Public Act 096-1389
 
SB0580 EnrolledLRB096 06644 RLJ 16728 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 Water Commission Act of 1985 is amended by
changing Section 4 and by adding Sections 0.001, 0.001a, and
0.001b as follows:
 
    (70 ILCS 3720/0.001 new)
    Sec. 0.001. Commissioners; terms; vacancies. Effective
January 1, 2011, the terms of office of the chairperson and all
commissioners of water commissions appointed pursuant to this
Act shall terminate and the commission shall be reconstituted.
    (a) The commissioners shall be appointed as follows:
        (1) A chairperson, who shall also serve in the capacity
    of a commissioner, shall be appointed by the chairperson of
    the county board of the home county with the advice and
    consent of the county board.
        (2) One commissioner from each county board district
    within the home county shall be appointed by the
    chairperson of the county board of the home county with the
    advice and consent of the county board.
        (3) One commissioner from each county board district
    within the home county shall be appointed by the majority
    vote of the mayors of those included municipalities that
    have the greatest percentage of their respective
    populations residing within such county board district of
    the home county. A vice-chairperson of the commission shall
    be appointed from the commissioners appointed pursuant to
    this paragraph by a majority vote of these commissioners.
    (b) All commissioners shall be residents of the home county
or a resident of an included municipality.
    (c) The initial commissioners appointed pursuant to
subsection (a) shall serve the following terms:
        (1) The chairperson shall serve for a term of 6 years.
        (2) At the first meeting of the commission held after
    January 1, 2011, the commissioners appointed pursuant to
    paragraph (2) of subsection (a) shall determine publicly by
    lot one-third of their members to serve for a term of 2
    years, one-third of their members to serve for a term of 4
    years, and one-third of their members to serve for a term
    of 6 years, any odd number of commissioners so determined
    by dividing into thirds to serve 6-year terms.
        (3) At the first meeting of the commission held after
    January 1, 2011, the commissioners and the
    vice-chairperson appointed pursuant to paragraph (3) of
    subsection (a) shall determine publicly by lot one-third of
    their members to serve for a term of 2 years, one-third of
    their members to serve for a term of 4 years, and one-third
    of their members to serve for a term of 6 years, any odd
    number of commissioners so determined by dividing into
    thirds to serve 6-year terms.
    The successor commissioners shall serve for a term of 6
years or until their successors have been appointed and
qualified in the same manner as the original appointments.
    (d) A commissioner shall be eligible for reappointment upon
the expiration of his or her term. A vacancy in the office of a
commissioner shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired
term by appointment and with the qualifications as to residency
in the same manner as the original appointment was made.
    (e) A commissioner may be a member of the governing board,
an officer, or an employee of the county or any unit of local
government located within the county.
 
    (70 ILCS 3720/0.001a new)
    Sec. 0.001a. Officers. A water commission established
pursuant to this Act shall, by majority vote of the water
commissioners, appoint a general manager, a finance director,
and a treasurer. The appointment of the general manager,
finance director, and treasurer is subject to the advice and
consent of the county board of the home county in which the
county water commission is located. The positions of finance
director and treasurer shall be filled by persons with the
necessary financial background and experience to monitor and
report on water commission financial matters and budgeting.
 
    (70 ILCS 3720/0.001b new)
    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;
        (l1) 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; and
        (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.
 
