70 ILCS 3720/0.001b

(70 ILCS 3720/0.001b)

Sec. 0.001b. Powers and duties. A water commission has the power and duty to:

(1) establish and define the responsibilities of the commission and its committees;

(2) establish and define the responsibilities of the commission's management and staff;

(3) establish a finance committee to conduct monthly meetings to supervise staff's handling of financial matters and budgeting;

(4) require the finance director and treasurer to report to the finance committee the status of all commission funds and obligations;

(5) require the treasurer to report to the commission any improper or unnecessary expenditures, budgetary errors, or accounting irregularities;

(6) require commission staff to document and comply with standard accounting policies, procedures, and controls to ensure accurate reporting to the finance committee and commission and to identify improper or unnecessary expenditures, budgetary errors, or accounting irregularities;

(7) require the commission's finance director to provide monthly reports regarding the commission's cash and investment position including whether the commission has sufficient cash and investments to pay its debt service, operating expenses, and capital expenditures and maintain required reserve levels. The information shall include the required funding levels for restricted funds and unrestricted cash and investment balances with comparisons to unrestricted reserves. The information shall also include the type and performance of the commission's investments and description as to whether those investments are in compliance with the commission's investment policies;

(8) require the commission's finance director to provide the commission with detailed information concerning the commission's operating performance including the budgeted and actual monthly amounts for water sales, water costs, and other operating expenses;

(9) require commission staff to provide the commission with detailed information regarding the progress of capital projects including whether the percentage of completion and costs incurred are timely;

(10) require the commission's staff accountant to perform bank reconciliations and general ledger account reconciliations on a monthly basis; the finance director shall review these reconciliations and provide them to the treasurer and the finance committee on a monthly basis;

(11) establish policies to ensure the proper segregation of the financial duties performed by employees;

(12) restrict access to the established accounting systems and general ledger systems and provide for adequate segregation of duties so that no single person has sole access and control over the accounting system or the general ledger system;

(13) require that the finance director review and approve all manual journal entries and supporting documentation; the treasurer shall review and approve the finance director's review and approval of manual journal entries and supporting documentation;

(14) require that the finance director closely monitor the progress of construction projects;

(15) require that the finance director carefully document any GAAP analysis or communications with GASB and provide full and timely reports for the same to the finance committee;

(16) retain an outside independent auditor to perform a comprehensive audit of the water commission's financial activities for each fiscal year in conformance with the standard practices of the Association of Governmental Auditors; within 30 days after the independent audit is completed, the results of the audit must be sent to the county auditor; and

(17) on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, 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 commission 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 commission 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 commission shall not intentionally delay billing beyond the normal bill cycle.

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