HB1295enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1295 Enrolled LRB098 07448 OMW 37516 b

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Urban Development Authority Act is amended by changing Sections 2 and 3 as follows:

(70 ILCS 531/2)

Sec. 2. Findings. The General Assembly hereby determines and declares that:

(1) the economic burdens resulting from involuntary unemployment fall in part upon the State in the form of increased need for public assistance, reduced tax revenues, and increased resources devoted to crime prevention and incarceration and that the unemployed worker and his or her family may migrate outside the State to find work and such migration will reduce the tax revenues of local governments and the State of Illinois, thereby endangering their financial ability to support necessary governmental services for their remaining inhabitants;

(2) the State has a responsibility to help create a favorable climate for new and improved job opportunities for all of its citizens, especially in areas with high economic distress, by encouraging the development of commercial and service businesses and industrial and manufacturing plants and creating job opportunities;

(3) the State has a responsibility to increase and improve post-release employment opportunities for ex-offenders and reduce recidivism rates through the combined resources and expertise of providers of workforce development, supportive services, and private enterprises;

(4) a lack of decent housing contributes to urban blight, crime, anti-social behavior, disease, a higher need for public assistance, reduced tax revenues, and the migration of workers and their families away from areas that fail to offer adequate, decent, affordable housing;

(5) decent, affordable housing is a necessary ingredient of life affording each citizen basic human dignity, a sense of self worth, confidence, and a firm foundation upon which to build a family and educate children; and

(6) in order to foster civic and neighborhood pride, citizens require access to educational institutions, recreation, parks and open spaces, entertainment and sports, a reliable transportation network, cultural facilities, and theaters.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State of Illinois, in the interest of promoting industrial, commercial, residential, jobs, service, transportation, and facilities, thereby reducing the evils attendant upon unemployment, crime, and recidivism and enhancing the public health, safety, morals, happiness, and general welfare of this State specifically by making available through the Illinois Urban Development Authority, funds for industrial projects, commercial projects, transportation projects, and housing projects to a municipality with a municipal poverty rate greater than 3% in excess of the statewide average.

(Source: P.A. 96-234, eff. 1-1-10.)

(70 ILCS 531/3)

Sec. 3. Definitions. The following terms, whenever used or referred to in this Act, shall have the following meanings, except in such instances where the context may clearly indicate otherwise:

"Authority" means the Illinois Urban Development Authority created by this Act.

"Board" means the Illinois Urban Development Authority Board of Directors.

"Bonds" shall include bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness.

"Commercial project" means any project, including but not limited to one or more buildings and other structures, improvements, machinery, and equipment whether or not on the same site or sites now existing or hereafter acquired, suitable for use by any retail or wholesale concern, distributorship, or agency, any cultural facilities of a for-profit or not-for-profit type including but not limited to educational, theatrical, recreational and entertainment, sports facilities, racetracks, stadiums, convention centers, exhibition halls, arenas, opera houses and theaters, waterfront improvements, swimming pools, boat storage, moorage, docking facilities, restaurants, coliseums, sports training facilities, parking facilities, terminals, hotels and motels, gymnasiums, medical facilities, and port facilities.

"Costs incurred in connection with the development, construction, acquisition, or improvement of a project" means the cost of purchase and construction of all lands and improvements in connection with a project and equipment and other property, rights, easements, and franchises acquired that are deemed necessary for such construction; financing charges; interest costs with respect to bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness of the Authority prior to and during construction and for a period of 6 months thereafter; engineering and legal expenses; the costs of plans, specifications, surveys, and estimates of costs and other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of any project, together with such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing, insuring, acquisition, and construction of a specific project and the placing of the same in operation.

"Develop" or "development" means to do one or more of the following: plan, design, develop, lease, acquire, install, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, extend, or expand.

"Financial aid" means the expenditure of Authority funds or funds provided by the Authority through the issuance of its revenue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness for the development, construction, acquisition, or improvement of a project.

"Governmental agency" means any federal, State or local governmental body, and any agency or instrumentality thereof, corporate or otherwise.

"Governor" means the Governor of the State of Illinois.

"Housing project" or "residential project" includes a specific work or improvement undertaken to provide dwelling accommodations, including the acquisition, construction, leasing, or rehabilitation of lands, buildings, and community facilities and in connection therewith to provide nonhousing facilities which are an integral part of a planned large-scale project or new community.

