August 14, 2015

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois Senate,

99th General Assembly:

Today I return Senate Bill 650 with specific recommendations for change.

Current law permits a territory within a fire protection district to be disconnected from the district and transferred to a contiguous district provided that certain criteria are met, including that the transfer will not cause a serious injury to the district from which the territory is being disconnected. Illinois courts have used fact-specific inquiries to determine what constitutes “serious injury,” including with reference to loss of property tax revenues, but without setting a single numerical threshold.

Among other changes, this bill would provide that a loss of 10% or more of property tax revenue is a “serious injury,” taking away some of the discretion previously used in the fact-specific inquiry.

Illinois is suffering from too many units of local government. For government to be more efficient and responsive, we need to enable, not hinder, consolidation of local governments. Unfortunately this bill’s attempt to define “serious injury” could impede efforts towards consolidation.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(e) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 650, entitled “AN ACT concerning local government”, with the following specific recommendations for change:

On page 2, by deleting lines 6 through 24; and

By deleting pages 3 through 7; and

On page 8, by deleting lines 1 through 4.

With these changes, Senate Bill 650 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR