Public Act 094-1007
 
SB3046 Enrolled LRB094 19197 BDD 54740 b

    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Intergovernmental Cooperation Act is
amended by changing Section 3.1 as follows:
 
    (5 ILCS 220/3.1)  (from Ch. 127, par. 743.1)
    Sec. 3.1. Municipal Joint Action Water Agency.
    (a) Any municipality or municipalities of this State, any
county or counties of this State, any township in a county with
a population under 700,000 of this State, any public water
district or districts of this State, State university, or any
combination thereof may, by intergovernmental agreement,
establish a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency to provide
adequate supplies of water on an economical and efficient basis
for member municipalities, public water districts and other
incorporated and unincorporated areas within such counties.
For purposes of this Act, the water supply may only be derived
from Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River, the Missouri River,
or the Sangamon River Valley Alluvium. Any such Agency shall
itself be a municipal corporation, public body politic and
corporate. A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency so created
shall not itself have taxing power except as hereinafter
provided.
    A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall be established
by an intergovernmental agreement among the various member
municipalities, public water districts, townships, State
universities, and counties, upon approval by an ordinance
adopted by the corporate authorities of each member
municipality, public water district, township, State
university, or county. This agreement may be amended at any
time upon the adoption of concurring ordinances by the
corporate authorities of all member municipalities, public
water districts, townships, State universities, and counties.
The agreement may provide for additional municipalities,
public water districts, any State universities, townships in
counties with a population under 700,000, or counties to join
the Agency upon adoption of an ordinance by the corporate
authorities of the joining municipality, public water
district, township, or county, and upon such consents,
conditions and approvals of the governing body of the Municipal
Joint Action Water Agency and of existing member
municipalities, public water districts, townships, State
universities, and counties as shall be provided in the
agreement. The agreement shall provide the manner and terms on
which any municipality, public water district, township, or
county may withdraw from membership in the Municipal Joint
Action Water Agency and on which the Agency may terminate and
dissolve in whole or in part. The agreement shall set forth the
corporate name of the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency and
its duration. Promptly upon any agreement establishing a
Municipal Joint Action Water Agency being entered into, or upon
the amending of any such agreement, a copy of such agreement or
amendment shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of
State of Illinois. Promptly upon the addition or withdrawal of
any municipality, public water district, township in a county
with a population under 700,000, or county, or upon the
dissolution of a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency, that fact
shall be certified by an officer of the Agency to the Secretary
of State of Illinois.
    (b) The governing body of any Municipal Joint Action Water
Agency established pursuant to this Section 3.1 shall be a
Board of Directors. There shall be one Director from each
member municipality, public water district, township, State
university, and county of the Municipal Joint Action Water
Agency appointed by ordinance of the corporate authorities of
the municipality, public water district, township, or county.
Each Director shall have one vote. Each Director shall be the
Mayor or President of the member municipality, or the chairman
of the board of trustees of the member public water district,
the supervisor of the member township, the appointee of the
State university, or the chairman of the county board or chief
executive officer of the member county or a county board member
appointed by the chairman of the county board of the member
county, appointing the Director; an elected member of the
corporate authorities of that municipality, public water
district, township, or county; or other elected official of the
appointing municipality, public water district, township, or
county. Any agreement establishing a Municipal Joint Action
Water Agency shall specify the period during which a Director
shall hold office and may provide for the appointment of
Alternate Directors from member municipalities, public water
districts, townships, or counties. The Board of Directors shall
elect one Director to serve as Chairman, and shall elect
persons, who need not be Directors, to such other offices as
shall be designated in the agreement.
    The Board of Directors shall determine the general policy
of the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency, shall approve the
annual budget, shall make all appropriations (which may include
appropriations made at any time in addition to those made in
any annual appropriation document), shall approve all
contracts for the purchase or sale of water, shall adopt any
resolutions providing for the issuance of bonds or notes by the
Agency, shall adopt its by-laws, rules and regulations, and
shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed in
the agreement. Such agreement may further specify those powers
and actions of the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency which
shall be authorized only upon votes of greater than a majority
of all Directors or only upon consents of the corporate
authorities of a certain number of member municipalities,
public water districts, townships, State universities, or
counties.
