Full Text of HB6041 99th General Assembly
HB6041enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning local government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 16 as follows:
| 6 | | (70 ILCS 705/16) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 37)
| 7 | | Sec. 16. In order to facilitate circumstances in which fire | 8 | | protection may be materially improved by adjustment of | 9 | | jurisdictional boundaries of adjoining fire protection | 10 | | districts without impairing the overall provision of fire | 11 | | protection services in the adjoining districts,
territory | 12 | | Territory included within the limits of any fire protection | 13 | | district
may be disconnected from the district and added to | 14 | | another district to which
the territory is contiguous, in the | 15 | | manner hereinafter set forth; (1) if
the territory would | 16 | | receive equal or greater benefits from the district
to which it | 17 | | seeks to be transferred; (2) if the transfer will not cause
the | 18 | | territory remaining in the district from which the transfer is | 19 | | to be
made, to be noncontiguous; (3) if the transfer will not | 20 | | cause a serious
injury to the district from which the transfer | 21 | | is to be made; and, (4)
if the trustees of the district to | 22 | | which the transfer is sought to be made
do not file a written | 23 | | refusal to accept the territory within the time hereinafter
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| 1 | | provided.
| 2 | | Territory disconnected pursuant to this Section shall | 3 | | remain liable for
its proportionate share of the bonded | 4 | | indebtedness outstanding as of the
date of disconnection, if | 5 | | any, of the district from which it was disconnected
and shall | 6 | | assume a proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness, if | 7 | | any,
of the district to which it is transferred.
| 8 | | One per cent or more of the legal voters residing within | 9 | | the limits of
the territory proposed to be transferred may file | 10 | | a petition, in the court
of the county where the district to | 11 | | which it seeks to be transferred is
organized, setting forth: | 12 | | the description of the territory sought to be
transferred; that | 13 | | the territory would receive equal or greater benefits
by the | 14 | | transfer; that the transfer will not cause a serious injury to | 15 | | the
district or districts from which the transfer is proposed | 16 | | to be made; and
the amount of any outstanding bonded | 17 | | indebtedness against the district or
districts in which the | 18 | | territory is then situated which has been incurred
pursuant to | 19 | | this Act; and praying that the question whether the transfer
| 20 | | shall be made, and whether the voters of such territory shall | 21 | | remain liable
for a proportionate share of the bonded | 22 | | indebtedness outstanding as of the
date of disconnection, if | 23 | | any, of the district from which it was disconnected
and also | 24 | | assume a proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness, if | 25 | | any,
of the district to which the transfer is to be made, be | 26 | | submitted to the
voters of the entire district from which the |
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| 1 | | transfer is sought to be made territory sought to be | 2 | | transferred .
| 3 | | Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall set a day | 4 | | for hearing,
not less than 2 weeks nor more than 4 weeks from | 5 | | the filing thereof, and
the court, or the circuit clerk or | 6 | | sheriff upon order of the court, (i) shall
give 2 weeks notice | 7 | | of such hearing in one or more daily or weekly newspapers
of | 8 | | general circulation in the county or in each county wherein the | 9 | | district
or districts from which the territory sought to be | 10 | | transferred is organized
and by posting at least 10 copies of | 11 | | the notice in conspicuous places in
the district or in each of | 12 | | the districts from which the territory is sought
to be | 13 | | transferred, (ii) shall cause a copy of the notice to be | 14 | | personally served upon each trustee of the district from which | 15 | | the transfer is sought to be made, and (iii) in addition shall | 16 | | cause a copy of the notice to be
personally served upon each of | 17 | | the trustees of the district to which the
transfer is sought to | 18 | | be made at least one week before the date set for
the hearing, | 19 | | and in the notice, or in any accompanying notice to be served
| 20 | | upon the Trustees at the same time, a recital shall be made | 21 | | stating that
the Trustees may at any time prior to the date of | 22 | | the hearing, or within
such additional time as may be granted | 23 | | by the court upon request in writing
filed on or before such | 24 | | date, file a written refusal to accept the territory
as a part | 25 | | of their district, provided, that such notification need not be
| 26 | | given to the trustees if they file in the proceeding their |
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| 1 | | written appearances
or written consent to a transfer of the | 2 | | territory to their district. Both the fire protection district | 3 | | from which the territory seeks to be transferred and the fire | 4 | | protection district to which the territory seeks to be | 5 | | transferred are necessary parties in any action to disconnect | 6 | | under this Section.
