(75 ILCS 16/15-85)
Sec. 15-85. Automatic disconnection from district.
(a) Any territory within a public library district that is or
has been annexed to a municipality (where that municipality maintains a
public library) is, by operation of law, disconnected from the public
library district as of the January first next after the territory is annexed. (a-5) If at anytime prior to, on, or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the City of Springfield, Illinois, annexes territory within the Chatham Area Public Library District, or any successor thereto, for the development and construction of the proposed Hunter Lake to serve as an additional water supply for the City of Springfield and under subsection (a) that territory is disconnected from the Chatham Area Public Library District, then all remaining territory of the Chatham Area Public Library District is nevertheless deemed contiguous for the purposes of this Act. The remaining territory continues to be a part of the Chatham Area Public Library District or any successor thereto.
(b) A disconnection by operation of law under this Section does not
occur if, within 60 days after the annexation, the public library
district files with the appropriate circuit court a petition alleging that the
disconnection will cause the territory remaining in the district to be
noncontiguous or that the loss of assessed valuation by reason of the
disconnection will impair the ability of the district to render fully
adequate library service to the territory remaining in the district.
(c) When a petition is filed under subsection (b), the
court shall set it for hearing. At the hearing, the district has the
burden of proving the truth of the allegations in its petition. In
determining whether to grant the petition, the court may
consider at least the following factors:
(i) whether disconnection will cause the territory remaining in the district to be |
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(ii) whether the loss of assessed valuation by reason of the disconnection will impair
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(iii) the convenience of the residents of the annexed territory and whether a plan
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(iv) whether the city, village, or incorporated town has annexed any other territory
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The Court may consider comments by the Illinois State Library, the annexing
municipality and its public library, and the library system or systems to which
the affected libraries belong. This does not create a right of intervention in
these parties.
(d) After the hearing, the Court may grant the relief it deems
appropriate, including, but not limited to, any of the following: (i)
denial of the disconnection; (ii) disconnection of the territory from the
public library district; (iii) disconnection of the territory from the
public library district in parts over a specific period of time not to exceed
5 years; (iv) court approval of a voluntary agreement between the parties
that provides for the sharing of real estate tax revenues from the annexed
territory for a limited period of time not to exceed 5 years unless
extended by mutual agreement of the parties; or (v)
submission of the question of disconnection of the territory to the
electors of the annexed territory at a referendum to be held at the next
general election in accordance with the general election law. The
proposition at such a referendum shall be in substantially the following form:
Shall (describe annexed territory) be disconnected from (name of public library
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If a referendum is held, the result of the election shall be entered of
record in the Court. If a majority of votes cast upon the question in the
annexed territory are for disconnection of the annexed territory from the
public library district, the territory shall be disconnected from the
public library district.
(e) If there are any general obligation bonds of the public library district
outstanding and unpaid at the time the territory is disconnected from the
public library district by operation of this Section, the disconnected
territory shall remain liable for its proportionate share of that bonded
indebtedness, and the public library district may continue to levy and extend
taxes upon the taxable property in the territory for the purpose of amortizing
the bonds until sufficient funds to retire the bonds have been collected.
(f) The county clerk must extend taxes to pay the principal of and
interest
on any general obligation bonds issued to refund any bond described in
subsection (e), as provided in the bond ordinances on file in the office of the
county clerk, against all taxable property in the district, including taxable
property that was in the district on the date that the bonds being refunded
were issued; provided, however, that (i) the net interest rate on the refunding
bonds may not exceed the net interest rate on the refunded
bonds, (ii) the final maturity date of the refunding bonds may not extend
beyond the final maturity date of the refunded bonds, and (iii) the debt
service payable on the refunding bonds in any year may not exceed the debt
service that would have been payable on the refunded bonds in that year. This
subsection is
inoperative after June 30, 2002.
(Source: P.A. 96-249, eff. 8-11-09.)
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