Full Text of HB0840 095th General Assembly
HB0840enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning local government.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Water Commission Act of 1985 is amended by | 5 |
| changing Section 2 as follows:
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| (70 ILCS 3720/2) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 252)
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| Sec. 2. The General Assembly hereby finds and declares that | 8 |
| it is
necessary and in the public interest to help assure a | 9 |
| sufficient and
economic supply of a source of water within | 10 |
| those county wide areas of this
State where, because of a | 11 |
| growth in population and proximity to large urban
centers, the | 12 |
| health, safety and welfare of the residents is threatened by
an | 13 |
| ever increasing shortage of a continuing, available and | 14 |
| adequate source
and supply of water on an economically | 15 |
| reasonable basis; however, it is not
the intent of the General | 16 |
| Assembly to interfere with the power of
municipalities to | 17 |
| provide for the retail distribution of water to their
residents | 18 |
| or the customers of their water systems. Therefore, in order to
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| provide for a sufficient and economic supply of water to such | 20 |
| areas, it is
hereby declared to be the law of this State that:
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| (a) With respect to any water commission constituted | 22 |
| pursuant to
Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal Code or | 23 |
| established by operation of
law under Public Act 83-1123, as |
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| amended, which water commission includes
municipalities which | 2 |
| in the aggregate have within their corporate limits
more than | 3 |
| 50% of the population of a county (hereinafter referred to as a
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| "home county"), and such county is contiguous to a county which | 5 |
| has a
population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants, the | 6 |
| provisions of this Act
shall apply. With respect to any such | 7 |
| water commission (hereinafter
referred to as a "county water | 8 |
| commission"):
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| (i) the terms of all commissioners of such commission | 10 |
| holding office at
the time a water commission becomes a | 11 |
| county water commission shall
terminate 30 days after such | 12 |
| time and new commissioners shall be appointed
as the | 13 |
| governing board of the county water commission as | 14 |
| hereinafter
provided in subsection (c); and
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| (ii) the county water commission shall continue to be a | 16 |
| body corporate
and politic, and shall bear the name of the | 17 |
| home county but shall be
independent from and not a part of | 18 |
| the county government and shall itself
be a political | 19 |
| subdivision and a unit of local government, and upon
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| appointment of the new commissioners as the governing board | 21 |
| of such water
commission as provided in subsection (c), | 22 |
| such water commission shall
remain responsible for the full | 23 |
| payment of, and shall by operation of law
be deemed to have | 24 |
| assumed and shall pay when due all debts and obligations
of | 25 |
| the commission as the same is constituted and as such debts | 26 |
| and
obligations existed on the date such water commission |
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| becomes a county
water commission and such additional debts | 2 |
| and obligations as are incurred
by such commission after | 3 |
| such date and prior to the appointment of the new
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| commissioners as the governing board of such commission, | 5 |
| and further shall
continue to have and exercise all powers | 6 |
| and functions and duties of a
water commission created | 7 |
| pursuant to Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal
Code, as | 8 |
| now or hereafter amended, and the county water commission | 9 |
| may rely
on that Division, as modified and supplemented by | 10 |
| the provisions of this
Act, as lawful authority under which | 11 |
| it may act.
