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HB5555 Engrossed |
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LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
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| AN ACT concerning regulation.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Water |
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| and Sewer Utility Customer Service Act. |
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| Section 5. Application of Public Utilities Act to water and |
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| sewer utilities. Except to the extent modified or supplemented |
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| by the specific provisions of this Act, the Sections of the |
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| Public Utilities Act pertaining to public utilities, public |
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| utility rates, and services, and the regulation thereof, are |
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| fully and equally applicable to water and sewer rates and |
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| services and the regulation thereof, except where the context |
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| clearly renders such provisions inapplicable. |
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| Section 10. Definitions. The definitions contained in the |
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| Public Utilities Act apply to terms used in this Act, unless |
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| the context clearly indicates otherwise. |
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| Section 15. Customer rights. |
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| (a) Within 90 days after the effective date of this |
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| amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the Commission |
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| shall hold public hearings concerning and establish a water |
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| bill of rights for customers of public utilities providing |
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| water or sewer service. The water bill of rights must detail |
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| what rights a customer has in each of the following situations: |
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| (1) The customer's water meter is replaced. |
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| (2) The customer's bill increases by more than 20% |
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| within one billing period. |
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| (3) The customer's water service is terminated. |
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| (4) The customer wishes to appeal a termination of |
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| service notice. |
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| (5) The customer is unable to make payment on a billing |
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LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
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| statement. |
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| (6) A surcharge or annual reconciliation is filed that |
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| will increase the amount billed to the customer. |
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| (7) The customer is billed for services provided prior |
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| to the date covered by the billing statement. |
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| (8) The customer is due to receive a credit. |
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| The water bill of rights must also include information |
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| concerning the service obligations of the utility and informing |
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| the customer about unfair and unethical collection practices |
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| and remedies that the customer may pursue for a violation of |
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| the customer's rights. The Commission shall also determine the |
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| penalties that shall be imposed on the utility for |
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| noncompliance with the customer's water bill of rights. |
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| (b) No water or sewer public utility may terminate the |
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| service of any customer without first providing at least 7 |
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| days' advance written notice to the customer. The written |
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| notice must include a copy of the water bill of rights created |
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| under this Section and must notify the customer of the |
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| customer's right to appeal the termination. The Commission |
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| shall establish, by rule, a minimum payment schedule that must |
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| be followed by the customer and the public utility of a |
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| customer is disputing an amount billed to the customer or |
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| appealing a termination of service and sanctions that may be |
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| imposed against any public utility that terminates service to |
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| any customer who adheres to the minimum payment schedule |
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| established by the Commission. No water or sewer public utility |
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| shall terminate service to any customer appealing a termination |
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| of service or disputing a billed amount so long as the customer |
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| adheres to the minimum payment schedule required by the |
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| Commission. |
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| A customer must be at least 60 days in arrears before a |
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| shutoff notice can be issued. The Commission shall establish |
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| procedures to set aside a shutoff notice if it affects the |
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| safety and welfare of the community. The procedures shall be |
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| published and provided to the municipality or townships served |
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| by the utility. |
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| (c) Each water or sewer public utility must provide written |
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| notice to each affected customer of any annual reconciliation |
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| rate adjustment and when it will go into effect. |
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| (d) Each water or sewer public utility must disclose on |
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| each billing statement any amount billed that is for service |
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| provided prior to the date covered by the billing statement. |
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| The disclosure must include the dates for which the prior |
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| service is being billed. Each billing statement that includes |
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| an amount billed for service provided prior to the date covered |
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| by the billing statement must disclose the dates for which that |
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| amount is billed and must include a copy of the water bill of |
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| rights and a statement of current Commission rules concerning |
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| back-billing. The Commission must verify any annual |
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| reconciliation in the number of gallons that have been |
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| back-billed by a water or sewer public utility and the utility |
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| must credit the customer with those gallons, calculated in |
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| dollars, with interest at the prime rate. |
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| (e) The Commission shall establish by rule an informal |
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| complaint process for processing complaints about water and |
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| sewer public utilities and shall respond to each complaint by |
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| providing the consumer with a copy of the utilities response to |
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| the complaint and a copy of the Commission's review of the |
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| complaint and its findings. The Commission must provide the |
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| consumer with all available options for recourse. |
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| (f) Any refund on the billing statement of a customer of a |
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| water or sewer public utility must be itemized and state the |
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| purpose of the refund. |
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| Section 20. Water service for building construction |
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| purposes. At the request of any municipality or township within |
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| the service area of a public utility that provides water |
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| service to customers within the municipality or township, a |
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| public utility must (i) require all water service used for |
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| building construction purposes to be measured by meter and |
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| subject to approved rates and charges for metered water service |
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| and (ii) prohibit the unauthorized use of water taken from |
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| hydrants or service lines installed at construction sites. |
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| Section 25. Water and sewer or public utilities; |
