70 ILCS 3715/6

(70 ILCS 3715/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 228)

Sec. 6. Such board of trustees shall have the following powers:

1. To make inspections of wells or other withdrawal facilities and to require information and data from the owners or operators thereof concerning the supply, withdrawal and use of water.

2. To require the registration with them of all wells or other withdrawal facilities in accordance with such form or forms as they deem advisable.

3. To require permits from them for all additional wells or withdrawal facilities or for the deepening, extending or enlarging existing wells or withdrawal facilities.

4. To require the plugging of abandoned wells or the repair of any well or withdrawal facility to prevent loss of water or contamination of supply.

5. To reasonably regulate the use of water and during any period of actual or threatened shortage to establish limits upon or priorities as to the use of water. In issuing any such regulation, limitation, or priority, such board shall seek to promote the common welfare by considering the public interest, the average amount of present withdrawals, relative benefits or importance of use, economy or efficiency of use and any other reasonable differentiation. Appropriate consideration shall also be given to any user, who has theretofore reduced the volume of ground water previously consumed by such user or who has taken care of increased requirements by installing and using equipment and facilities permitting the use of surface water by such user.

6. To supplement the existing water supply or provide additional water supply by such means as may be practicable or feasible. They may acquire property or property rights either within or without the boundaries of the authority by purchase, lease, condemnation proceedings or otherwise, and they may construct, maintain and operate wells, reservoirs, pumping stations, purification plants, infiltration pits, recharging wells and such other facilities as may be necessary to insure an adequate supply of water for the present and future needs of the authority. They shall have the right to sell water to municipalities or public utilities operating water distribution systems either within or without the authority.

7. To levy and collect a general tax on all of the taxable property within the corporate limits of the authority, the aggregate amount of which for one year, exclusive of the amount levied for bonded indebtedness or interest thereon, shall not exceed .08 per cent of the value as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue. For the purpose of acquiring necessary property or facilities, to issue general obligation bonds bearing interest at the rate of not to exceed the maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the making of the contract, and payable over a period of not to exceed 20 years, the aggregate principal amount of which at any one time outstanding shall not exceed one-half of 1% of the value as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue of all taxable property located within the corporate limits of the authority and to levy and collect a further or additional direct annual tax upon all the taxable property within the corporate limits of such authority sufficient to meet the principal and interest of such bonds as the same mature. They shall also have authority to issue revenue bonds payable solely out of anticipated revenues.

8. To consult with and receive available information concerning their duties and responsibilities from the State Water Survey, the State Geological Survey, the Board of Natural Resources and Conservation, the Water Resources and Flood Control Board and any other board or commission of the State. Before constructing any facility for providing additional water supply, the plans therefor shall be submitted to and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency or its successor and all operations of such facilities shall be conducted in accordance with such rules and regulations as may from time to time be prescribed by the Pollution Control Board.

9. To have the right by appropriate action in the circuit court of any county in which such authority, or any part thereof, is located to restrain any violation or threatened violation of any of their orders, rules, regulations or ordinances.

10. To provide by ordinance that the violation of any provision of any rule, regulation or ordinance adopted by them shall constitute a misdemeanor subject to a fine by the circuit court of not to exceed $50 for each act of violation and that each day's violation shall constitute a separate offense.

11. On or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, to bill for any utility service, including previously unbilled service, supplied to a residential customer within 12 months, or a non-residential customer within 24 months, after the provision of that service to the customer; however, the water authority may bill for unpaid amounts that were billed to a customer or if the customer was notified that there is an unpaid amount before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly for service that was supplied to the customer before January 1, 2016. The time limit of this paragraph shall not apply to previously unbilled service attributed to tampering, theft of service, fraud, or the customer preventing the utility's recorded efforts to obtain an accurate reading of the meter. The trustees shall: (i) label any amount attributed to previously unbilled service as such on the customer's bill and include the beginning and ending dates for the period during which the previously unbilled amount accrued; (ii) issue the makeup billing amount calculated on a prorated basis to reflect the varying rates for previously unbilled service accrued over a period of time when the rates for service have varied; and (iii) provide the customer with the option of a payment arrangement to retire the makeup bill for previously unbilled service by periodic payments, without interest or late fees, over a time equal to the amount of time the billing was delayed. The trustees shall not intentionally delay billing beyond the normal bill cycle.

With respect to instruments for the payment of money issued under this Section either before, on, or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1989, it is and always has been the intention of the General Assembly (i) that the Omnibus Bond Acts are and always have been supplementary grants of power to issue instruments in accordance with the Omnibus Bond Acts, regardless of any provision of this Act that may appear to be or to have been more restrictive than those Acts, (ii) that the provisions of this Section are not a limitation on the supplementary authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts, and (iii) that instruments issued under this Section within the supplementary authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts are not invalid because of any provision of this Act that may appear to be or to have been more restrictive than those Acts.

(Source: P.A. 100-178, eff. 8-18-17.)