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate uses, or to
livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or other aquatic life, or causes or
may cause interference with the operation of the sanitary district sewage treatment plant.
The term “Interference” means an inhibition or disruption of the sanitary
district’s sewage treatment plant, its treatment processes or operations,
or its sludge processes, use or disposal which is a cause of or significantly
contributes to either a violation of any requirement of the sewage treatment
work’s ability to discharge to the waters of the State of Illinois or to
the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the sewage treatment
work in accordance with the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions.
The term “Person” means any and all persons, natural or artificial, including
any individual, firm or association, and any unit of local government or
private corporation organized or existing under the laws of this or any
other state or country.
(2) The sanitary district, acting through the District Director, may
study, investigate and from time to time determine ways and means of removing
from the water within such sanitary district so far as is practicable, all
pollutants in accordance with Federal and State statutes and applicable
regulations, and to determine methods of abating such pollutants that are
detrimental to public health or to animals, fish or aquatic life, or
detrimental to the practicable use of the waters for purposes of
recreation, industry or agriculture, or which interfere or might interfere
with the operation of such sanitary district’s sewage treatment plant.
(3) The sanitary district may by ordinance provide that no user who is
planning to discharge into any waters, pollutants or wastewater which may
cause the pollution of such waters within such sanitary district, may make
such discharge unless a written permit or permits for such discharge have
been granted by the sanitary district acting through its Board of Trustees.
The sanitary district may by ordinance provide that no changes in or
additions to a user’s discharge into any waters, including changes in or
additions to the method of treating of wastewater or pollutants, may be
made within such sanitary district unless and until the proposed changes
have been submitted to and approved by the sanitary district and a permit
or permits have been issued therefor by the Board of Trustees.
(4) Plans and specifications describing any discharges set forth in this
Act shall be submitted to the sanitary district before a written permit
or permits may be issued. Construction of any facilities required by such
plans and specifications must be in accordance with such plans and
specifications. In case it is necessary or desirable to make material
changes in said plans or specifications, the revised plans or
specifications, together with the reasons for the proposed changes must be
submitted to the sanitary district for a revised or supplemental written permit.
(5) The sanitary district, acting through the District Director, may require
any user, other than a user discharging only domestic strength waste, which
is discharging to the sanitary district, to file with it complete plans
of the whole or of any part of its wastewater discharge system and any other
information and records concerning the installation and operation of such system.
(6) The sanitary district, acting through the District Director, may
establish procedures for the review of any plans, specifications or other
data relative to any user’s wastewater discharge system, for which this Act
requires a written permit or permits.
(7) The sanitary district, acting through the District Director, may
adopt and enforce rules and regulations governing the issuance of permits
and the method and manner under which plans, specifications, or other data
relative thereto must be submitted for such wastewater discharge systems or
for additions to, changes in or extensions of such wastewater discharge systems.
(8) Whenever the sanitary district, acting through the District Director,
determines that wastewater or pollutants are being discharged into any waters
and when, in the opinion of the District Director, such discharge pollutes
the same or renders such waters incapable of use for the purposes stated
herein, the District Director may by conference, conciliation and persuasion,
endeavor to the fullest extent possible to eliminate such discharge or cause
such discharger to cease such pollution. The District Director shall not
hold more than one such conference for any single user in
any consecutive 12 month period before calling for a Show Cause Hearing
as set forth herein. In addition, nothing in this Section shall prohibit
the Director, upon discovery of an ongoing or potential discharge of pollutants
to the sewage treatment works which reasonably appears to present an imminent
danger to the health or welfare of persons, from seeking and obtaining from
the Circuit Court of the county in which the sanitary district is
located
a Temporary Restraining Order to halt or prohibit such discharge or from
proceeding under any other provision of this Act; and provided further, that
where the Director discovers an ongoing or potential discharge to its sewage
treatment works which presents or may present a danger to the environment
or which threatens to interfere or interferes with the operation of its
treatment works, he may call a Show Cause Hearing as set forth herein without
the requirement for such process of conference, conciliation and persuasion.
In the case of the failure by conference, conciliation and persuasion to
correct or remedy any claimed violation, the District Director may order
whoever causes such discharge to show cause before the Board of Trustees
of such sanitary district why such discharge should not be discontinued.
