Public Act 095-0866
 
SB2748 Enrolled LRB095 16656 HLH 42687 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 Fire Protection District Act is amended by
changing Section 4 as follows:
 
    (70 ILCS 705/4)  (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 24)
    Sec. 4. Trustees; conflict of interest; violations.
    (a) A board of trustees consisting of 3 members for the
government and control of the affairs and business of a fire
protection district incorporated under this Act shall be
created in the following manner:
        (1) If the district lies wholly within a single
    township but does not also lie wholly within a
    municipality, the board of trustees of that township shall
    appoint the trustees for the district but no township
    official who is eligible to vote on the appointment shall
    be eligible for such appointment.
        (2) If the district is wholly contained within a
    municipality, the governing body of the municipality shall
    appoint the trustees for the district.
        (3) If the district is wholly contained within a single
    county but does not lie wholly within a single township or
    a single municipality, the trustees for the district shall
    be appointed by the presiding officer of the county board
    with the advice and consent of the county board; except
    that in counties with a population in excess of 3,000,000,
    2 trustees for the district shall be appointed by the board
    of trustees of the township that has the greatest
    population within the district as determined by the last
    preceding federal census. That board of trustees shall also
    appoint the remaining trustee if no other township
    comprises at least 10% of the population of the district.
    If only one other township comprises at least 10% of the
    population of the district, then the board of trustees of
    that district shall appoint the remaining trustee. If 2 or
    more other townships each comprise at least 10% of the
    population of the district, then the boards of trustees of
    those townships shall jointly appoint the remaining
    trustee. No township official who is eligible to vote on
    the appointment shall be eligible for the appointment.
        (4) If the district is located in more than one county,
    the number of trustees who are residents of a county shall
    be in proportion, as nearly as practicable, to the number
    of residents of the district who reside in that county in
    relation to the total population of the district.
            (A) In counties with a population of 3,000,000 or
        more, the trustees shall be appointed as provided in
        paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) of this
        Section. For purposes of this item (A) and in item (B),
        "district" means that portion of the total fire
        protection district lying within a county with a
        population in excess of 3,000,000.
            (B) In counties with a population of less than
        3,000,000, the trustees for the district shall be
        appointed by the presiding officer of the county board
        with the advice and consent of the county board.
    Upon the expiration of the term of a trustee who is in
office on October 1, 1975, the successor shall be a resident of
whichever county is entitled to such representation in order to
bring about the proportional representation required herein,
and he shall be appointed by the county board of that county,
or in the case of a home rule county as defined by Article VII,
Section 6 of the Constitution of 1970, the chief executive
officer of that county, with the advice and consent of the
county board.
    Thereafter, each trustee shall be succeeded by a resident
of the same county who shall be appointed by the same
appointing authority; however, the provisions of the preceding
paragraph shall apply to the appointment of the successor to
each trustee who is in office at the time of the publication of
each decennial Federal census of population.
    Within 60 days after the adoption of this Act as provided
in Section 1, or within 60 days after the adoption of an
ordinance pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 4.01, the
appropriate appointing authority shall appoint 3 trustees who
are electors in the district, not more than one of whom shall
be from any one city or village or incorporated town in a
district unless such city or village or incorporated town has
more than 50% of the population in the district according to
last preceding Federal census. Such trustees shall hold their
offices thenceforward and for one, 2 and 3 years from the first
Monday of May next after their appointment and until their
successors have been selected and qualified and thereafter,
unless the district has determined to elect trustees as
provided in Section 4a, on or before the second Monday in April
of each year the appointing authority shall appoint one trustee
whose term shall be for 3 years commencing on the first Monday
in May next after they are respectively appointed. The length
of term of the first trustees shall be determined by lot at
their first meeting.
    Each trustee shall, before entering on the duties of his
office, enter into bond with security to be approved by the
appointing authority in such sum as the authority may
determine.
    A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a
quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day. No
trustee or employee of such district shall be directly or
indirectly interested financially in any contract work or
business or the sale of any article, the expense, price or
consideration of which is paid by the district; nor in the
purchase of any real estate or other property, belonging to the
district, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments or by
virtue of legal process at the suit of the district. Nothing in
this Section prohibits the appointment or selection of any
person or trustee or employee whose only interest in the
district is as an owner of real estate in such fire protection
district or of contributing to the payment of taxes levied by
the district. The trustees shall have the power to provide and
adopt a corporate seal for the district.
    (b) However, any trustee may provide materials,
merchandise, property, services or labor, if:
        A. the contract is with a person, firm, partnership,
    association, corporation or cooperative association in
    which such interested trustee has less than a 7 1/2% share
    in the ownership; and
        B. such interested trustee publicly discloses the
    nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
    deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
    contract; and
        C. such interested trustee abstains from voting on the
    award of the contract, though he shall be considered
    present for the purposes of establishing a quorum; and
        D. such contract is approved by a majority vote of
    those trustees presently holding office; and
        E. the contract is awarded after sealed bids to the
    lowest responsible bidder if the amount of the contract
    exceeds $1500, but the contract may be awarded without
    bidding if the amount is less than $1500; and
        F. the award of the contract would not cause the
    aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
    same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
    or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
    exceed $25,000.
