(70 ILCS 705/20) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 38.3)

Sec. 20. Disconnection by operation of law.

(a) Any territory within a fire protection district that is or has been annexed to a municipality that provides fire protection for property within such city, village or incorporated town is, by operation of law, disconnected from the fire protection district as of the January first after such territory is annexed to the municipality as long as the municipality has conducted a response-time study that shows, at a minimum, estimated response times from the fire protection district to the territory and estimated response times of the municipal fire department from the territory or in case any such territory has been so annexed prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1965, as of January 1, 1966.

(b) The disconnection by operation of law does not occur if, within 60 days after such annexation or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1965, whichever is later, the fire protection district files with the appropriate court and with the County Clerk of each county in which the fire protection district is located, a petition alleging that such disconnection will cause the territory remaining in the district to be noncontiguous or that the loss of assessed valuation by reason of such disconnection will impair the ability of the district to render fully adequate fire protection service to the territory remaining with the district. When such a petition is filed, with the court and with the County Clerk of each county in which the fire protection district is located, the court shall set it for hearing, and further proceedings shall be held, as provided in Section 15 of this Act, except that the city, village or incorporated town that annexed the territory shall be a necessary party to the proceedings, and it shall be served with summons in the manner for a party defendant under the Civil Practice Law. At such hearing, the district has the burden of proving the truth of the allegations in its petition.

(c) If disconnection does not occur, then the city, village or incorporated town in which part of a fire protection district's territory is located, is prohibited from levying the tax provided for by Section 11-7-1 of the "Illinois Municipal Code" in such fire protection district territory for services provided to the residents of such territory by the fire protection district.

(d) If there are any general obligation bonds of the fire protection district outstanding and unpaid at the time such territory is disconnected from the fire protection district by operation of this Section, such territory shall remain liable for its proportionate share of such bonded indebtedness and the fire protection district may continue to levy and extend taxes upon the taxable property in such territory for the purpose of amortizing such bonds until such time as sufficient funds to retire such bonds have been collected.

(e) On and after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly, when territory is disconnected from a fire protection district under this Section, the annexing municipality shall pay, on or before December 31 of each year for a period of 5 years after the effective date of the disconnection, to the fire protection district from which the territory was disconnected, an amount as follows:

(1) In the first year after the disconnection, an amount equal to the real estate tax collected on the property in the disconnected territory by the fire protection district in the tax year immediately preceding the year in which the disconnection took effect.

(2) In the second year after the disconnection, an amount equal to 80% of the real estate tax collected on the property in the disconnected territory by the fire protection district in the tax year immediately preceding the year in which the disconnection took effect.

(3) In the third year after the disconnection, an amount equal to 60% of the real estate tax collected on the property in the disconnected territory by the fire protection district in the tax year immediately preceding the year in which the disconnection took effect.

(4) In the fourth year after the disconnection, an amount equal to 40% of the real estate tax collected on the property in the disconnected territory by the fire protection district in the tax year immediately preceding the year in which the disconnection took effect.

(5) In the fifth year after the disconnection, an amount equal to 20% of the real estate tax collected on the property in the disconnected territory by the fire protection district in the tax year immediately preceding the year in which the disconnection took effect.

This subsection (e) applies to a fire protection district only if the corporate authorities of the district do not file a petition against the disconnection under subsection (b).

(f) A municipality that does not timely make the payment required in subsection (e) and which refuses to make such payment within 30 days following a written demand by the fire protection district entitled to the payment or which causes a fire protection district to incur an expense in order to collect the amount to which it is entitled under subsection (e) shall, in addition to the amount due under subsection (e), be responsible to reimburse the fire protection district for all costs incurred by the fire protection district in collecting the amount due, including, but not limited to, reasonable legal fees and court costs.

(Source: P.A. 102-574, eff. 1-1-22; 102-773, eff. 1-1-23.)