(75 ILCS 16/15-90)

Sec. 15-90. Transfer of contiguous territory to adjoining district.

(a) Territory that is in a public library district and contiguous with another library district may be transferred to the latter district. Upon the mutual agreement of the boards of trustees of the contiguous districts to the transfer of the territory, each board shall enact a transfer ordinance containing identical language describing the territory to be transferred, the effective date of the transfer, a statement of the assets and liabilities, if any, that are a responsibility of the transferred territory, and the settlement of any excess of assets or liabilities.

(b) A copy of the transfer ordinance shall be filed with the circuit court of the county that contains all or the larger part of the territory. Upon receiving the ordinance, the circuit court shall enter an order setting forth the date, time, and place of a hearing upon the subject matter of the ordinance, name the judge to hear the cause, and send notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing and of the judge assigned to the president of the board of trustees of each of the involved public library districts and to the secretary of the board of trustees of the public library district containing the territory proposed to be transferred. The date set for the hearing shall be not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days after the circuit court enters the order for the hearing. The secretary of the board of trustees of the public library district containing the territory proposed to be transferred shall, within 15 days of the secretary's receipt of the circuit court's notice of the hearing, publish notice of the hearing as provided in Section 1-30.

(c) At the hearing before the assigned judge of the circuit court, the validity of the ordinance, including substantiation of the required allegations in the petition, the appropriateness of the location and boundary of the territory to be voted upon for transfer, and other relevant matters shall be considered. All persons residing in the territory to be transferred, all other persons having an interest in the proposed transfer, and the boards of trustees of the involved library districts shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard upon the subject of the proposed transfer. The judge's determination of the appropriateness of the boundary of the territory proposed to be transferred shall include the following factors:

(1) The location of the residents in relationship to the total territory proposed to be transferred.

(2) Maintaining the pre-existing non-residential tax bases of both libraries so far as possible.

(3) Local traditional traffic, transportation, and marketing routes and the convenience of the residents of the territory proposed to be transferred.

The judge, after hearing the statements, evidence, and suggestions of the persons appearing at the hearing, shall determine (i) whether the ordinance is valid and sufficient according to law and (ii) whether the territory to be transferred would receive substantially equal or greater benefits by being transferred. If the transfer ordinance is found to be valid and sufficient, and the territory to be transferred would receive substantially equal or greater benefits by being so transferred, the judge shall enter a final judgement to transfer the territory.

(d) The judge assigned to the case shall, after a hearing upon the merits, enter an order revising the boundaries of the district and setting forth the liability, if any, yet to be retired and paid by the property owners of the transferred territory. The liability shall be collected under Section 35-15.

(e) If there are any general obligation bonds of the public library district (or other obligations incurred instead of general obligation bonds under this Act) that are outstanding and unpaid at the time the territory is transferred from the public library district under this Section, the territory shall remain liable for its proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness or other outstanding obligation incurred instead of 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 or satisfying the other outstanding obligations until sufficient funds to retire the bonds or to satisfy the other outstanding obligations have been collected.

(e-5) 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 December 31, 2000.

(f) The district secretary shall record a certified copy of the transfer order with the recorder and file a certified copy with the county clerk of each county affected.

(Source: P.A. 91-868, eff. 6-22-00.)