| 7 | | At any time prior to the date set for the hearing, or | 8 | | within such additional
time as may be granted by the court, the | 9 | | trustees of the district to which
the transfer is sought to be | 10 | | made may file a written refusal to accept the
territory as a | 11 | | part of their district and in case of such refusal the court
| 12 | | shall enter an order dismissing the petition for the transfer. | 13 | | The trustees
may withdraw their refusal at any time prior to | 14 | | the entry of an order dismissing
the petition. In case the | 15 | | trustees fail to file a written refusal within
the time | 16 | | hereinbefore authorized, they shall be deemed to have consented
| 17 | | to a transfer of the territory to their district, and consent | 18 | | once given
may not be withdrawn without leave of court for good | 19 | | cause shown. In case
of such consent, the court shall proceed | 20 | | with the matter as herein provided
but if the court finds that | 21 | | any of the conditions herein required for the
making of a | 22 | | transfer do not exist it shall enter an order dismissing the
| 23 | | petition. In taking any action upon the petition the findings | 24 | | of the court
shall be filed of record in the case.
| 25 | | All property owners in the district from which the transfer | 26 | | is sought and
all persons interested therein, may file |
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| 1 | | objections, and at the hearing
may appear and contest the | 2 | | transfer and the matters averred in the petition,
and both | 3 | | objectors and petitioners may offer any competent evidence in | 4 | | regard
thereto. In addition, all persons residing in or | 5 | | interested in any of the
property situated in the territory | 6 | | sought to be transferred shall have an
opportunity to be heard | 7 | | touching the location and boundary of the territory
to be voted | 8 | | upon for such transfer, and may make suggestions regarding the | 9 | | same. For purposes of this Section, serious injury shall be | 10 | | found to exist in the district from which the transfer is | 11 | | sought when a material impairment of the ability to provide | 12 | | continuing fire protection and related emergency services to | 13 | | the territory remaining in the district after the transfer may | 14 | | occur. The court may consider the following, but not limited | 15 | | to, in its determination as to whether a serious injury may | 16 | | occur: the financial resources, facilities, and equipment | 17 | | which will remain in the district; and the financial | 18 | | obligations, including remaining non-bonded debt of the | 19 | | district, from which the transfer is sought. A loss of annual | 20 | | real estate tax revenues by the district from which the | 21 | | transfer is sought of 25 percent or more by reason of the | 22 | | disconnection and transfer shall constitute serious injury and | 23 | | require dismissal of the petition. However, the court is not | 24 | | precluded from finding serious injury to exist with a lesser | 25 | | tax revenue loss if it is shown by the preponderance of other | 26 | | evidence presented to the court that serious injury would |
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| 1 | | result if the transfer were to occur.
| 2 | | If the court shall, upon hearing the petition, find that | 3 | | the territory
described in the petition would receive equal or | 4 | | greater benefits by being
so transferred and meet the | 5 | | conditions hereinbefore set forth, it shall
certify to the | 6 | | proper election officials the question of whether the territory
| 7 | | shall be transferred,
and its order, and such officials shall | 8 | | submit that question at an election in the entire district from | 9 | | which the transfer is sought to be made
in such territory in | 10 | | accordance with the general election law. The proposition
shall | 11 | | be in substantially the following form:
| 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------
| 13 | | For making the transfer from the
| 14 | | ..... Fire Protection District to the
| 15 | | ..... Fire Protection District, remaining
| 16 | | liable for a proportionate share of the
| 17 | | bonded indebtedness outstanding as of the
| 18 | | date of disconnection, if any, of the district
| 19 | | from which disconnection is proposed and also
| 20 | | assuming a proportionate share of the bonded
| 21 | | indebtedness, if any, of the district
| 22 | | to which transfer is proposed.
| 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------
| 24 | | Against making the transfer from the
| 25 | | ..... Fire Protection District to the
| 26 | | ..... Fire Protection District, remaining
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| 1 | | liable for a proportionate share of the
| 2 | | bonded indebtedness outstanding as of the
| 3 | | date of disconnection, if any, of the district
| 4 | | from which disconnection is proposed and also
| 5 | | assuming a proportionate share of the bonded
| 6 | | indebtedness, if any, of the district
| 7 | | to which transfer is proposed.
| 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------
| 9 | | If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of making | 10 | | the transfer
shall be in favor of the transfer, the territory | 11 | | shall thenceforth cease
to be a part of the fire protection | 12 | | district or districts to which it has
been attached and shall | 13 | | become an integral part of the fire protection district
to | 14 | | which the transfer shall have been sought and shall be subject | 15 | | to all
the enjoyments and responsibilities of the latter | 16 | | district. In each case
in which a transfer is effected pursuant | 17 | | to the provisions
hereof, the circuit clerk in whose court the | 18 | | transfer proceedings have been conducted,
shall certify copies | 19 | | of all orders entered in effecting such transfer and
file or | 20 | | send them to the proper county clerk or clerks for filing and | 21 | | to
the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 94-806, eff. 1-1-07.)
| 23 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 24 | | becoming law.
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