(615 ILCS 90/7.2) (from Ch. 19, par. 1209) Sec. 7.2. The Agency may charge reasonable user fees
for recreational and commercial boating, and has the authority to issue
revenue bonds and to borrow funds from any financial lending institution, but
shall
not have the authority to impose any property tax.
The Agency shall devise a schedule
of user fees. The Agency shall conduct public hearings before
establishing or changing user fees or soliciting the issuance of revenue
bonds or the borrowing of funds. The Agency may issue
stickers as evidence of the payment of user fees.
The Agency may impose a civil penalty on persons who knowingly use the waterway
without paying a required user fee in an amount not exceeding $500
for each
violation. Such civil penalty may be recovered by the Agency in a civil
action. The Agency may also sell its dredging materials from the waterway as reclaimed topsoil. At least 75% of the gross income collected under this Section
shall be used exclusively for projects designed to maintain and improve the
waterway.
Such projects may include, but are not limited to, dredging, site acquisition
for silt deposit, water safety, and water quality projects. Any funds
which have not
been expended by the end of a fiscal year may be accumulated in a revolving
fund.(Source: P.A. 96-960, eff. 7-2-10.) |