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1 | AN ACT concerning local government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Water Commission Act of 1985 is amended by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Section 2 as follows:
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6 | (70 ILCS 3720/2) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 252)
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7 | Sec. 2. County water commissions.
The General Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | hereby finds and declares that it is
necessary and in the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | public interest to help assure a sufficient and
economic supply | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | of a source of water within those county wide areas of this
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11 | State where, because of a growth in population and proximity to | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | large urban
centers, the health, safety and welfare of the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | residents is threatened by
an ever increasing shortage of a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | continuing, available and adequate source
and supply of water | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | on an economically reasonable basis; however, it is not
the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | intent of the General Assembly to interfere with the power of
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17 | municipalities to provide for the retail distribution of water | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | to their
residents or the customers of their water systems. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | Therefore, in order to
provide for a sufficient and economic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | supply of water to such areas, it is
hereby declared to be the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | law of this State that:
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22 | (a) With respect to any water commission constituted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | pursuant to
Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal Code or |
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1 | established by operation of
law under Public Act 83-1123, as | ||||||
2 | amended, which water commission includes
municipalities which | ||||||
3 | in the aggregate have within their corporate limits
more than | ||||||
4 | 50% of the population of a county (hereinafter referred to as a
| ||||||
5 | "home county"), and such county is contiguous to a county which | ||||||
6 | has a
population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants, the | ||||||
7 | provisions of this Act
shall apply. With respect to any such | ||||||
8 | water commission (hereinafter
referred to as a "county water | ||||||
9 | commission"):
| ||||||
10 | (i) the terms of all commissioners of such commission | ||||||
11 | holding office at
the time a water commission becomes a | ||||||
12 | county water commission shall
terminate 30 days after such | ||||||
13 | time and new commissioners shall be appointed
as the | ||||||
14 | governing board of the county water commission as | ||||||
15 | hereinafter
provided in subsection (c); and
| ||||||
16 | (ii) the county water commission shall continue to be a | ||||||
17 | body corporate
and politic, and shall bear the name of the | ||||||
18 | home county but shall be
independent from and not a part of | ||||||
19 | the county government and shall itself
be a political | ||||||
20 | subdivision and a unit of local government, and upon
| ||||||
21 | appointment of the new commissioners as the governing board | ||||||
22 | of such water
commission as provided in subsection (c), | ||||||
23 | such water commission shall
remain responsible for the full | ||||||
24 | payment of, and shall by operation of law
be deemed to have | ||||||
25 | assumed and shall pay when due all debts and obligations
of | ||||||
26 | the commission as the same is constituted and as such debts |
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1 | and
obligations existed on the date such water commission | ||||||
2 | becomes a county
water commission and such additional debts | ||||||
3 | and obligations as are incurred
by such commission after | ||||||
4 | such date and prior to the appointment of the new
| ||||||
5 | commissioners as the governing board of such commission, | ||||||
6 | and further shall
continue to have and exercise all powers | ||||||
7 | and functions and duties of a
water commission created | ||||||
8 | pursuant to Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal
Code, as | ||||||
9 | now or hereafter amended, and the county water commission | ||||||
10 | may rely
on that Division, as modified and supplemented by | ||||||
11 | the provisions of this
Act, as lawful authority under which | ||||||
12 | it may act.