    The agreement may provide for the establishment of an
Executive Committee to consist of the municipal manager or
other elected or appointed official of each member
municipality, public water district, township, State
university, or county, as designated by ordinance or other
official action, from time to time by the corporate authorities
of the member municipality, public water district, township,
State university, or county, and may prescribe powers and
duties of the Executive Committee for the efficient
administration of the Agency.
    (c) A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency established
pursuant to this Section 3.1 may plan, construct, improve,
extend, acquire, finance (including the issuance of revenue
bonds or notes as provided in this Section 3.1), operate,
maintain, and contract for a joint waterworks or water supply
system which may include, or may consist of, without
limitation, facilities for receiving, storing, and
transmitting water from any source for supplying water to
member municipalities, public water districts, townships, or
counties (including county special service areas created under
the Special Service Area Tax Act and county service areas
authorized under the Counties Code), or other public agencies,
persons, or corporations. Facilities of the Municipal Joint
Action Water Agency may be located within or without the
corporate limits of any member municipality.
    A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall have such
powers as shall be provided in the agreement establishing it,
which may include, but need not be limited to, the following
powers:
        (i) to sue or be sued;
        (ii) to apply for and accept gifts or grants or loans
    of funds or property or financial or other aid from any
    public agency or private entity;
        (iii) to acquire, hold, sell, lease as lessor or
    lessee, transfer or dispose of such real or personal
    property, or interests therein, as it deems appropriate in
    the exercise of its powers, and to provide for the use
    thereof by any member municipality, public water district,
    township, or county;
        (iv) to make and execute all contracts and other
    instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its
    powers (including contracts with member municipalities,
    with public water districts, with townships, and with
    counties on behalf of county service areas); and
        (v) to employ agents and employees and to delegate by
    resolution to one or more of its Directors or officers such
    powers as it may deem proper.
    Member municipalities, public water districts, townships,
State universities, or counties may, for the purposes of, and
upon request by, the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency,
exercise the power of eminent domain available to them, convey
property so acquired to the Agency for the cost of acquisition,
and be reimbursed for all expenses related to this exercise of
eminent domain power on behalf of the Agency.
    All property, income and receipts of or transactions by a
Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall be exempt from all
taxation, the same as if it were the property, income or
receipts of or transaction by the member municipalities, public
water districts, townships, State universities, or counties.
    (d) A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency established
pursuant to this Section 3.1 shall have the power to buy water
and to enter into contracts with any person, corporation or
public agency (including any member municipality, public water
district, township, or county) for that purpose. Any such
contract made by an Agency for a supply of water may contain
provisions whereby the Agency is obligated to pay for the
supply of water without setoff or counterclaim and irrespective
of whether the supply of water is ever furnished, made
available or delivered to the Agency or whether any project for
the supply of water contemplated by any such contract is
completed, operable or operating and notwithstanding any
suspension, interruption, interference, reduction or
curtailment of the supply of water from such project. Any such
contract may provide that if one or more of the other
purchasers defaults in the payment of its obligations under
such contract or a similar contract made with the supplier of
the water one or more of the remaining purchasers party to such
contract or such similar contract shall be required to pay for
all or a portion of the obligations of the defaulting
purchasers. No such contract may have a term in excess of 50
years.
    A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall have the power
to sell water and to enter into contracts with any person,
corporation or public agency (including any member
municipality, any public water district, any township, any
State university, or any county on behalf of a county service
area as set forth in this Section) for that purpose. No such
contract may have a term in excess of 50 years. Any such
contract entered into to sell water to a public agency may
provide that the payments to be made thereunder by such public
agency shall be made solely from revenues to be derived by such
public agency from the operation of its waterworks system or
its combined waterworks and sewerage system. Any public agency
so contracting to purchase water shall establish from time to
time such fees and charges for its water service or combined
water and sewer service as will produce revenues sufficient at
all times to pay its obligations to the Agency under the
purchase contract. Any such contract so providing shall not
constitute indebtedness of such public agency so contracting to
buy water within the meaning of any statutory or constitutional
limitation. Any such contract of a public agency to buy water
shall be a continuing, valid and binding obligation of such
public agency payable from such revenues.
