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Public Act 097-0418
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| SB0172 Enrolled | LRB097 04014 JDS 44053 b |
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AN ACT concerning government.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Soil and Water Conservation Districts Act is |
amended by changing Section 26a as follows:
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(70 ILCS 405/26a) (from Ch. 5, par. 131a)
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Sec. 26a.
Any 25 or more owners of lands lying within the |
boundaries
of any district organized under the provisions of |
this Act may file,
with the Department, a petition proposing |
the consolidation of such
district with one or more adjoining |
soil conservation districts. Such
petition shall set forth: (1) |
the names of the districts proposed to be
consolidated, and (2) |
the proposed name of the consolidated district.
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Within 30 days after such petition is filed the Department |
shall
submit the proposal to the directors of each district |
proposed to be
consolidated. The Directors of each such |
district, shall within 30 days
thereafter, adopt and forward to |
the Department a resolution approving
or disapproving the |
proposed consolidation.
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If the directors of all of the said districts approve the |
proposals
to consolidate such districts, it shall be the duty |
of the Department to
give 10 days notice of the holding of a |
referendum by causing such
notice to be published at least once |
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in one or more newspapers having
general circulation within the |
district and to hold a referendum within
each such district |
upon the proposition or the proposed consolidation.
Except as |
otherwise provided in this Act, the proposition shall be
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submitted in accordance with Section 28-3 of the Election Code.
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The question at such referendum shall be submitted upon |
ballots in
substantially the following form:
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Place an X in the square opposite the
proposition for which you |
desire to vote.
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For approval of the proposed
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consolidation of (here insert names
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of districts to be consolidated)
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into one soil and water
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conservation district.
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Against approval of the
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proposed consolidation of (here
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insert names of districts to be
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consolidated) into one soil and
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water conservation district.
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Only owners or occupiers of land, or both, lying within the |
districts
are eligible to vote in such referendum and each |
shall have one vote.
Eligible voters may vote in person or by |
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absentee ballot.
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If a majority of the votes cast in the referendum in each |
of such
districts are cast in favor of the proposed |
consolidation and if the
Department determines that such |
consolidation is administratively
practicable and feasible, |
the Chairmen of the directors of the said
districts shall |
present to the Secretary of State through the Department
an |
application for a certificate of organization of the |
consolidated
district. The application shall be signed and |
sworn to by all of the
said chairmen, and shall set forth the |
names of the constituent
districts, the proposed name of the |
consolidated district, and the
location of the office of the |
consolidated district. The said
application shall be |
accompanied by the statement from the Department
which shall |
set forth (and such statement need contain no details other
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than the mere recitals) that a petition for the consolidation |
of the
said district was filed, that the proposed consolidation |
was, by
resolution, approved by the governing bodies of all of |
such districts,
that a referendum was held in each of the said |
districts on the question
of the proposed consolidation, and |
that the result of such referendum
showed a majority of the |
votes cast in each district to be in favor of
the proposed |
consolidation.
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The Secretary of State shall receive and file such |
application and
statement and shall record them in an |
appropriate book of record in his
office. When the application |
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and statements have been made, filed, and
recorded as herein |
provided, the consolidation of such districts shall
be deemed |
affected and the consolidated district shall constitute a
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public body, corporate and politic, vested with all the power |
of soil
and water conservation districts. The Secretary of |
State shall make and
issue to the signers of the application a |
certificate, under the seal of
the State, of the due |
organization of the said consolidated district,
and shall |
record such certificate with the application and statement. A
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copy of the statement and certificate of organization, duly |
certified by
the Secretary of State, shall be recorded with the |
recorder of
the county in which the office of the consolidated |
district is located.
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Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, if |
petitions and resolutions to consolidate districts under this |
Section are filed with the Department before January 1, 2012 |
and if the Director determines that the consolidation is |
administratively practicable and feasible, then the Director |
may approve the consolidation without the necessity of holding |
a referendum under this Section, which shall be deemed to have |
the same effect as if the referendum had been held and |
approved. |
Upon a consolidation of districts, the directors of all |
such
districts shall continue to hold office and serve as a |
temporary
governing body of the consolidated district until the |
members of a
permanent governing body have been elected and |
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have qualified. The
provisions of Sections 19, 20 and 21 of |
this Act that relate to the
number, and to the nomination, |
election and organization of members of
the governing bodies of |
soil and water conservation districts shall
govern the |
selection of the members of the permanent governing body of a
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consolidated district.
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Upon the issuance, by the Secretary of State, of a |
certificate of
organization to a consolidated district, |
property belonging to the
constituent district shall become the |
property of the consolidated
district. All contracts |
theretofore entered into, to which the
constituent districts |
are parties, shall remain in force and effect for
the period |
provided in such contracts. The consolidated districts shall
be |
substituted for each constituent district as party to such |
contracts,
and shall be entitled to all benefits and subject to |
all liabilities
under such contracts and shall have the same |
right and liability to
perform, to require performance, to sue |
and to be sued thereon, and to
modify or terminate such |
contracts by mutual consent or otherwise, as
the constituent |
district would have had. Any indebtedness, claim, demand
or |
right owing or belonging to any of the constituent districts |
shall
vest in and become due to the consolidated district, |
which shall have
the right to demand, sue for, recover and |
enforce the same in its own
name. Upon a consolidation of |
districts, all land-use regulations
theretofore adopted and in |
force and effect within any of the
constituent districts shall |