103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB0071

 

Introduced 1/20/2023, by Sen. Patrick J. Joyce

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
70 ILCS 2405/3  from Ch. 42, par. 301

    Amends the Sanitary District Act of 1917. Provides that, on and after the effective date of the amendatory Act, recommendations of candidates for appointments to vacant trustee seats on the board of trustees of the Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District may be made within 30 days after the vacancy is created by the mayor of each municipality located in whole or in part of the District, except, if the vacancy is existing on the effective date of the amendatory Act, any recommendations must be made within 30 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that a majority of the mayors who may make a recommendation shall, at a time they designate, select a candidate to be appointed trustee from among those candidates recommended by the mayors. Provides that, in voting for a candidate, a mayor is entitled to one vote for every 5,000 residents, or fraction under 5,000 residents, of the mayor's municipality. Provides that the number of residents for each municipality shall be determined by the most recent federal decennial census.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB0071LRB103 04715 AWJ 49724 b

1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Sanitary District Act of 1917 is amended by
5changing Section 3 as follows:
 
6    (70 ILCS 2405/3)  (from Ch. 42, par. 301)
7    Sec. 3. Board of trustees; creation; term. A board of
8trustees shall be created, consisting of 5 members in any
9sanitary district which includes one or more municipalities
10with a population of over 90,000 but less than 500,000
11according to the most recent Federal census, and consisting of
123 members in any other district. However, the board of
13trustees for the Fox River Water Reclamation District, the
14Sanitary District of Decatur, and the Northern Moraine
15Wastewater Reclamation District shall each consist of 5
16members. Each board of trustees shall be created for the
17government, control and management of the affairs and business
18of each sanitary district organized under this Act shall be
19created in the following manner:
20        (1) If the district's corporate boundaries are located
21    wholly within a single county, the presiding officer of
22    the county board, with the advice and consent of the
23    county board, shall appoint the trustees for the district;

 

 

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1        (2) If the district's corporate boundaries are located
2    in more than one county, the members of the General
3    Assembly whose legislative districts encompass any portion
4    of the district shall appoint the trustees for the
5    district.
6    In any sanitary district which shall have a 3 member board
7of trustees, within 60 days after the adoption of such act, the
8appropriate appointing authority shall appoint three trustees
9not more than 2 of whom shall be from one incorporated city,
10town or village in districts in which are included 2 or more
11incorporated cities, towns or villages, or parts of 2 or more
12incorporated cities, towns or villages, who shall hold their
13office respectively for 1, 2 and 3 years, from the first Monday
14of May next after their appointment and until their successors
15are appointed and have qualified, and thereafter on or before
16the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate
17appointing authority shall appoint one trustee whose term
18shall be for 3 years commencing the first Monday in May of the
19year in which he is appointed. The length of the term of the
20first trustees shall be determined by lot at their first
21meeting.
22    In the case of any sanitary district created after January
231, 1978 in which a 5 member board of trustees is required, the
24appropriate appointing authority shall appoint 5 trustees, one
25of whom shall hold office for one year, two of whom shall hold
26office for 2 years, and 2 of whom shall hold office for 3 years

 

 

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1from the first Monday of May next after their respective
2appointments and until their successors are appointed and have
3qualified. Thereafter, on or before the second Monday in April
4of each year the appropriate appointing authority shall
5appoint one trustee or 2 trustees, as shall be necessary to
6maintain a 5 member board of trustees, whose terms shall be for
73 years commencing the first Monday in May of the year in which
8they are respectively appointed. The length of the terms of
9the first trustees shall be determined by lot at their first
10meeting.
11    In any sanitary district created prior to January 1, 1978
12in which a 5 member board of trustees is required as of January
131, 1978, the two trustees already serving terms which do not
14expire on May 1, 1978 shall continue to hold office for the
15remainders of their respective terms, and 3 trustees shall be
16appointed by the appropriate appointing authority by April 10,
171978 and shall hold office for terms beginning May 1, 1978. Of
18the three new trustees, one shall hold office for 2 years and 2
19shall hold office for 3 years from May 1, 1978 and until their
20successors are appointed and have qualified. Thereafter, on or
21before the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate
22appointing authority shall appoint one trustee or 2 trustees,
23as shall be necessary to maintain a 5 member board of trustees,
24whose terms shall be for 3 years commencing the first Monday in
25May of the year in which they are respectively appointed. The
26lengths of the terms of the trustees who are to hold office