    A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall establish fees
and charges for the purchase of water from it or for the use of
its facilities. No prior appropriation shall be required by
either the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency or any public
agency before entering into any contract authorized by this
paragraph (d).
    The changes in this Section made by this amendatory Act of
1984 are intended to be declarative of existing law.
    (e) 1. A Municipal Joint Action Water Agency established
pursuant to this Section 3.1 may, from time to time, borrow
money and, in evidence of its obligation to repay the
borrowing, issue its negotiable water revenue bonds or notes
pursuant to this paragraph (e) for any of the following
purposes: for paying costs of constructing, acquiring,
improving or extending a joint waterworks or water supply
system; for paying other expenses incident to or incurred in
connection with such construction, acquisition, improvement or
extension; for repaying advances made to or by the Agency for
such purposes; for paying interest on the bonds or notes until
the estimated date of completion of any such construction,
acquisition, improvement or extension and for such period after
the estimated completion date as the Board of Directors of the
Agency shall determine; for paying financial, legal,
administrative and other expenses of the authorization,
issuance, sale or delivery of bonds or notes; for paying costs
of insuring payment of the bonds or notes; for providing or
increasing a debt service reserve fund with respect to any or
all of the Agency's bonds or notes; and for paying, refunding
or redeeming any of the Agency's bonds or notes before, after
or at their maturity, including paying redemption premiums or
interest accruing or to accrue on such bonds or notes being
paid or redeemed or for paying any other costs in connection
with any such payment or redemption.
    2. Any bonds or notes issued pursuant to this paragraph (e)
by a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall be authorized by
a resolution of the Board of Directors of the Agency adopted by
the affirmative vote of Directors from a majority of the member
municipalities, public water districts, townships, State
universities, and counties, and any additional requirements as
may be set forth in the agreement establishing the Agency. The
authorizing resolution may be effective immediately upon its
adoption. The authorizing resolution shall describe in a
general way any project contemplated to be financed by the
bonds or notes, shall set forth the estimated cost of the
project and shall determine its period of usefulness. The
authorizing resolution shall determine the maturity or
maturities of the bonds or notes, the rate or rates at which
the bonds or notes are to bear interest and all the other terms
and details of the bonds or notes. All such bonds or notes
shall mature within the period of estimated usefulness of the
project with respect to which such bonds or notes are issued,
as determined by the Board of Directors, but in any event not
more than 50 years from their date of issue. The bonds and
notes may bear interest, payable at such times, at a rate or
rates not exceeding the maximum rate established in the Bond
Authorization Act, as from time to time in effect. Bonds or
notes of a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall be sold in
such manner as the Board of Directors of the Agency shall
determine, either at par or at a premium or discount, but such
that the effective interest cost (excluding any redemption
premium) to the Agency of the bonds or notes shall not exceed a
rate equal to the rate of interest specified in the Act
referred to in the preceding sentence.
    The resolution authorizing the issuance of any bonds or
notes pursuant to this paragraph (e) shall constitute a
contract with the holders of the bonds and notes. The
resolution may contain such covenants and restrictions with
respect to the purchase or sale of water by the Agency and the
contracts for such purchases or sales, the operation of the
joint waterworks system or water supply system, the issuance of
additional bonds or notes by the Agency, the security for the
bonds and notes, and any other matters, as may be deemed
necessary or advisable by the Board of Directors to assure the
payment of the bonds or notes of the Agency.
    3. The resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds or
notes by a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall pledge and
provide for the application of revenues derived from the
operation of the Agency's joint waterworks or water supply
system (including from contracts for the sale of water by the
Agency) and investment earnings thereon to the payment of the
cost of operation and maintenance of the system (including
costs of purchasing water), to provision of adequate
depreciation, reserve or replacement funds with respect to the
system or the bonds or notes, and to the payment of principal,
premium, if any, and interest on the bonds or notes of the
Agency (including amounts for the purchase of such bonds or
notes). The resolution shall provide that revenues of the
Municipal Joint Action Water Agency so derived from the
operation of the system, sufficient (together with other
receipts of the Agency which may be applied to such purposes)
to provide for such purposes, shall be set aside as collected
in a separate fund or funds and used for such purposes. The
resolution may provide that revenues not required for such
purposes may be used for any proper purpose of the Agency or
may be returned to member municipalities.