A notice may be served on the offending party directing him or it to show cause
before such Board of Trustees why an Order should not be entered directing
the discontinuance of such discharge. Such notice shall specify the time
and place where a hearing will be held and shall be served personally or
by registered or certified mail at least 5 days before the hearing; and
in the case of a unit of local government or a corporation, such service
shall be upon an officer or agent thereof. After reviewing the evidence,
the Board of Trustees may issue an order to the party responsible for such
discharge, directing that the user responsible shall cease such discharge
immediately or that following a specified time such discharge shall cease
or the discharge permit or permits previously issued to such discharger
shall be revoked immediately or after a time certain, or shall issue such
other order as may serve to abate said discharge. If the party fails to
cease such discharge in accordance with the Board’s Order, the sanitary
district may disconnect such discharge on Order of the Board of Trustees.
(9) Any permit authorized and issued under the provisions of this Act
may, when necessary, in the opinion of the District Director, to prevent
pollution of such waters, be revoked or modified by the Board of Trustees after
investigation, notice and hearing as provided in paragraph (8) of this Section.
(10) A violation of an order of the Board of Trustees shall be considered
a nuisance. If any person discharges sewage or industrial wastes or other
wastes into any waters contrary to the orders of the Board of Trustees,
the sanitary district, acting through the District Director, has the power
to commence an action or proceeding in the Circuit Court in and for the
county in which such sanitary district is located for the purpose of having
the discharge stopped either by mandamus or injunction.
The Court shall specify a time, not exceeding 20 days after the service
of the copy of the Petition, in which the party complained of must answer
the Petition, and in the meantime, the party may be restrained. In case
of default in answer or after answer, the Court shall immediately inquire
into the facts and circumstances of the case and enter any appropriate judgment
order in respect to the matters complained of. An appeal may be taken from
the final judgment in the same manner and with the same effect as appeals
are taken from judgments of the Circuit Court in other actions for mandamus
or injunction.
(11) The Board of Trustees or any member thereof, or any officer or employee
designated by such Board, may conduct the hearing and take the evidence
provided for in paragraph (8) of this Section, and transmit a report of
the evidence and hearing, together with recommendations, to the Board of
Trustees for action thereon.
At any public hearing, testimony must be taken under oath and recorded
stenographically. The transcript so recorded must be made available to
any member of the public or any party to the hearing upon payment of the
usual charges therefor.
In any such hearing, the Board, or the designated member or members, or any
officer or employee of the District designated by the Board, may subpoena and
compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence reasonably
necessary to the resolution of the matter under consideration. The Board,
or the designated member or members, or any officer or employee of the District
designated by the Board, shall issue such subpoenas upon the request of
any party to a Show Cause Hearing under paragraph (8) of this Section or
upon its own Motion, and may examine witnesses.
(12) The provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and the rules adopted
pursuant thereto, apply to and govern all proceedings for the judicial review
of final administrative decisions of the Board of Trustees hereunder. The
term “administrative decision” is defined as in Section 3-101 of the Code
of Civil Procedure.
(13) Whoever violates any provisions of this Act or fails to comply with
an order of the Board of Trustees in accordance with the provisions of this
Act shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000. Each day’s
continuance of such violation or failure is a separate offense. The penalties
provided in this Section plus reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs and
other expenses of litigation are recoverable by the sanitary district upon
its suit, as debts are recoverable at law.
(Source: P.A. 90-655, eff. 7-30-98.)
(70 ILCS 2405/27) (from Ch. 42, par. 317i)
Sec. 27.
(a) Any sanitary district created under this Act which does not
have any outstanding and unpaid revenue bonds issued under the provisions of
this Act and which has a population not in excess of 5000 persons
and where that sanitary district has entered into an intergovernmental
agreement with a municipality for the mutual expenditure of funds in joint work
and for the transfer of assets under the Municipality and Sanitary District
Mutual Expenditure Act may be dissolved as follows:
The board of trustees of a sanitary district may petition the circuit
court to dissolve the district. Such petition must show: (1) the reasons
for dissolving the district; (2) that there are no debts of the district
outstanding or that there are sufficient funds on hand or available to
satisfy such debts; (3) that no contract or federal or state permit or
grant will be impaired by the dissolution of the sanitary district; (4)
that all assets and responsibilities of the sanitary district have been
properly assigned to the successor municipality; and (5) that the sanitary
district will pay any court costs incurred in connection with the petition.