 

 

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1beginning May 1, 1978 shall be determined by lot at their first
2meeting after May 1, 1978.
3    No more than 3 members of a 5 member board of trustees may
4be of the same political party; except that in any sanitary
5district which otherwise meets the requirements of this
6Section and which lies within 4 counties of the State of
7Illinois or, prior to April 30, 2008, in the Fox River Water
8Reclamation District; the appointments of the 5 members of the
9board of trustees shall be made without regard to political
10party. Beginning with the appointments made on April 30, 2008,
11all appointments to the board of trustees of the Fox River
12Water Reclamation District shall be made so that no more than 3
13of the 5 members are from the same political party.
14    Beginning with the 2021 municipal election, the board of
15trustees of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District shall be
16elected as provided in this paragraph. The election of
17trustees shall be in accordance with Section 2A-1.1 of the
18Election Code. Any board member serving on the effective date
19of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly whose
20term does not expire in 2021 shall serve until his or her
21successor is elected and qualified. The board of trustees of
22the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District shall: on or before
23January 1, 2020, divide the Fox Metro Water Reclamation
24District into 5 trustee districts and assign the trustee
25districts to reflect the results of the most recent federal
26decennial census; and thereafter, in the year following each

 

 

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1decennial census, redistrict the trustee districts to reflect
2the results of the most recent census. The board of trustees
3shall consist of 1 elected trustee in each trustee district. A
4petition for nomination for election of a trustee of the Fox
5Metro Water Reclamation District shall contain at least 100
6signatures of registered voters residing within the Fox Metro
7Water Reclamation District. The trustees shall be elected for
8staggered terms at the election as provided by the Election
9Code. Two trustees shall be elected at the 2021 election, and 3
10trustees shall be elected at the following consolidated
11election. Elected trustees shall take office on the first
12Tuesday after the first Monday in the month following the
13month of their election and shall hold their offices for 4
14years and until their successors are elected and qualified. If
15a vacancy occurs before the 2021 election on the board of
16trustees of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District: (i) the
17District Manager shall, no later than 7 days from the date of
18the vacancy, notify the State legislators representing any
19portion of the District, publish notification of the vacancy
20on the District's website, and send notification of the
21vacancy to local newspapers, radio stations, and television
22stations; (ii) each notification published or sent shall
23contain instructions on how to apply to the District Manager
24for the vacant trustee position; (iii) applications for the
25vacancy shall be accepted for at least 30 days after the date
26the notification of the vacancy was published and sent; (iv)

 

 

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1applications for the vacancy shall include a letter of
2interest and resume; (v) once the application period has
3closed, the District Manager shall forward all applications
4received to the State legislators notified of the vacancy in
5item (i); (vi) the President of the board of trustees and the
6District Manager shall hold a public meeting with the State
7legislators notified of the vacancy to review all applications
8and, by unanimous vote of all State legislators representing
9any portion of the District, select a candidate to fill the
10trustee vacancy; and (vii) the board of trustees shall appoint
11the selected candidate at the next board of trustees meeting.
12If a vacancy exists after the 2021 election on the board of
13trustees of the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District, the
14vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the president of the
15board of trustees, with the advice and consent of the members
16of the board of trustees, until the next regular election at
17which trustees of the district are elected, and shall be made a
18matter of record in the office of the county clerk in the
19county where the district is located; for a vacancy filled by
20appointment, the portion of the unexpired term remaining after
21the next regular election at which trustees of the district
22are elected shall be filled by election, as provided for in
23this paragraph.
24    On and after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
25the 103rd General Assembly, appointments for vacant trustee
26positions of the board of trustees of the Thorn Creek Basin