    Any notes of a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency issued
in anticipation of the issuance of bonds by it may, in
addition, be secured by a pledge of proceeds of bonds to be
issued by the Agency, as specified in the resolution
authorizing the issuance of such notes.
    4. (i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii) of this
subparagraph 4 of this paragraph (e), all bonds and notes of
the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency issued pursuant to this
paragraph (e) shall be revenue bonds or notes. Such revenue
bonds or notes shall have no claim for payment other than from
revenues of the Agency derived from the operation of its joint
waterworks or water supply system (including from contracts for
the sale of water by the Agency) and investment earnings
thereon, from bond or note proceeds and investment earnings
thereon, or from such other receipts of the Agency as the
agreement establishing the Agency may authorize to be pledged
to the payment of revenue bonds or notes, all as and to the
extent as provided in the resolution of the Board of Directors
authorizing the issuance of the revenue bonds or notes. Revenue
bonds or notes issued by a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency
pursuant to this paragraph (e) shall not constitute an
indebtedness of the Agency or of any member municipality,
public water district, township, or county within the meaning
of any constitutional or statutory limitation. It shall be
plainly stated on each revenue bond and note that it does not
constitute an indebtedness of the Municipal Joint Action Water
Agency or of any member municipality, public water district,
township, or county within the meaning of any constitutional or
statutory limitation.
    (ii) If the Agreement so provides and subject to the
referendum provided for in clause (iii) of this subparagraph 4
of this paragraph (e), the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency
may borrow money for corporate purposes on the credit of the
Municipal Joint Action Water Agency, and issue general
obligation bonds therefor, in such amounts and form and on such
conditions as it shall prescribe, but shall not become indebted
in any manner or for any purpose in an amount including
existing indebtedness in the aggregate which exceeds 5.75% of
the aggregate value of the taxable property within the
boundaries of the participating municipalities, public water
districts, townships, and county service areas within a member
county determined by the governing body of the county by
resolution to be served by the Municipal Joint Action Water
Agency (including any territory added to the Agency after the
issuance of such general obligation bonds), collectively
defined as the "Service Area", as equalized and assessed by the
Department of Revenue and as most recently available at the
time of the issue of said bonds. Before or at the time of
incurring any such general obligation indebtedness, the
Municipal Joint Action Water Agency shall provide for the
collection of a direct annual tax, which shall be unlimited as
to rate or amount, sufficient to pay the interest on such debt
as it falls due and also to pay and discharge the principal
thereof at maturity, which shall be within 40 years after the
date of issue thereof. Such tax shall be levied upon and
collected from all of the taxable property within the
territorial boundaries of such Service Area at the time of the
referendum provided for in clause (iii) and shall be levied
upon and collected from all taxable property within the
boundaries of any territory subsequently added to the Service
Area. Dissolution of the Municipal Joint Action Water Agency
for any reason shall not relieve the taxable property within
such Service Area from liability for such tax. Liability for
such tax for property transferred to or released from such
Service Area shall be determined in the same manner as for
general obligation bonds of such county, if in an
unincorporated area, and of such municipality, if within the
boundaries thereof. The clerk or other officer of the Municipal
Joint Action Water Agency shall file a certified copy of the
resolution or ordinance by which such bonds are authorized to
be issued and such tax is levied with the County Clerk or
Clerks of the county or counties containing the Service Area,
and such filing shall constitute, without the doing of any
other act, full and complete authority for such County Clerk or
Clerks to extend such tax for collection upon all the taxable
property within the Service Area subject to such tax in each
and every year, as required, in amounts sufficient to pay the
principal of and interest on such bonds, as aforesaid, without
limit as to rate or amount. Such tax shall be in addition to
and in excess of all other taxes authorized to be levied by the
Municipal Joint Action Water Agency or by such county,
municipality, township, or public water district. The issuance
of such general obligation bonds shall be subject to the other
provisions of this paragraph (e), except for the provisions of
clause (i) of this subparagraph 4.