    (70 ILCS 3720/4)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 254)
    Sec. 4. Taxes.
    (a) The board of commissioners of any county water
commission may, by ordinance, impose throughout the territory
of the commission any or all of the taxes provided in this
Section for its corporate purposes. However, no county water
commission may impose any such tax unless the commission
certifies the proposition of imposing the tax to the proper
election officials, who shall submit the proposition to the
voters residing in the territory 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 in the form provided in Section 5
or shall be substantially in the following form:
-------------
    Shall the (insert corporate
name of county water commission)           YES
impose (state type of tax or         ------------------------
taxes to be imposed) at the                NO
rate of 1/4%?
-------------------------------------------------------------
    Taxes imposed under this Section and civil penalties
imposed incident thereto shall be collected and enforced by the
State Department of Revenue. The Department shall have the
power to administer and enforce the taxes and to determine all
rights for refunds for erroneous payments of the taxes.
    (b) The board of commissioners may impose a County Water
Commission Retailers' Occupation Tax upon all persons engaged
in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail
in the territory of the commission at a rate of 1/4% of the
gross receipts from the sales made in the course of such
business within the territory. The tax imposed under this
paragraph and all civil penalties that may be assessed as an
incident thereof shall be collected and enforced by the State
Department of Revenue. The Department shall have full power to
administer and enforce this paragraph; to collect all taxes and
penalties due hereunder; to dispose of taxes and penalties so
collected in the manner hereinafter provided; and to determine
all rights to credit memoranda arising on account of the
erroneous payment of tax or penalty hereunder. In the
administration of, and compliance with, this paragraph, the
Department and persons who are subject to this paragraph shall
have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers
and duties, and be subject to the same conditions,
restrictions, limitations, penalties, exclusions, exemptions
and definitions of terms, and employ the same modes of
procedure, as are prescribed in Sections 1, 1a, 1a-1, 1c, 1d,
1e, 1f, 1i, 1j, 2 through 2-65 (in respect to all provisions
therein other than the State rate of tax except that food for
human consumption that is to be consumed off the premises where
it is sold (other than alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, and
food that has been prepared for immediate consumption) and
prescription and nonprescription medicine, drugs, medical
appliances and insulin, urine testing materials, syringes, and
needles used by diabetics, for human use, shall not be subject
to tax hereunder), 2c, 3 (except as to the disposition of taxes
and penalties collected), 4, 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, 5h,
5i, 5j, 5k, 5l, 6, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the
Retailers' Occupation Tax Act and Section 3-7 of the Uniform
Penalty and Interest Act, as fully as if those provisions were
set forth herein.
    Persons subject to any tax imposed under the authority
granted in this paragraph may reimburse themselves for their
seller's tax liability hereunder by separately stating the tax
as an additional charge, which charge may be stated in
combination, in a single amount, with State taxes that sellers
are required to collect under the Use Tax Act and under
subsection (e) of Section 4.03 of the Regional Transportation
Authority Act, in accordance with such bracket schedules as the
Department may prescribe.
    Whenever the Department determines that a refund should be
made under this paragraph to a claimant instead of issuing a
credit memorandum, the Department shall notify the State
Comptroller, who shall cause the warrant to be drawn for the
amount specified, and to the person named, in the notification
from the Department. The refund shall be paid by the State
Treasurer out of a county water commission tax fund established
under paragraph (g) of this Section.
    For the purpose of determining whether a tax authorized
under this paragraph is applicable, a retail sale by a producer
of coal or other mineral mined in Illinois is a sale at retail
at the place where the coal or other mineral mined in Illinois
is extracted from the earth. This paragraph does not apply to
coal or other mineral when it is delivered or shipped by the
seller to the purchaser at a point outside Illinois so that the
sale is exempt under the Federal Constitution as a sale in
interstate or foreign commerce.
    If a tax is imposed under this subsection (b) a tax shall
also be imposed under subsections (c) and (d) of this Section.
    No tax shall be imposed or collected under this subsection
on the sale of a motor vehicle in this State to a resident of
another state if that motor vehicle will not be titled in this
State.
    Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to authorize a
county water commission to impose a tax upon the privilege of
engaging in any business which under the Constitution of the
United States may not be made the subject of taxation by this
State.
    (c) If a tax has been imposed under subsection (b), a
County Water Commission Service Occupation Tax shall also be
imposed upon all persons engaged, in the territory of the
commission, in the business of making sales of service, who, as
an incident to making the sales of service, transfer tangible
personal property within the territory. The tax rate shall be