    (c) In addition to the above exemption, any trustee or
employee may provide materials, merchandise, property,
services or labor if:
        A. the award of the contract is approved by a majority
    vote of the board of trustees of the fire protection
    district provided that any such interested member shall
    abstain from voting; and
        B. the amount of the contract does not exceed $1000;
    and
        C. the award of the contract would not cause the
    aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
    same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
    or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
    exceed $2000; and
        D. such interested member publicly discloses the
    nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
    deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
    contract; and
        E. such interested member abstains from voting on the
    award of the contract, though he shall be considered
    present for the purposes of establishing a quorum.
    (d) A contract for the procurement of public utility
services by a district with a public utility company is not
barred by this Section by one or more members of the board of
trustees being an officer or employee of the public utility
company or holding an ownership interest if no more than 7 1/2%
in the public utility company, or holding an ownership interest
of any size if the fire protection district has a population of
less than 7,500 and the public utility's rates are approved by
the Illinois Commerce Commission. An elected or appointed
member of the board of trustees having such an interest shall
be deemed not to have a prohibited interest under this Section.
    (e) Any officer or employee who violates this Section is
guilty of a Class 4 felony and in addition thereto any office
held by such person so convicted shall become vacant and shall
be so declared as part of the judgment of the court.
    (f) Nothing contained in this Section, including the
restrictions set forth in subsections (b), (c) and (d), shall
preclude a contract of deposit of monies, loans or other
financial services by a fire protection district with a local
bank or local savings and loan association, regardless of
whether a member or members of the board of trustees of the
fire protection district are interested in such bank or savings
and loan association as an officer or employee or as a holder
of less than 7 1/2% of the total ownership interest. A member
or members holding such an interest in such a contract shall
not be deemed to be holding a prohibited interest for purposes
of this Act. Such interested member or members of the board of
trustees must publicly state the nature and extent of their
interest during deliberations concerning the proposed award of
such a contract, but shall not participate in any further
deliberations concerning the proposed award. Such interested
member or members shall not vote on such a proposed award. Any
member or members abstaining from participation in
deliberations and voting under this Section may be considered
present for purposes of establishing a quorum. Award of such a
contract shall require approval by a majority vote of those
members presently holding office. Consideration and award of
any such contract in which a member or members are interested
may only be made at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the
board of trustees of the fire protection district.
    (g) Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act
of 1990 and ending 3 years after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1990, in the case of a fire protection
district board of trustees in a county with a population of
more than 400,000 but less than 450,000, according to the 1980
general census, created under subsection (a), paragraph (3) of
this Section a petition for the redress of a trustee, charging
the trustee with palpable omission of duty or nonfeasance in
office, signed by not less than 5% of the electors of the
district may be presented to the township supervisor or the
presiding officer of the county board, as appropriate. Upon
receipt of the petition, the township supervisor or presiding
officer of the county board, as appropriate, shall preside over
a hearing on the matter of the requested redress. The hearing
shall be held not less than 14 nor more than 30 days after
receipt of the petition. In the case of a fire protection
district trustee appointed by the presiding officer of the
county board, the presiding officer shall appoint at least 4
but not more than 8 members of the county board, a majority of
whom shall reside in a county board district in which the fire
protection district is wholly or partially located, to serve as
the hearing panel. In the case of a fire protection district
trustee appointed by the board of town trustees, the township
supervisor and 2 other town trustees appointed by the
supervisor shall serve as the hearing panel. Within 30 days
after the hearing, the panel shall issue a statement of its
findings concerning the charges against the trustee, based upon
the evidence presented at the hearing, and may make to the fire
protection district any recommendations deemed appropriate.
    (h) Any elected or appointed trustee of a fire protection
district shall be entitled to absent himself or herself from
any services or employment in which the trustee is then engaged
or employed on the day and time of a meeting of the board of
trustees of the fire protection district for the period of time
during which the meeting is held and during any necessary time
required to travel to and from the meeting. Any trustee
availing himself or herself of this provision shall not be
penalized in any manner by his or her employer as a result of
an absence authorized by this subsection; however, the employer
shall not be required to compensate the trustee for the time
during which the trustee is absent. No employer shall refuse to
grant to a trustee of a fire protection district the privilege
granted by this subsection, nor shall any employer penalize or
otherwise discriminate against any trustee who avails himself
or herself of the provisions of this subsection, except as
otherwise provided herein. No employer may directly or
indirectly violate the provisions of this subsection. A
"meeting" for purposes of this subsection shall have the same
meaning as that provided under Section 1.02 of the Open
Meetings Act.
(Source: P.A. 89-482, eff. 1-1-97; 89-588, eff. 1-1-97; 90-14,
eff. 7-1-97.)