    (iii) No issue of general obligation bonds of the Municipal
Joint Action Water Agency (except bonds to refund an existing
bonded indebtedness) shall be authorized unless the Municipal
Joint Action Water Agency certifies the proposition of issuing
such bonds to the proper election authorities, who shall submit
the proposition to the voters in the Service Area at an
election in accordance with the general election law, and the
proposition has been approved by a majority of those voting on
the proposition.
    The proposition shall be substantially in the following
form:
-------------------------------------------------------------
    Shall general obligation
bonds for the purpose of (state
purpose), in the sum not to
exceed $....(insert amount),                Yes
be issued by the .........           ------------------------
(insert corporate name of the               No
Municipal Joint Action Water
Agency)?
-------------------------------------------------------------
    5. As long as any bonds or notes of a Municipal Joint
Action Water Agency created pursuant to this Section 3.1 are
outstanding and unpaid, the Agency shall not terminate or
dissolve and, except as permitted by the resolution or
resolutions authorizing outstanding bonds or notes, no member
municipality, public water district, township, or county may
withdraw from the Agency. While any such bonds or notes are
outstanding, all contracts for the sale of water by the Agency
to member municipalities, public water districts, townships,
or counties shall be irrevocable except as permitted by the
resolution or resolutions authorizing such bonds or notes. The
Agency shall establish fees and charges for its operations
sufficient to provide adequate revenues to meet all of the
requirements under its various resolutions authorizing bonds
or notes.
    6. A holder of any bond or note issued pursuant to this
paragraph (e) may, in any civil action, mandamus or other
proceeding, enforce and compel performance of all duties
required to be performed by the Agency or such counties, as
provided in the authorizing resolution, or by any of the public
agencies contracting with the Agency to purchase water,
including the imposition of fees and charges, the collection of
sufficient revenues and the proper application of revenues as
provided in this paragraph (e) and the levying, extension and
collection of such taxes.
    7. In addition, the resolution authorizing any bonds or
notes issued pursuant to this paragraph (e) may provide for a
pledge, assignment, lien or security interest, for the benefit
of the holders of any or all bonds or notes of the Agency, (i)
on any or all revenues derived from the operation of the joint
waterworks or water supply system (including from contracts for
the sale of water) and investment earnings thereon or (ii) on
funds or accounts securing the payment of the bonds or notes as
provided in the authorizing resolution. In addition, such a
pledge, assignment, lien or security interest may be made with
respect to any receipts of the Agency which the agreement
establishing the Agency authorizes it to apply to payment of
bonds or notes. Any such pledge, assignment, lien or security
interest for the benefit of holders of bonds or notes shall be
valid and binding from the time the bonds or notes are issued,
without any physical delivery or further act, and shall be
valid and binding as against or prior to any claims of any
other party having any claims of any kind against the Agency
irrespective of whether such other parties have notice of such
pledge, assignment, lien or security interest.
    A resolution of a Municipal Joint Water Agency authorizing
the issuance of bonds or notes pursuant to this paragraph (e)
may provide for the appointment of a corporate trustee with
respect to any or all of such bonds or notes (which trustee may
be any trust company or state or national bank having the power
of a trust company within Illinois). In that event, the
resolution shall prescribe the rights, duties and powers of the
trustee to be exercised for the benefit of the Agency and the
protection of the holders of such bonds or notes. The
resolution may provide for the trustee to hold in trust, invest
and use amounts in funds and accounts created as provided in
the resolution. The resolution authorizing the bonds or notes
may provide for the assignment and direct payment to the
trustee of amounts owed by public agencies to the Municipal
Joint Action Water Agency under water sales contracts for
application by the trustee to the purposes for which such
revenues are to be used as provided in this paragraph (e) and
as provided in the authorizing resolution. Upon receipt of
notice of such assignment, the public agency shall thereafter
make the assigned payments directly to such trustee.
    Nothing in this Section authorizes a Joint Action Water
Agency to provide water service directly to residents within a
municipality or in territory within one mile or less of the
corporate limits of a municipality that operates a public water
supply unless the municipality has consented in writing to such
service being provided.