Upon adequate notice, including appropriate notice to the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, the circuit court shall hold a hearing to
determine whether there is good reason for dissolving the district and
whether the allegations of the petition are true. If the court finds for
the petitioners it shall order the district dissolved but if the court
finds against the petitioners the petition shall be dismissed. In either
event, the costs shall be taxed against the sanitary district. The order
shall be final. Separate or joint appeals may be taken by any of the
parties affected thereby or by the trustees of the sanitary district, as in
other civil cases.
(b) The Village of Rockton has the power to dissolve and acquire all of
the assets and responsibilities of a sanitary district (i) that is located
wholly within
Winnebago County and (ii) that
has 90% of its service area within the corporate limits of the Village of
Rockton.
The corporate authorities of the Village of Rockton, after providing at least
60
days’ prior written notice to the sanitary district, may vote to dissolve and
acquire
the existing sanitary district formed pursuant to this Act upon showing:
(1) the
reasons for dissolving the district; (2) that there are no outstanding debts of
the district or that the Village of Rockton has sufficient funds on hand or
available
to satisfy any such debts; (3) that no federal or state permit or grant will be
impaired by dissolution of the existing sanitary
district; (4) that the Village of Rockton agrees to assume all assets and
responsibilities of the sanitary district; and (5) that adequate notice has
been
given to the
Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency regarding the dissolution of the sanitary
district. Any costs associated with the dissolution of the existing sanitary
district may be taxed against the sanitary district once the Village of Rockton
has
acquired all the assets and responsibilities of the district.
The sanitary
district may file an appeal with the circuit court, which shall hold a hearing,
to determine whether the requirements of this section has been met. If the
court finds that the requirements of this section have been met, it shall
uphold the action of the Village of Rockton to dissolve the district. If the
court
finds that said requirements have not been met, it shall order that the
sanitary district not be dissolved.
(c) The Round Lake Sanitary District may dissolve itself upon entering into an agreement with the County of Lake for the County to acquire all of the assets and responsibilities of the Round Lake Sanitary District. Upon dissolution of the District, the statutory powers of the former District shall be exercised by the county board of Lake County. Within 60 days after the effective date of such dissolution and agreement, the County of Lake shall notify the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency regarding the dissolution of the Round Lake Sanitary District and the dissolution agreement.
(Source: P.A. 99-783, eff. 8-12-16.)
(70 ILCS 2405/28) (from Ch. 42, par. 317j)
Sec. 28.
If the court orders the dissolution of the sanitary
district, there shall be no further appointments for trustees. The officers
acting at the time of this order shall close up the business affairs of the
sanitary district, and make the necessary conveyances of the title to the
sanitary district property in accordance with the intergovernmental
agreement between the sanitary district and the successor municipality.
(Source: P.A. 85-986.)
(70 ILCS 2405/29) (from Ch. 42, par. 317k)
Sec. 29.
The dissolution of any sanitary district shall not affect
the obligation of any bonds issued or contracts entered into by such
district, nor invalidate the levy, extension or collection of any taxes or
special assessments upon the property in the debtor district, but all such
bonds and contracts shall be discharged.
The general obligation indebtedness of the dissolved district shall be
paid from the proceeds of continuing taxes and special assessments as
provided in this Act.
All money remaining after the business affairs of the sanitary district
have been closed up and all the debts and obligations of the sanitary
district have been paid, shall be paid to the successor municipality in
accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the sanitary
district and the municipality.
(Source: P.A. 85-986.)
(70 ILCS 2405/30) (from Ch. 42, par. 317l)
Sec. 30.
The corporate authorities of any successor municipality
required to provide sewer or water service under this Act may levy and
collect for that purpose a tax upon the taxable property within that
successor municipality, the aggregate amount of which for each year may not
exceed .25% of the value of such property as equalized or assessed by the
Department of Revenue and that tax shall be in addition to taxes authorized
to be levied for the general corporate purposes of the municipality.
(Source: P.A. 85-986.)
(70 ILCS 2405/31) (from Ch. 42, par. 317m)
Sec. 31.
All courts shall take judicial notice of the
dissolution of such sanitary districts.
(Source: P.A. 85-986.)