| ||||||
13 | (b) Any county water commission shall have as its territory | ||||||
14 | within its
corporate limits, subject to taxation for its | ||||||
15 | purposes, and subject to the
powers and limitations as | ||||||
16 | conferred by this Act, (i) all of the territory
of the home | ||||||
17 | county except that territory located within the corporate
| ||||||
18 | limits of excluded units as hereinafter defined and (ii) also | ||||||
19 | all of the
territory located outside the home county and | ||||||
20 | included within the corporate
limits of an included unit as | ||||||
21 | hereinafter defined. As used in this Act,
"excluded unit" means | ||||||
22 | a unit of local government having a waterworks system
and | ||||||
23 | having within its corporate limits territory within the home | ||||||
24 | county and
which, at the time any commission becomes a county | ||||||
25 | water commission,
receives, or has contracted at such time for | ||||||
26 | the receipt of, more than 25%
of the water distributed by such |
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1 | unit's water system from a source outside
of the home county | ||||||
2 | or, on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of | ||||||
3 | the 95th General Assembly, any municipality that constructs and | ||||||
4 | operates its own water system which provides a sufficient and | ||||||
5 | economic supply of a source of water to its residents or the | ||||||
6 | customers of its water system . As used in this Section, | ||||||
7 | "included unit" means any
unit of local government having a | ||||||
8 | waterworks system and having within its
corporate limits | ||||||
9 | territory within the home county, which unit of local
| ||||||
10 | government is not an excluded unit. No other water commission | ||||||
11 | shall be
constituted under Division 135 of the Illinois | ||||||
12 | Municipal Code in any home
county after the effective date of | ||||||
13 | this Act to provide water from any
source located outside the | ||||||
14 | home county. Except as authorized by a county
water commission, | ||||||
15 | no home county or included unit shall enter into any new
or | ||||||
16 | renew or extend any existing contract, agreement or other | ||||||
17 | arrangement
for the acquisition or sale of water from any | ||||||
18 | source located outside a home
county; provided, however, that | ||||||
19 | any included unit may contract for a supply
of water in case of | ||||||
20 | a temporary emergency from any other unit of local
government | ||||||
21 | or any entity. In the event that any included unit elects to
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22 | serve retail customers outside its corporate boundaries and to | ||||||
23 | establish
rates and charges for such water in excess of those | ||||||
24 | charged within its
corporate boundaries, such rates and charges | ||||||
25 | shall have a reasonable
relationship to the actual cost of | ||||||
26 | providing and delivering the water; this
provision is |
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1 | declarative of existing law. It is declared to be the law of
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2 | this State pursuant to paragraphs (g) and (h) of Section 6 of | ||||||
3 | Article VII
of the Illinois Constitution that in any home | ||||||
4 | county, the provisions of
this Act and Division 135 of the | ||||||
5 | Illinois Municipal Code, as modified and
supplemented by this | ||||||
6 | Act and this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
Assembly, | ||||||
7 | constitute a limitation upon the power of any
such county and | ||||||
8 | upon all units of local government (except excluded units)
| ||||||
9 | within such county, including home rule units, limiting to such | ||||||
10 | county,
units of local government and home rule units the power | ||||||
11 | to acquire, supply
or distribute water or to establish any | ||||||
12 | water commission for such purposes
involving water from any | ||||||
13 | source located outside the home county in a manner
other than | ||||||
14 | as provided or permitted by this Act and Division 135, as
| ||||||
15 | modified and supplemented by this Act, and further constitute | ||||||
16 | an exercise
of exclusive State power with respect to the | ||||||
17 | acquisition, supply and
distribution of water from any source | ||||||
18 | located outside the home county by
any such county and by units | ||||||
19 | of local government (except excluded units),
including home | ||||||
20 | rule units, within such county and with respect to the
| ||||||
21 | establishment for such purposes of any water commission | ||||||
22 | therein, which
power may not be exercised concurrently by any | ||||||
23 | unit of local government or
home rule unit. Upon the request of | ||||||
24 | any included unit, a county water
commission shall provide such | ||||||
25 | included unit Lake Michigan water in an
amount up to the then | ||||||
26 | current Department of Transportation allocation of
Lake |
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1 | Michigan water for such included unit.
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2 | With respect to a water commission to which the provisions | ||||||
3 | of
subsection (a) apply, all uninhabited territory that is | ||||||
4 | owned and solely
occupied by such a commission and is located | ||||||
5 | not within its home county
but within a non-home rule | ||||||
6 | municipality adjacent to its home county shall,
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7 | notwithstanding any other provision of law, be disconnected | ||||||
8 | from that
municipality by operation of this Act on the | ||||||
9 | effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1991, and shall | ||||||
10 | thereafter no longer be within the
territory of the | ||||||
11 | municipality for any purpose; except that for the purposes
of | ||||||
12 | any statute that requires contiguity of territory, the | ||||||
13 | territory of the
water commission shall be disregarded and the | ||||||
14 | municipality shall not be
deemed to be noncontiguous by virtue | ||||||
15 | of the disconnection of the water
commission territory.