(Source: P.A. 90-210, eff. 7-25-97; 90-595, eff. 1-1-99;
91-134, eff. 1-1-00.)
 
    Section 10. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
adding Section 11-124-5 as follows:
 
    (65 ILCS 5/11-124-5 new)
    Sec. 11-124-5. Acquisition of water systems by eminent
domain.
    (a) In addition to other provisions providing for the
acquisition of water systems or water works, whenever a public
utility subject to the Public Utilities Act utilizes public
property (including, but not limited to, right-of-way) of a
municipality for the installation or maintenance of all or part
of its water distribution system, the municipality has the
right to exercise eminent domain to acquire all or part of the
water system, in accordance with this Section. Unless it
complies with the provisions set forth in this Section, a
municipality is not permitted to acquire by eminent domain that
portion of a system located in another incorporated
municipality without agreement of that municipality, but this
provision shall not prevent the acquisition of that portion of
the water system existing within the acquiring municipality.
    (b) Where a water system that is owned by a public utility
(as defined in the Public 16 Utilities Act) provides water to
customers located in 2 or more municipalities, the system may
be acquired by either or all of the municipalities by eminent
domain if there is in existence an intergovernmental agreement
between the municipalities served providing for acquisition.
    (c) If a water system that is owned by a public utility
provides water to customers located in one or more
municipalities and also to customers in an unincorporated area
and if at least 70% of the customers of the system or portion
thereof are located within the municipality or municipalities,
then the system, or portion thereof as determined by the
corporate authorities, may be acquired, using eminent domain or
otherwise, by either a municipality under subsection (a) or an
entity created by agreement between municipalities where at
least 70% of the customers reside. For the purposes of
determining "customers of the system", only retail customers
directly billed by the company shall be included in the
computation. The number of customers of the system most
recently reported to the Illinois Commerce Commission for any
calendar year preceding the year a resolution is passed by a
municipality or municipalities expressing preliminary intent
to purchase the water system or portion thereof shall be
presumed to be the total number of customers within the system.
The public utility shall provide information relative to the
number of customers within each municipality and within the
system within 60 days after any such request by a municipality.
    (d) In the case of acquisition by a municipality or
municipalities or a public entity created by law to own or
operate a water system under this Section, service and water
supply must be provided to persons who are customers of the
system on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th
General Assembly without discrimination based on whether the
customer is located within or outside of the boundaries of the
acquiring municipality or municipalities or entity, and a
supply contract existing on the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly must be honored by
an acquiring municipality, municipalities, or entity according
to the terms so long as the agreement does not conflict with
any other existing agreement.
    (e) For the purposes of this Section, "system" includes all
assets reasonably necessary to provide water service to a
contiguous or compact geographical service area or to an area
served by a common pipeline and include, but are not limited
to, interests in real estate, all wells, pipes, treatment
plants, pumps and other physical apparatus, data and records of
facilities and customers, fire hydrants, equipment, or
vehicles and also includes service agreements and obligations
derived from use of the assets, whether or not the assets are
contiguous to the municipality, municipalities, or entity
created for the purpose of owning or operating a water system.
    (f) Before making a good faith offer, a municipality may
pass a resolution of intent to study the feasibility of
purchasing or exercising its power of eminent domain to acquire
any water system or water works, sewer system or sewer works,
or combined water and sewer system or works, or part thereof.
Upon the passage of such a resolution, the municipality shall
have the right to review and inspect all financial and other
records, and both corporeal and incorporeal assets of such
utility related to the condition and the operation of the
system or works, or part thereof, as part of the study and
determination of feasibility of the proposed acquisition by
purchase or exercise of the power of eminent domain, and the
utility shall make knowledgeable persons who have access to all
relevant facts and information regarding the subject system or
works available to answer inquiries related to the study and
determination.
    The right to review and inspect shall be upon reasonable
notice to the utility, with reasonable inspection and review
time limitations and reasonable response times for production,
copying, and answer. In addition, the utility may utilize a
reasonable security protocol for personnel on the
municipality's physical inspection team.