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| subcontractors. The Commission shall adopt rules to direct |
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| for-profit water and sewer public utilities to conform to |
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| standards that protect consumers from irresponsible |
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| subcontractors contracted by a for-profit water or sewer public |
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| utility. The rules must provide for notice to the consumer of |
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| the proper kind of identification that the subcontractor must |
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| present to the customer, prohibit the subcontractor from |
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| soliciting or receiving payment of any kind for any service |
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| provided by the water or sewer public utility, and establish |
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| sanctions for violations. |
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| Section 30. Water and sewer public utilities; annual |
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| reconciliation charges. The Commission must establish by rule a |
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| formula for determining (i) the amount of unmetered water that |
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| a unit of local government and customers can expect to pay for |
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| in order to protect the public and (ii) the percentage of |
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| unmetered water that reflects environmental waste that is the |
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| result of a water or sewer public utility's management |
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| inefficiencies and neglect. The formula and the utility's |
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| compliance with existing conservation agreements must be |
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| considered as part of all rate cases and annual reconciliations |
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| associated with that utility. The Commission shall establish |
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| sanctions for violations of any conservation agreements. |
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| Section 35. Meter malfunction; testing. |
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| (a) If a public utility furnishing water to any customer |
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| determines that a meter owned by the public utility has |
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| malfunctioned, then the public utility is prohibited from |
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| charging the customer during the malfunction unless the |
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| customer intentionally caused the malfunction. |
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| (b) If requested by the Commission or by the customer whose |
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| use is measured by the meter, a public utility furnishing water |
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| to any customer must conduct a test to determine the accuracy |
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| of the meter. Upon receipt of the written request of the |
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| Commission or the customer, the utility must use a company |
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| authorized by the Commission to conduct the test. The utility |
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| shall charge the customer for the conduct of the test in the |
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| amount authorized by the Commission by rule. |
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| (c) The Commission may establish by rule a minimum schedule |
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| for testing of water meters and any tests conducted thereunder |
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| must be conducted at the utility's expense. |
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| Section 40. Rate increases; public forums. When any public |
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| utility providing water or sewer service proposes a rate |
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| increase, prior to the date set for the hearing, a public forum |
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| on the increase must be conducted in a location within 45 |
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| minutes drive time of the location where the increase will take |
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| effect and the public utility must provide 30 days' advance |
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| notice of each public forum to the governing body of those |
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| units of local government affected by the increases. The day |
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| and time of the forum shall be selected so as to encourage the |
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| greatest public participation. Reports and comments made |
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| during or as a result of the public forum must be made |
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| available to the hearing officials and reviewed as part of the |
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| hearing for the rate case. |
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| Section 45. Water and sewer utilities; low usage. Each |
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| public utility that provides water and sewer service must |
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| establish a unit rate, subject to review by the Commission, |
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| that applies only to those customers who use less than 100 |
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| gallons of water in any billing period. |
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| Section 50. Water and sewer utilities; separate meters. |
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| Each public utility that provides water and sewer service must |
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| offer separate rates for water and sewer service to any |
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| commercial or residential customer who uses separate meters to |
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| measure each of those services. In order for the separate rate |
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| to apply, a combination of meters must be used to measure the |
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| amount of water that reaches the sewer system and the amount of |
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HB5555 Engrossed |
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LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
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| water that does not reach the sewer system. |
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| Section 905. The Public Utilities Act is amended by |
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| changing Section 9-223 as follows:
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| (220 ILCS 5/9-223) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 9-223)
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| Sec. 9-223. Fire protection charge.
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| (a) The Commission may authorize any public utility engaged |
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| in
the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery or |
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| furnishing of water
to impose a fire protection charge, in |
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| addition to any rate authorized by
this Act, sufficient to |
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| cover a reasonable portion of the cost of providing
the |
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| capacity, facilities and the water necessary to meet the fire |
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| protection
needs of any municipality or public fire protection |
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| district. Such fire
protection charge shall be in the form of a |
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| fixed amount per bill and shall
be shown separately on the |
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| utility bill of each customer of the municipality
or fire |
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| protection district. Any filing by a public utility to impose |
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| such a
fire protection charge or to modify a charge shall be |
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| made pursuant to Section
9-201 of this Act. Any fire protection |
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| charge imposed shall reflect the
costs associated with |
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| providing fire protection service for each municipality
or fire |
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| protection district. No such charge shall be imposed directly |
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| on
any municipality or fire protection district for a |
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| reasonable level of fire
protection services unless provided |
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| for in a separate agreement between the
municipality or the |
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| fire protection district and the utility.
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| (b) Within one year after the effective date of this |
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| amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the Commission |
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| shall conduct at least 3 public forums to evaluate the purpose |
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| and use of each fire protection charge imposed under this |
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| Section. At least one forum must be held in northern Illinois, |
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| at least one forum must be held in central Illinois, and at |
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| least one forum must be held in southern Illinois. The |
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| Commission must invite a representative from each municipality |
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| and fire protection district affected by a fire protection |