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16 | (c) The governing body of any water commission to which the | ||||||
17 | provisions
of subsection (a) apply shall be a board of | ||||||
18 | commissioners, each to be
appointed within 30 days after the | ||||||
19 | water commission becomes a county water
commission to a term | ||||||
20 | commencing on such date, as follows:
| ||||||
21 | (i) one commissioner, who shall serve as chairman, who | ||||||
22 | shall be a
resident of the home county, to be appointed by | ||||||
23 | the chairman of the county
board of such county with the | ||||||
24 | advice and consent of the county board,
provided that | ||||||
25 | following the expiration of the term or vacancy of the | ||||||
26 | current
chairman
serving on the effective date of this |
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1 | amendatory Act of the 93rd General
Assembly, any
subsequent
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2 | appointment as chairman shall also be subject to the advice | ||||||
3 | and consent of the
county water
commission;
| ||||||
4 | (ii) one commissioner from each county board district | ||||||
5 | within the home
county, to be appointed by the chairman of | ||||||
6 | the county board of the home
county with the advice and | ||||||
7 | consent of the county board; and
| ||||||
8 | (iii) one commissioner from each county board district | ||||||
9 | within the home
county, to be appointed by the majority | ||||||
10 | vote of the mayors of those
included units which are | ||||||
11 | municipalities and which have the greatest
percentage of | ||||||
12 | their respective populations residing within such county
| ||||||
13 | board district of the home county.
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14 | The mayors of the respective county board districts shall | ||||||
15 | meet for the
purpose of making said respective appointments at | ||||||
16 | a time and place
designated by that mayor in each county board | ||||||
17 | district of the included unit
with the largest population | ||||||
18 | voting for a commissioner upon not less than 10
days' written | ||||||
19 | notice to each other mayor entitled to vote.
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20 | The commissioners so appointed shall serve for a term of 6 | ||||||
21 | years, or
until their successors have been appointed and have | ||||||
22 | qualified in the same
manner as the original appointments, | ||||||
23 | except that at the first meeting of
such commissioners, (A) the | ||||||
24 | commissioners first appointed pursuant to
paragraph (ii) of | ||||||
25 | this subsection shall determine publicly by lot 1/3 of
their | ||||||
26 | number to serve for terms of 2 years, 1/3 of their number to |
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1 | serve
for terms of 4 years and 1/3 of their number to serve for | ||||||
2 | terms of 6 years,
any odd number of commissioners so determined | ||||||
3 | by dividing into thirds to
serve 6 year terms, and (B) the | ||||||
4 | commissioners first appointed pursuant to
paragraph (iii) of | ||||||
5 | this subsection shall determine publicly by lot 1/3 of
their | ||||||
6 | number to serve for terms of 2 years, 1/3 of their number to | ||||||
7 | serve
for terms of 4 years and 1/3 of their number to serve for | ||||||
8 | terms of 6 years,
any odd number of commissioners so determined | ||||||
9 | by dividing into thirds to
serve 6 year terms. The commissioner | ||||||
10 | first appointed pursuant to paragraph
(i) of this subsection, | ||||||
11 | who shall serve as chairman, shall serve for a term
of 6 years. | ||||||
12 | Any commissioner may be a member of the governing board or an
| ||||||
13 | officer or employee of such county or any unit of local | ||||||
14 | government within
such county. A commissioner is eligible for | ||||||
15 | reappointment upon the
expiration of his term. A vacancy in the | ||||||
16 | office of a commissioner shall be
filled for the balance of the | ||||||
17 | unexpired term by appointment and
qualification as to residency | ||||||
18 | in the same manner as the original
appointment was made. Each | ||||||
19 | commissioner shall receive the same
compensation which shall | ||||||
20 | not be more than $600 per year, except that no such
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21 | commissioner who is a member of the governing board or an | ||||||
22 | officer or
employee of such county or any unit of local | ||||||
23 | government within such county
may receive any compensation for | ||||||
24 | serving as a commissioner. Each
commissioner may be removed by | ||||||
25 | the appointing authority for any cause for
which any other | ||||||
26 | county or municipal officer may be removed. The county
water |
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1 | commission shall determine its own rules of proceeding. A | ||||||
2 | quorum
shall be a majority of the commissioners then in office. | ||||||
3 | All ordinances or
resolutions shall be passed by not less than | ||||||
4 | a majority of a quorum. No
commissioner or employee of the | ||||||
5 | commission, no member of the county board
or other official | ||||||
6 | elected within such county, no mayor or president or
other | ||||||
7 | member of the corporate authorities of any unit of local | ||||||
8 | government
within such county, and no employee of such county | ||||||
9 | or any such unit of
local government, shall be interested | ||||||
10 | directly or indirectly in any
contract or job of work or | ||||||
11 | materials, or the profits thereof, or services
to be performed | ||||||
12 | for or by the commission. A violation of any of the
foregoing | ||||||
13 | provisions of this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor. A
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14 | conviction is cause for the removal of a person from his office | ||||||
15 | or employment.