    In the absence of other agreement, the utility must respond
to any notice by the municipality concerning its review and
inspection within 21 days after receiving the notice. The
review and inspection of the assets of the company shall be
over such period of time and carried out in such manner as is
reasonable under the circumstances.
    Information requested that is not privileged or protected
from discovery under the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure but
is reasonably claimed to be proprietary, including, without
limitation, information that constitutes trade secrets or
information that involves system security concerns, shall be
provided, but shall not be considered a public record and shall
be kept confidential by the municipality.
    In addition, the municipality must, upon request,
reimburse the utility for the actual, reasonable costs and
expenses, excluding attorneys' fees, incurred by the utility as
a result of the municipality's inspection and requests for
information. Upon written request, the utility shall issue a
statement itemizing, with reasonable detail, the costs and
expenses for which reimbursement is sought by the utility.
Where such written request for a statement has been made, no
payment shall be required until 30 days after receipt of the
statement. Such reimbursement by the municipality shall be
considered income for purposes of any rate proceeding or other
financial request before the Illinois Commerce Commission by
the utility.
    The municipality and the utility shall cooperate to resolve
any dispute arising under this subsection. In the event the
dispute under this subsection cannot be resolved, either party
may request relief from the circuit court in any county in
which the water system is located, with the prevailing party to
be awarded such relief as the court deems appropriate under the
discovery abuse sanctions currently set forth in the Illinois
Code of Civil Procedure.
    The municipality's right to inspect physical assets and
records in connection with the purpose of this Section shall
not be exercised with respect to any system more than one time
during a 5-year period, unless a substantial change in the size
of the system or condition of the operating assets of the
system has occurred since the previous inspection. Rights under
franchise agreements and other agreements or statutory or
regulatory provisions are not limited by this Section and are
preserved.
    The passage of time between an inspection of the utilities
and physical assets and the making of a good faith offer or
initiation of an eminent domain action because of the limit
placed on inspections by this subsection shall not be used as a
basis for challenging the good faith of any offer or be used as
the basis for attacking any appraisal, expert, argument, or
position before a court related to an acquisition by purchase
or eminent domain.
    (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Illinois Commerce Commission has no approval authority of any
eminent domain action brought by any governmental entity or
combination of such entities to acquire water systems or water
works.
    (h) The provisions of this Section are severable under
Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
    (i) This Section does not apply to any public utility
company that, on January 1, 2006, supplied a total of 70,000 or
fewer meter connections in the State unless and until (i) that
public utility company receives approval from the Illinois
Commerce Commission under Section 7-204 of the Public Utilities
Act for the reorganization of the public utility company or
(ii) the majority control of the company changes through a
stock sale, a sale of assets, a merger (other than an internal
reorganization) or otherwise. For the purpose of this Section,
"public utility company" means the public utility providing
water service and includes any of its corporate parents,
subsidiaries, or affiliates possessing a franchised water
service in the State.
 
    Section 13. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding
Section 7-213 as follows:
 
    (220 ILCS 5/7-213 new)
    Sec. 7-213. Limitations on the transfer of water systems.
    (a) In the event of a sale, purchase, or any other transfer
of ownership, including, without limitation, the acquisition
by eminent domain, of a water system, as defined under Section
11-124-10 of the Illinois Municipal Code, operated by a
privately held public water utility, the water utility's
contract or agreements with the acquiring entity (or, in the
case of an eminent domain action, the court order) must require
that the acquiring entity hire a sufficient number of
non-supervisory employees to operate and maintain the water
system by initially making offers of employment to the
non-supervisory workforce of the water system at no less than
the wage rates, and substantially equivalent fringe benefits
and terms and conditions of employment that are in effect at
the time of transfer of ownership of the water system. The wage
rates and substantially equivalent fringe benefits and terms
and conditions of employment must continue for at least 30
months after the time of the transfer of ownership unless the
parties mutually agree to different terms and conditions of
employment within that 30-month period.