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| (b) Any county water commission shall have as its territory | 13 |
| within its
corporate limits, subject to taxation for its | 14 |
| purposes, and subject to the
powers and limitations as | 15 |
| conferred by this Act, (i) all of the territory
of the home | 16 |
| county except that territory located within the corporate
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| limits of excluded units as hereinafter defined and (ii) also | 18 |
| all of the
territory located outside the home county and | 19 |
| included within the corporate
limits of an included unit as | 20 |
| hereinafter defined. As used in this Act,
"excluded unit" means | 21 |
| a unit of local government having a waterworks system
and | 22 |
| having within its corporate limits territory within the home | 23 |
| county and
which either , at the time any commission becomes a | 24 |
| county water commission,
receives, or has contracted at such | 25 |
| time for the receipt of, more than 25%
of the water distributed | 26 |
| by such unit's water system from a source outside
of the home |
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| county , or a unit of local government that seeks a change in | 2 |
| status as provided in this Section . As used in this Section, | 3 |
| "included unit" means any
unit of local government having a | 4 |
| waterworks system and having within its
corporate limits | 5 |
| territory within the home county, which unit of local
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| government is not an excluded unit. No other water commission | 7 |
| shall be
constituted under Division 135 of the Illinois | 8 |
| Municipal Code in any home
county after the effective date of | 9 |
| this Act to provide water from any
source located outside the | 10 |
| home county. A unit of local government may switch its status | 11 |
| from being an included unit to an excluded unit provided that | 12 |
| (i) it has constructed a water treatment plant prior to | 13 |
| December 31, 2006 to comply with United States Environmental | 14 |
| Protection Agency regulations regarding radium; (ii) it | 15 |
| notifies the commission in writing of its desire to become an | 16 |
| excluded unit; and (iii) it no longer demands future service | 17 |
| from the commission and shall not be reinstated as an included | 18 |
| unit. In the event a unit of local government switches status, | 19 |
| the water commission shall, from any legally available sources, | 20 |
| transfer the sums collected from that unit of local government | 21 |
| for the period of time beginning January 1, 2006 to the date | 22 |
| that this tax is no longer assessed within the affected | 23 |
| excluded unit. The transfer of funds authorized herein shall be | 24 |
| made within 90 days of the effective date of this amendatory | 25 |
| Act of the 95th General Assembly. Except as authorized by a | 26 |
| county
water commission, no home county or included unit shall |
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| enter into any new
or renew or extend any existing contract, | 2 |
| agreement or other arrangement
for the acquisition or sale of | 3 |
| water from any source located outside a home
county; provided, | 4 |
| however, that any included unit may contract for a supply
of | 5 |
| water in case of a temporary emergency from any other unit of | 6 |
| local
government or any entity. In the event that any included | 7 |
| unit elects to
serve retail customers outside its corporate | 8 |
| boundaries and to establish
rates and charges for such water in | 9 |
| excess of those charged within its
corporate boundaries, such | 10 |
| rates and charges shall have a reasonable
relationship to the | 11 |
| actual cost of providing and delivering the water; this
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| provision is declarative of existing law. It is declared to be | 13 |
| the law of
this State pursuant to paragraphs (g) and (h) of | 14 |
| Section 6 of Article VII
of the Illinois Constitution that in | 15 |
| any home county, the provisions of
this Act and Division 135 of | 16 |
| the Illinois Municipal Code, as modified and
supplemented by | 17 |
| this Act and this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
Assembly, | 18 |
| constitute a limitation upon the power of any
such county and | 19 |
| upon all units of local government (except excluded units)
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| within such county, including home rule units, limiting to such | 21 |
| county,
units of local government and home rule units the power | 22 |
| to acquire, supply
or distribute water or to establish any | 23 |
| water commission for such purposes
involving water from any | 24 |
| source located outside the home county in a manner
other than | 25 |
| as provided or permitted by this Act and Division 135, as
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| modified and supplemented by this Act, and further constitute |
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| an exercise
of exclusive State power with respect to the | 2 |
| acquisition, supply and
distribution of water from any source | 3 |
| located outside the home county by
any such county and by units | 4 |
| of local government (except excluded units),
including home | 5 |
| rule units, within such county and with respect to the
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| establishment for such purposes of any water commission | 7 |
| therein, which
power may not be exercised concurrently by any | 8 |
| unit of local government or
home rule unit. Upon the request of | 9 |
| any included unit, a county water
commission shall provide such | 10 |
| included unit Lake Michigan water in an
amount up to the then | 11 |
| current Department of Transportation allocation of
Lake | 12 |
| Michigan water for such included unit.