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16 | (d) Except as provided in subsection (g), subject to the | ||||||
17 | referendum
provided for in subsection (e), a county water | ||||||
18 | commission may borrow money
for corporate purposes on the | ||||||
19 | credit of the commission, and issue general
obligation bonds | ||||||
20 | therefor, in such amounts and form and on such conditions
as it | ||||||
21 | shall prescribe, but shall not become indebted in any manner or | ||||||
22 | for
any purpose in an amount including existing indebtedness in | ||||||
23 | the aggregate to
exceed 5.75% of the aggregate value of the | ||||||
24 | taxable property within the
territorial boundaries of the | ||||||
25 | county water commission, as equalized and
assessed by the | ||||||
26 | Department of Revenue and as most recently available at
the |
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1 | time of the issue of said bonds. Before or at the time of | ||||||
2 | incurring
any indebtedness, except as provided in subsection | ||||||
3 | (g), the commission
shall provide for the collection of a | ||||||
4 | direct annual tax, which shall be
unlimited as to rate or | ||||||
5 | amount, sufficient to pay the interest on such debt
as it falls | ||||||
6 | due and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof at
| ||||||
7 | maturity, which shall be within 40 years after the date of | ||||||
8 | issue thereof.
Such tax shall be levied upon and collected from | ||||||
9 | all of the taxable
property within the territory of the county | ||||||
10 | water commission. Dissolution
of the county water commission | ||||||
11 | for any reason shall not relieve the taxable
property within | ||||||
12 | such territory of the county water commission from
liability | ||||||
13 | for such tax. The clerk of the commission shall file a | ||||||
14 | certified
copy of the resolution or ordinance by which such | ||||||
15 | bonds are authorized to
be issued and such tax is levied with | ||||||
16 | the County Clerk of each county in
which any of the territory | ||||||
17 | of the county water commission
is located and such filing
shall | ||||||
18 | constitute, without the doing of any other act, full and | ||||||
19 | complete
authority for each such County Clerk to extend such | ||||||
20 | tax for collection upon
all the taxable property within the | ||||||
21 | territory of the county water
commission subject to such tax in | ||||||
22 | each and every year required sufficient
to pay the principal of | ||||||
23 | and interest on such bonds, as aforesaid, without
limit as to | ||||||
24 | rate or amount, and shall be in addition to and in excess of
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25 | all other taxes authorized to be levied by the commission or | ||||||
26 | any included unit.
The general obligation bonds shall be issued |
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1 | pursuant to an ordinance or
resolution and may be issued in one | ||||||
2 | or more series, and shall bear such
date or dates, mature at | ||||||
3 | such time or times and in any event not more than
40 years from | ||||||
4 | the date thereof, be sold at such price at private or public
| ||||||
5 | sale as determined by a county water commission, bear interest | ||||||
6 | at such rate
or rates such that the net effective interest rate | ||||||
7 | received upon the sale
of such bonds does not exceed the | ||||||
8 | maximum rate determined under Section 2
of the Bond | ||||||
9 | Authorization Act, which rates may be fixed or variable,
be in | ||||||
10 | such denominations, be
in such form, either coupon or | ||||||
11 | registered, carry such conversion,
registration, and exchange | ||||||
12 | privileges, be executed in such manner, be
payable in such | ||||||
13 | medium of payment at such place or places within or without
the | ||||||
14 | State of Illinois, be subject to such terms of redemption, and | ||||||
15 | contain
or be subject to such other terms as the ordinance or | ||||||
16 | resolution may
provide, and shall not be restricted by the | ||||||
17 | provisions of any other terms
of obligations of public agencies | ||||||
18 | or private persons.
| ||||||
19 | (e) No issue of general obligation bonds by a county water | ||||||
20 | commission
(except bonds to refund an existing bonded | ||||||
21 | indebtedness) shall be
authorized unless the commission | ||||||
22 | certifies the proposition of issuing such
bonds to the proper | ||||||
23 | election officials, who shall submit the proposition to
the | ||||||
24 | voters at an election in accordance with the general election | ||||||
25 | law, and
the proposition has been approved by a majority of | ||||||
26 | those voting on the proposition.