    (b) The privately held public water utility shall offer a
transition plan to those employees who are not offered jobs by
the acquiring entity because that entity has a need for fewer
workers. The transition plan shall mitigate employee job losses
to the extent practical through such means as offers of
voluntary severance, retraining, early retirement, out
placement, or related benefits. Before any reduction in the
workforce during a water system transaction, the privately held
public water utility shall present to the employees, or their
representatives, a transition plan outlining the means by which
the utility intends to mitigate the impact of the workforce
reduction of its employees.
 
    Section 15. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
changing Section 7-102 as follows:
 
    (735 ILCS 5/7-102)  (from Ch. 110, par. 7-102)
    Sec. 7-102. Parties. Where the right to take private
property for public use, without the owner's consent or the
right to construct or maintain any public road, railroad,
plankroad, turnpike road, canal or other public work or
improvement, or which may damage property not actually taken
has been heretofore or shall hereafter be conferred by general
law or special charter upon any corporate or municipal
authority, public body, officer or agent, person, commissioner
or corporation and the compensation to be paid for or in
respect of the property sought to be appropriated or damaged
for the purposes mentioned cannot be agreed upon by the parties
interested, or in case the owner of the property is incapable
of consenting, or the owner's name or residence is unknown, or
the owner is a nonresident of the state, the party authorized
to take or damage the property so required, or to construct,
operate and maintain any public road, railroad, plankroad,
turnpike road, canal or other public work or improvement, may
apply to the circuit court of the county where the property or
any part thereof is situated, by filing with the clerk a
complaint, setting forth, by reference, his, her or their
authority in the premises, the purpose for which the property
is sought to be taken or damaged, a description of the
property, the names of all persons interested therein as owners
or otherwise as appearing of record, if known, or if not known
stating that fact and praying such court to cause the
compensation to be paid to the owner to be assessed. If it
appears that any person not in being, upon coming into being,
is, or may become or may claim to be, entitled to any interest
in the property sought to be appropriated or damaged the court
shall appoint some competent and disinterested person as
guardian ad litem, to appear for and represent such interest in
the proceeding and to defend the proceeding on behalf of the
person not in being, and any judgment entered in the proceeding
shall be as effectual for all purposes as though the person was
in being and was a party to the proceeding. If the proceeding
seeks to affect the property of persons under guardianship, the
guardians shall be made parties defendant. Persons interested,
whose names are unknown, may be made parties defendant by the
same descriptions and in the same manner as provided in other
civil cases. Where the property to be taken or damaged is a
common element of property subject to a declaration of
condominium ownership pursuant to the Condominium Property Act
or of a common interest community, the complaint shall name the
unit owners' association in lieu of naming the individual unit
owners and lienholders on individual units. Unit owners,
mortgagees and other lienholders may intervene as parties
defendant. For the purposes of this Section "common interest
community" shall have the same meaning as set forth in
subsection (c) of Section 9-102 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
"Unit owners' association" or "association" shall refer to both
the definition contained in Section 2 of the Condominium
Property Act and subsection (c) of Section 9-102 of the Code of
Civil Procedure. Where the property is sought to be taken or
damaged by the state for the purposes of establishing,
operating or maintaining any state house or state charitable or
other institutions or improvements, the complaint shall be
signed by the governor or such other person as he or she shall
direct, or as is provided by law. No property, except property
described in either Section 3 of the Sports Stadium Act,
property to be acquired in furtherance of actions under or
Article 11, Divisions 124, 126, 128, 130, 135, 136, and
Division 139, of the Illinois Municipal Code, property to be
acquired in furtherance of actions under Section 3.1 of the
Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, property to be acquired
that is a water system or waterworks pursuant to the home rule
powers of a unit of local government, and property described as
Site B in Section 2 of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition
Authority Act, belonging to a railroad or other public utility
subject to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission
may be taken or damaged, pursuant to the provisions of Article
VII of this Act, without the prior approval of the Illinois
Commerce Commission. This amendatory Act of 1991 (Public Act
87-760) is declaratory of existing law and is intended to
remove possible ambiguities, thereby confirming the existing
meaning of the Code of Civil Procedure and of the Illinois
Municipal Code in effect before January 1, 1992 (the effective
date of Public Act 87-760).
(Source: P.A. 89-683, eff. 6-1-97; 90-6, eff. 6-3-97.)