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| With respect to a water commission to which the provisions | 14 |
| of
subsection (a) apply, all uninhabited territory that is | 15 |
| owned and solely
occupied by such a commission and is located | 16 |
| not within its home county
but within a non-home rule | 17 |
| municipality adjacent to its home county shall,
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| notwithstanding any other provision of law, be disconnected | 19 |
| from that
municipality by operation of this Act on the | 20 |
| effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1991, and shall | 21 |
| thereafter no longer be within the
territory of the | 22 |
| municipality for any purpose; except that for the purposes
of | 23 |
| any statute that requires contiguity of territory, the | 24 |
| territory of the
water commission shall be disregarded and the | 25 |
| municipality shall not be
deemed to be noncontiguous by virtue | 26 |
| of the disconnection of the water
commission territory.
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| (c) The governing body of any water commission to which the | 2 |
| provisions
of subsection (a) apply shall be a board of | 3 |
| commissioners, each to be
appointed within 30 days after the | 4 |
| water commission becomes a county water
commission to a term | 5 |
| commencing on such date, as follows:
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| (i) one commissioner, who shall serve as chairman, who | 7 |
| shall be a
resident of the home county, to be appointed by | 8 |
| the chairman of the county
board of such county with the | 9 |
| advice and consent of the county board,
provided that | 10 |
| following the expiration of the term or vacancy of the | 11 |
| current
chairman
serving on the effective date of this | 12 |
| amendatory Act of the 93rd General
Assembly, any
subsequent
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| appointment as chairman shall also be subject to the advice | 14 |
| and consent of the
county water
commission;
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| (ii) one commissioner from each county board district | 16 |
| within the home
county, to be appointed by the chairman of | 17 |
| the county board of the home
county with the advice and | 18 |
| consent of the county board; and
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| (iii) one commissioner from each county board district | 20 |
| within the home
county, to be appointed by the majority | 21 |
| vote of the mayors of those
included units which are | 22 |
| municipalities and which have the greatest
percentage of | 23 |
| their respective populations residing within such county
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| board district of the home county.
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| The mayors of the respective county board districts shall | 26 |
| meet for the
purpose of making said respective appointments at |
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| a time and place
designated by that mayor in each county board | 2 |
| district of the included unit
with the largest population | 3 |
| voting for a commissioner upon not less than 10
days' written | 4 |
| notice to each other mayor entitled to vote.
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| The commissioners so appointed shall serve for a term of 6 | 6 |
| years, or
until their successors have been appointed and have | 7 |
| qualified in the same
manner as the original appointments, | 8 |
| except that at the first meeting of
such commissioners, (A) the | 9 |
| commissioners first appointed pursuant to
paragraph (ii) of | 10 |
| this subsection shall determine publicly by lot 1/3 of
their | 11 |
| number to serve for terms of 2 years, 1/3 of their number to | 12 |
| serve
for terms of 4 years and 1/3 of their number to serve for | 13 |
| terms of 6 years,
any odd number of commissioners so determined | 14 |
| by dividing into thirds to
serve 6 year terms, and (B) the | 15 |
| commissioners first appointed pursuant to
paragraph (iii) of | 16 |
| this subsection shall determine publicly by lot 1/3 of
their | 17 |
| number to serve for terms of 2 years, 1/3 of their number to | 18 |
| serve
for terms of 4 years and 1/3 of their number to serve for | 19 |
| terms of 6 years,
any odd number of commissioners so determined | 20 |
| by dividing into thirds to
serve 6 year terms. The commissioner | 21 |
| first appointed pursuant to paragraph
(i) of this subsection, | 22 |
| who shall serve as chairman, shall serve for a term
of 6 years. | 23 |
| Any commissioner may be a member of the governing board or an
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| officer or employee of such county or any unit of local | 25 |
| government within
such county. A commissioner is eligible for | 26 |
| reappointment upon the
expiration of his term. A vacancy in the |
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| office of a commissioner shall be
filled for the balance of the | 2 |
| unexpired term by appointment and
qualification as to residency | 3 |
| in the same manner as the original
appointment was made. Each | 4 |
| commissioner shall receive the same
compensation which shall | 5 |
| not be more than $600 per year, except that no such
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| commissioner who is a member of the governing board or an | 7 |
| officer or
employee of such county or any unit of local | 8 |
| government within such county
may receive any compensation for | 9 |
| serving as a commissioner. Each
commissioner may be removed by | 10 |
| the appointing authority for any cause for
which any other | 11 |
| county or municipal officer may be removed. The county
water | 12 |
| commission shall determine its own rules of proceeding. A | 13 |
| quorum
shall be a majority of the commissioners then in office. | 14 |
| All ordinances or
resolutions shall be passed by not less than | 15 |
| a majority of a quorum. No
commissioner or employee of the | 16 |
| commission, no member of the county board
or other official | 17 |
| elected within such county, no mayor or president or
other | 18 |
| member of the corporate authorities of any unit of local | 19 |
| government
within such county, and no employee of such county | 20 |
| or any such unit of
local government, shall be interested | 21 |
| directly or indirectly in any
contract or job of work or | 22 |
| materials, or the profits thereof, or services
to be performed | 23 |
| for or by the commission. A violation of any of the
foregoing | 24 |
| provisions of this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor. A
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| conviction is cause for the removal of a person from his office | 26 |
| or employment.