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1 | The proposition shall be in the form provided in Section 5 | ||||||
2 | or shall be
substantially in the following form:
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3 | -------------------------------------------------------------
| ||||||
4 | Shall general obligation
| ||||||
5 | bonds for the purpose of
| ||||||
6 | (state purpose), in the YES
| ||||||
7 | sum of $....(insert amount), -----------------------------
| ||||||
8 | be issued by the ......... NO
| ||||||
9 | (insert corporate name of
| ||||||
10 | the county water commission)?
| ||||||
11 | -------------------------------------------------------------
| ||||||
12 | (f) In order to carry out and perform its powers and | ||||||
13 | functions and
duties under the provisions of this Act and | ||||||
14 | Division 135 of the Illinois
Municipal Code, as modified and | ||||||
15 | supplemented by this Act, the governing
body of any county | ||||||
16 | water commission may by ordinance levy annually upon
all | ||||||
17 | taxable property within its territory a tax at a rate not to | ||||||
18 | exceed
.005% of the value of such property, as equalized or | ||||||
19 | assessed by the
Department of Revenue for the year in which the | ||||||
20 | levy is made.
In addition, any county water commission may by | ||||||
21 | ordinance levy upon all
taxable property within its territory, | ||||||
22 | for one year only, an additional tax
for such purposes at a | ||||||
23 | rate not to exceed .20% of the value of such
property, as | ||||||
24 | equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue for that
| ||||||
25 | year; provided, however, that such tax may not be levied more | ||||||
26 | than once in
any county water commission.
|
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1 | (g) Any county water commission shall have the power to | ||||||
2 | borrow money,
subject to the indebtedness limitation provided | ||||||
3 | in subsection (d), from
the home county or included units, in | ||||||
4 | such amounts and in such terms as
agreed by the governing | ||||||
5 | bodies of the commission and the home county or included units.
| ||||||
6 | (h) No county water commission constituted pursuant to the | ||||||
7 | Act shall
engage in the retail sale or distribution of water to | ||||||
8 | residents or
customers of any municipality.
| ||||||
9 | (i) Nothing in the Section requires any municipality to | ||||||
10 | contract with a
county water commission for a supply of water.
| ||||||
11 | (j) The State of Illinois recognizes that any such contract | ||||||
12 | for the
supply of water executed by a unit of local government | ||||||
13 | and a county water
commission may contain terms and conditions | ||||||
14 | intended by the parties thereto
to be absolute conditions | ||||||
15 | thereof. The State of Illinois also recognizes
that persons may | ||||||
16 | loan funds to a county water commission (including,
without | ||||||
17 | limitation, the purchase of revenue or general obligation bonds | ||||||
18 | of
such commission) in reliance upon the terms and conditions | ||||||
19 | of any such
contract for the supply of water. Therefore, the | ||||||
20 | State of Illinois pledges
and agrees to those parties and | ||||||
21 | persons which make loans of funds to a
county water commission | ||||||
22 | that it will not impair or limit the power or
ability of a | ||||||
23 | county water commission or a unit of local government fully to
| ||||||
24 | carry out the
financial obligations and obligation to furnish | ||||||
25 | water pursuant to the
terms of any contract for the supply of | ||||||
26 | water entered into by
such county water commission or unit of |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | local government for the term of
such contracts or loans.
All | ||||||
2 | other terms and conditions of such contracts and | ||||||
3 | intergovernmental
agreements shall be binding to the
extent | ||||||
4 | that they are not inconsistent with this amendatory Act of the | ||||||
5 | 93rd
General
Assembly.
| ||||||
6 | (Source: P.A. 93-226, eff. 7-22-03 .)
|