HB5812enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5812 Enrolled LRB098 18013 JLK 53140 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 Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act is amended by changing Section 3 as follows:

(50 ILCS 105/3) (from Ch. 102, par. 3)

Sec. 3. Prohibited interest in contracts.

(a) No person holding any office, either by election or appointment under the laws or Constitution of this State, may be in any manner financially interested directly in his own name or indirectly in the name of any other person, association, trust, or corporation, in any contract or the performance of any work in the making or letting of which such officer may be called upon to act or vote. No such officer may represent, either as agent or otherwise, any person, association, trust, or corporation, with respect to any application or bid for any contract or work in regard to which such officer may be called upon to vote. Nor may any such officer take or receive, or offer to take or receive, either directly or indirectly, any money or other thing of value as a gift or bribe or means of influencing his vote or action in his official character. Any contract made and procured in violation hereof is void. This Section shall not apply to any person serving on an advisory panel or commission, to any director serving on a hospital district board as provided under subsection (a-5) of Section 13 of the Hospital District Law, or to any person serving as both a contractual employee and as a member of a public hospital board as provided under Article 11 of the Illinois Municipal Code in a municipality with a population between 13,000 and 16,000 that is located in a county with a population between 50,000 and 70,000.

(b) However, any elected or appointed member of the governing body may provide materials, merchandise, property, services, or labor, subject to the following provisions under either paragraph (1) or (2):

(1) If:

A. the contract is with a person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or cooperative association in which such interested member of the governing body of the municipality has less than a 7 1/2% share in the ownership; and

B. such interested member publicly discloses the nature and extent of his interest prior to or during deliberations concerning the proposed award of the contract; and

C. such interested member abstains from voting on the award of the contract, though he shall be considered present for the purposes of establishing a quorum; and

D. such contract is approved by a majority vote of those members presently holding office; and

E. the contract is awarded after sealed bids to the lowest responsible bidder if the amount of the contract exceeds $1500, or awarded without bidding if the amount of the contract is less than $1500; and

F. the award of the contract would not cause the aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to exceed $25,000.

(2) If:

A. the award of the contract is approved by a majority vote of the governing body of the municipality provided that any such interested member shall abstain from voting; and

B. the amount of the contract does not exceed $2,000; and

C. the award of the contract would not cause the aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to exceed $4,000; and

D. such interested member publicly discloses the nature and extent of his interest prior to or during deliberations concerning the proposed award of the contract; and

E. such interested member abstains from voting on the award of the contract, though he shall be considered present for the purposes of establishing a quorum.

(b-5) In addition to the above exemptions, any elected or appointed member of the governing body may provide materials, merchandise, property, services, or labor if:

A. the contract is with a person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or cooperative association in which the interested member of the governing body of the municipality, advisory panel, or commission has less than a 1% share in the ownership; and

B. the award of the contract is approved by a majority vote of the governing body of the municipality provided that any such interested member shall abstain from voting; and

C. such interested member publicly discloses the nature and extent of his interest before or during deliberations concerning the proposed award of the contract; and

D. such interested member abstains from voting on the award of the contract, though he shall be considered present for the purposes of establishing a quorum.

(c) A contract for the procurement of public utility services by a public entity with a public utility company is not barred by this Section by one or more members of the governing body of the public entity being an officer or employee of the public utility company or holding an ownership interest of no more than 7 1/2% in the public utility company, or holding an ownership interest of any size if the public entity is a municipality with a population of less than 7,500 and the public utility's rates are approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. An elected or appointed member of the governing body of the public entity having such an interest shall be deemed not to have a prohibited interest under this Section.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section or any other law to the contrary, until January 1, 1994, a member of the city council of a municipality with a population under 20,000 may purchase real estate from the municipality, at a price of not less than 100% of the value of the real estate as determined by a written MAI certified appraisal or by a written certified appraisal of a State certified or licensed real estate appraiser, if the purchase is approved by a unanimous vote of the city council members then holding office (except for the member desiring to purchase the real estate, who shall not vote on the question).

(e) For the purposes of this Section only, a municipal officer shall not be deemed interested if the officer is an employee of a company or owns or holds an interest of 1% or less in the municipal officer's individual name in a company, or both, that company is involved in the transaction of business with the municipality, and that company's stock is traded on a nationally recognized securities market, provided the interested member: (i) publicly discloses the fact that he or she is an employee or holds an interest of 1% or less in a company before deliberation of the proposed award of the contract; (ii) refrains from evaluating, recommending, approving, deliberating, or otherwise participating in negotiation, approval, or both, of the contract, work, or business; (iii) abstains from voting on the award of the contract though he or she shall be considered present for purposes of establishing a quorum; and (iv) the contract is approved by a majority vote of those members currently holding office.

A municipal officer shall not be deemed interested if the officer owns or holds an interest of 1% or less, not in the officer's individual name but through a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund, in a company, that company is involved in the transaction of business with the municipality, and that company's stock is traded on a nationally recognized securities market.

(f) Under either of the following circumstances, a municipal or county officer may hold a position on the board of a not-for-profit corporation that is interested in a contract, work, or business of the municipality or county:

(1) If the municipal or county officer is appointed by the governing body of the municipality or county to represent the interests of the municipality or county on a not-for-profit corporation's board, then the municipal or county officer may actively vote on matters involving either that board or the municipality or county, at any time, so long as the membership on the not-for-profit board is not a paid position, except that the municipal or county officer may be reimbursed by the non-for-profit board for expenses incurred as the result of membership on the non-for-profit board.

(2) If the municipal or county officer is not appointed to the governing body of a not-for-profit corporation by the governing body of the municipality or county, then the municipal or county officer may continue to serve; however, the municipal or county officer shall abstain from voting on any proposition before the municipal or county governing body directly involving the not-for-profit corporation and, for those matters, shall not be counted as present for the purposes of a quorum of the municipal or county governing body.

(Source: P.A. 96-277, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1058, eff. 7-14-10; 97-520, eff. 8-23-11.)