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| (d) Except as provided in subsection (g), subject to the | 2 |
| referendum
provided for in subsection (e), a county water | 3 |
| commission may borrow money
for corporate purposes on the | 4 |
| credit of the commission, and issue general
obligation bonds | 5 |
| therefor, in such amounts and form and on such conditions
as it | 6 |
| shall prescribe, but shall not become indebted in any manner or | 7 |
| for
any purpose in an amount including existing indebtedness in | 8 |
| the aggregate to
exceed 5.75% of the aggregate value of the | 9 |
| taxable property within the
territorial boundaries of the | 10 |
| county water commission, as equalized and
assessed by the | 11 |
| Department of Revenue and as most recently available at
the | 12 |
| time of the issue of said bonds. Before or at the time of | 13 |
| incurring
any indebtedness, except as provided in subsection | 14 |
| (g), the commission
shall provide for the collection of a | 15 |
| direct annual tax, which shall be
unlimited as to rate or | 16 |
| amount, sufficient to pay the interest on such debt
as it falls | 17 |
| due and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof at
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| maturity, which shall be within 40 years after the date of | 19 |
| issue thereof.
Such tax shall be levied upon and collected from | 20 |
| all of the taxable
property within the territory of the county | 21 |
| water commission. Dissolution
of the county water commission | 22 |
| for any reason shall not relieve the taxable
property within | 23 |
| such territory of the county water commission from
liability | 24 |
| for such tax. The clerk of the commission shall file a | 25 |
| certified
copy of the resolution or ordinance by which such | 26 |
| bonds are authorized to
be issued and such tax is levied with |
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| the County Clerk of each county in
which any of the territory | 2 |
| of the county water commission
is located and such filing
shall | 3 |
| constitute, without the doing of any other act, full and | 4 |
| complete
authority for each such County Clerk to extend such | 5 |
| tax for collection upon
all the taxable property within the | 6 |
| territory of the county water
commission subject to such tax in | 7 |
| each and every year required sufficient
to pay the principal of | 8 |
| and interest on such bonds, as aforesaid, without
limit as to | 9 |
| rate or amount, and shall be in addition to and in excess of
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| all other taxes authorized to be levied by the commission or | 11 |
| any included unit.
The general obligation bonds shall be issued | 12 |
| pursuant to an ordinance or
resolution and may be issued in one | 13 |
| or more series, and shall bear such
date or dates, mature at | 14 |
| such time or times and in any event not more than
40 years from | 15 |
| the date thereof, be sold at such price at private or public
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| sale as determined by a county water commission, bear interest | 17 |
| at such rate
or rates such that the net effective interest rate | 18 |
| received upon the sale
of such bonds does not exceed the | 19 |
| maximum rate determined under Section 2
of the Bond | 20 |
| Authorization Act, which rates may be fixed or variable,
be in | 21 |
| such denominations, be
in such form, either coupon or | 22 |
| registered, carry such conversion,
registration, and exchange | 23 |
| privileges, be executed in such manner, be
payable in such | 24 |
| medium of payment at such place or places within or without
the | 25 |
| State of Illinois, be subject to such terms of redemption, and | 26 |
| contain
or be subject to such other terms as the ordinance or |
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| resolution may
provide, and shall not be restricted by the | 2 |
| provisions of any other terms
of obligations of public agencies | 3 |
| or private persons.