"Industrial project" means (1) a capital project, including one or more buildings and other structures, improvements, machinery, and equipment whether or not on the same site or sites now existing or hereafter acquired, suitable for use by any manufacturing, industrial, research, transportation, or commercial enterprise including but not limited to use as a factory, mill, processing plant, assembly plant, packaging plant, fabricating plant, office building, industrial distribution center, warehouse, repair, overhaul or service facility, freight terminal, research facility, test facility, railroad facility, solid waste and wastewater treatment and disposal sites and other pollution control facilities, resource or waste reduction, recovery, treatment and disposal facilities, and including also the sites thereof and other rights in land therefor whether improved or unimproved, site preparation and landscaping and all appurtenances and facilities incidental thereto such as utilities, access roads, railroad sidings, truck docking and similar facilities, parking facilities, dockage, wharfage, railroad roadbed, track, trestle, depot, terminal, switching, and signaling equipment or related equipment and other improvements necessary or convenient thereto; or (2) any land, buildings, machinery or equipment comprising an addition to or renovation, rehabilitation or improvement of any existing capital project.

"Lease agreement" means an agreement whereby a project acquired by the Authority by purchase, gift, or lease is leased to any person or corporation that will use or cause the project to be used as a project as defined in this Act upon terms providing for lease rental payments at least sufficient to pay when due all principal of and interest and premium, if any, on any bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the Authority issued with respect to such project, providing for the maintenance, insurance, and operation of the project on terms satisfactory to the Authority, and providing for disposition of the project upon termination of the lease term, including purchase options or abandonment of the premises, with such other terms as may be deemed desirable by the Authority. The Authority may, directly or indirectly, lease or otherwise transfer property the Authority owns to another and such leased property shall remain tax exempt.

"Loan agreement" means any agreement pursuant to which the Authority agrees to loan the proceeds of its bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness issued with respect to a project to any person or corporation that will use or cause the project to be used as a project as defined in this Act upon terms providing for loan repayment installments at least sufficient to pay when due all principal and interest and premium, if any, on any bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness of the Authority issued with respect to the project, providing for maintenance, insurance, and operation of the project on terms satisfactory to the Authority and providing for other matters as may be deemed advisable by the Authority.

"Maintain" or "maintenance" includes ordinary maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, capital maintenance, maintenance replacement, and any other categories of maintenance that may be designated by the local, regional, or State transportation agency.

"Municipal poverty rate" is the percentage of total population of the municipality having income levels below the poverty level as determined by the Authority based upon the most recent data released by the United States Census Bureau before the beginning of such calendar year.

"Occupational license" means a license issued by the Illinois Gaming Board to a person or entity to perform an occupation which the Illinois Gaming Board has identified as requiring a license to engage in riverboat, dockside, or land-based gambling in Illinois.

"Operate" or "operation" means to do one or more of the following: maintain, improve, equip, modify, or otherwise operate.

"Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership, corporation, both domestic and foreign, company, association, or joint stock association and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

"Project" means an industrial, housing, residential, commercial, transportation, or service project, or any combination thereof, provided that all uses shall fall within one of those categories. Any project, of any nature whatsoever, shall automatically include all site improvements and new construction involving sidewalks, sewers, solid waste and wastewater treatment and disposal sites and other pollution control facilities, resource or waste reduction, recovery, treatment and disposal facilities, parks, open spaces, wildlife sanctuaries, streets, highways, and runways.

"Revenue bond" means any bond issued by the Authority under the supervision of the Illinois Finance Authority, the principal and interest of which are payable solely from revenues or income derived from any project or activity of the Authority.

"Transportation facility" means any new or existing road, highway, toll highway, bridge, tunnel, intermodal facility, intercity or high-speed passenger rail, or other transportation facility or infrastructure, excluding airports. The term "transportation facility" may refer to one or more transportation facilities that are proposed to be developed or operated as part of a single transportation project.

"Transportation project" means one or more transportation improvement projects including, but not limited to, new or existing roads or highways, new or expanded intermodal projects, and new or expanded transit projects, transit-oriented development, intercity rail, and passenger rail. "Transportation project" does not include airport projects.

(Source: P.A. 96-234, eff. 1-1-10.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.