 

 

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1Sanitary District shall be made as provided in this paragraph.
2Within 30 days after the vacancy is created, the mayor of each
3municipality located in whole or in part within the District
4may recommend a candidate or candidates to be appointed to the
5position of trustee, except, if the vacancy is existing on the
6effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General
7Assembly, any recommendations must be made within 30 days
8after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd
9General Assembly. A majority of the mayors who may make a
10recommendation under this paragraph shall, at a time they
11designate, select a candidate to be appointed trustee from
12among those candidates recommended by the mayors. In voting
13for a candidate, a mayor is entitled to one vote for every
145,000 residents, or fraction under 5,000 residents, of the
15mayor's municipality. The number of residents for each
16municipality shall be determined by the most recent federal
17decennial census.
18    Within 60 days after the release of Federal census
19statistics showing that a sanitary district having a 3 member
20board of trustees contains one or more municipalities with a
21population over 90,000 but less than 500,000, or, for the
22Northern Moraine Wastewater Reclamation District, within 60
23days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
2495th General Assembly, the appropriate appointing authority
25shall appoint 2 additional trustees to the board of trustees,
26one to hold office for 2 years and one to hold office for 3

 

 

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1years from the first Monday of May next after their
2appointment and until their successors are appointed and have
3qualified. The lengths of the terms of these two additional
4members shall be determined by lot at the first meeting of the
5board of trustees held after the additional members take
6office. The three trustees already holding office in the
7sanitary district shall continue to hold office for the
8remainders of their respective terms. Thereafter, on or before
9the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate
10appointing authority shall appoint one trustee or 2 trustees,
11as shall be necessary to maintain a 5 member board of trustees,
12whose terms shall be for 3 years commencing the first Monday in
13May of the year in which they are respectively appointed.
14    If any sanitary district having a 5 member board of
15trustees shall cease to contain one or more municipalities
16with a population over 90,000 but less than 500,000 according
17to the most recent Federal census, then, for so long as that
18sanitary district does not contain one or more such
19municipalities, on or before the second Monday in April of
20each year the appropriate appointing authority shall appoint
21one trustee whose term shall be for 3 years commencing the
22first Monday in May of the year in which he is appointed. In
23districts which include 2 or more incorporated cities, towns,
24or villages, or parts of 2 or more incorporated cities, towns,
25or villages, all of the trustees shall not be from one
26incorporated city, town or village.

 

 

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1    If a vacancy occurs on any board of trustees, the
2appropriate appointing authority shall within 60 days appoint
3a trustee who shall hold office for the remainder of the
4vacated term.
5    The appointing authority shall require each of the
6trustees to enter into bond, with security to be approved by
7the appointing authority, in such sum as the appointing
8authority may determine.
9    A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a
10quorum but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day. No
11trustee or employee of such district shall be directly or
12indirectly interested in any contract, work or business of the
13district, or the sale of any article, the expense, price or
14consideration of which is paid by such district; nor in the
15purchase of any real estate or property belonging to the
16district, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments, or
17by virtue of legal process at the suit of the district.
18Provided, that nothing herein shall be construed as
19prohibiting the appointment or selection of any person as
20trustee or employee whose only interest in the district is as
21owner of real estate in the district or of contributing to the
22payment of taxes levied by the district. The trustees shall
23have the power to provide and adopt a corporate seal for the
24district.
25    Notwithstanding any other provision in this Section, in
26any sanitary district created prior to the effective date of

 

 

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1this amendatory Act of 1985, in which a five member board of
2trustees has been appointed and which currently includes one
3or more municipalities with a population of over 90,000 but
4less than 500,000, the board of trustees shall consist of five
5members.
6    Except as otherwise provided for vacancies, in the event
7that the appropriate appointing authority fails to appoint a
8trustee under this Section, the appropriate appointing
9authority shall reconvene and appoint a successor on or before
10July 1 of that year.
11(Source: P.A. 101-523, eff. 8-23-19.)