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| (e) No issue of general obligation bonds by a county water | 5 |
| commission
(except bonds to refund an existing bonded | 6 |
| indebtedness) shall be
authorized unless the commission | 7 |
| certifies the proposition of issuing such
bonds to the proper | 8 |
| election officials, who shall submit the proposition to
the | 9 |
| voters at an election in accordance with the general election | 10 |
| law, and
the proposition has been approved by a majority of | 11 |
| those voting on the proposition.
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| The proposition shall be in the form provided in Section 5 | 13 |
| or shall be
substantially in the following form:
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| -------------------------------------------------------------
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| Shall general obligation
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| bonds for the purpose of
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| (state purpose), in the YES
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| sum of $....(insert amount), -----------------------------
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| be issued by the ......... NO
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| (insert corporate name of
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| the county water commission)?
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| -------------------------------------------------------------
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| (f) In order to carry out and perform its powers and | 24 |
| functions and
duties under the provisions of this Act and | 25 |
| Division 135 of the Illinois
Municipal Code, as modified and | 26 |
| supplemented by this Act, the governing
body of any county |
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| water commission may by ordinance levy annually upon
all | 2 |
| taxable property within its territory a tax at a rate not to | 3 |
| exceed
.005% of the value of such property, as equalized or | 4 |
| assessed by the
Department of Revenue for the year in which the | 5 |
| levy is made.
In addition, any county water commission may by | 6 |
| ordinance levy upon all
taxable property within its territory, | 7 |
| for one year only, an additional tax
for such purposes at a | 8 |
| rate not to exceed .20% of the value of such
property, as | 9 |
| equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue for that
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| year; provided, however, that such tax may not be levied more | 11 |
| than once in
any county water commission.
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| (g) Any county water commission shall have the power to | 13 |
| borrow money,
subject to the indebtedness limitation provided | 14 |
| in subsection (d), from
the home county or included units, in | 15 |
| such amounts and in such terms as
agreed by the governing | 16 |
| bodies of the commission and the home county or included units.
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| (h) No county water commission constituted pursuant to the | 18 |
| Act shall
engage in the retail sale or distribution of water to | 19 |
| residents or
customers of any municipality.
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| (i) Nothing in the Section requires any municipality to | 21 |
| contract with a
county water commission for a supply of water.
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| (j) The State of Illinois recognizes that any such contract | 23 |
| for the
supply of water executed by a unit of local government | 24 |
| and a county water
commission may contain terms and conditions | 25 |
| intended by the parties thereto
to be absolute conditions | 26 |
| thereof. The State of Illinois also recognizes
that persons may |
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| loan funds to a county water commission (including,
without | 2 |
| limitation, the purchase of revenue or general obligation bonds | 3 |
| of
such commission) in reliance upon the terms and conditions | 4 |
| of any such
contract for the supply of water. Therefore, the | 5 |
| State of Illinois pledges
and agrees to those parties and | 6 |
| persons which make loans of funds to a
county water commission | 7 |
| that it will not impair or limit the power or
ability of a | 8 |
| county water commission or a unit of local government fully to
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| carry out the
financial obligations and obligation to furnish | 10 |
| water pursuant to the
terms of any contract for the supply of | 11 |
| water entered into by
such county water commission or unit of | 12 |
| local government for the term of
such contracts or loans.
All | 13 |
| other terms and conditions of such contracts and | 14 |
| intergovernmental
agreements shall be binding to the
extent | 15 |
| that they are not inconsistent with this amendatory Act of the | 16 |
| 93rd
General
Assembly.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-226, eff. 7-22-03 .)
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