1/4% of the selling price of tangible personal property so
transferred within the territory. The tax imposed under this
paragraph and all civil penalties that may be assessed as an
incident thereof shall be collected and enforced by the State
Department of Revenue. The Department shall have full power to
administer and enforce this paragraph; to collect all taxes and
penalties due hereunder; to dispose of taxes and penalties so
collected in the manner hereinafter provided; and to determine
all rights to credit memoranda arising on account of the
erroneous payment of tax or penalty hereunder. In the
administration of, and compliance with, this paragraph, the
Department and persons who are subject to this paragraph shall
have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers
and duties, and be subject to the same conditions,
restrictions, limitations, penalties, exclusions, exemptions
and definitions of terms, and employ the same modes of
procedure, as are prescribed in Sections 1a-1, 2 (except that
the reference to State in the definition of supplier
maintaining a place of business in this State shall mean the
territory of the commission), 2a, 3 through 3-50 (in respect to
all provisions therein other than the State rate of tax except
that food for human consumption that is to be consumed off the
premises where it is sold (other than alcoholic beverages, soft
drinks, and food that has been prepared for immediate
consumption) and prescription and nonprescription medicines,
drugs, medical appliances and insulin, urine testing
materials, syringes, and needles used by diabetics, for human
use, shall not be subject to tax hereunder), 4 (except that the
reference to the State shall be to the territory of the
commission), 5, 7, 8 (except that the jurisdiction to which the
tax shall be a debt to the extent indicated in that Section 8
shall be the commission), 9 (except as to the disposition of
taxes and penalties collected and except that the returned
merchandise credit for this tax may not be taken against any
State tax), 10, 11, 12 (except the reference therein to Section
2b of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act), 13 (except that any
reference to the State shall mean the territory of the
commission), the first paragraph of Section 15, 15.5, 16, 17,
18, 19 and 20 of the Service Occupation Tax Act as fully as if
those provisions were set forth herein.
    Persons subject to any tax imposed under the authority
granted in this paragraph may reimburse themselves for their
serviceman's tax liability hereunder by separately stating the
tax as an additional charge, which charge may be stated in
combination, in a single amount, with State tax that servicemen
are authorized to collect under the Service Use Tax Act, and
any tax for which servicemen may be liable under subsection (f)
of Sec. 4.03 of the Regional Transportation Authority Act, in
accordance with such bracket schedules as the Department may
prescribe.
    Whenever the Department determines that a refund should be
made under this paragraph to a claimant instead of issuing a
credit memorandum, the Department shall notify the State
Comptroller, who shall cause the warrant to be drawn for the
amount specified, and to the person named, in the notification
from the Department. The refund shall be paid by the State
Treasurer out of a county water commission tax fund established
under paragraph (g) of this Section.
    Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to authorize a
county water commission to impose a tax upon the privilege of
engaging in any business which under the Constitution of the
United States may not be made the subject of taxation by the
State.
    (d) If a tax has been imposed under subsection (b), a tax
shall also imposed upon the privilege of using, in the
territory of the commission, any item of tangible personal
property that is purchased outside the territory at retail from
a retailer, and that is titled or registered with an agency of
this State's government, at a rate of 1/4% of the selling price
of the tangible personal property within the territory, as
"selling price" is defined in the Use Tax Act. The tax shall be
collected from persons whose Illinois address for titling or
registration purposes is given as being in the territory. The
tax shall be collected by the Department of Revenue for a
county water commission. The tax must be paid to the State, or
an exemption determination must be obtained from the Department
of Revenue, before the title or certificate of registration for
the property may be issued. The tax or proof of exemption may
be transmitted to the Department by way of the State agency
with which, or the State officer with whom, the tangible
personal property must be titled or registered if the
Department and the State agency or State officer determine that
this procedure will expedite the processing of applications for
title or registration.
    The Department shall have full power to administer and
enforce this paragraph; to collect all taxes, penalties and
interest due hereunder; to dispose of taxes, penalties and
interest so collected in the manner hereinafter provided; and
to determine all rights to credit memoranda or refunds arising
on account of the erroneous payment of tax, penalty or interest
hereunder. In the administration of, and compliance with this
paragraph, the Department and persons who are subject to this
paragraph shall have the same rights, remedies, privileges,
immunities, powers and duties, and be subject to the same
conditions, restrictions, limitations, penalties, exclusions,
exemptions and definitions of terms and employ the same modes
of procedure, as are prescribed in Sections 2 (except the
definition of "retailer maintaining a place of business in this
State"), 3 through 3-80 (except provisions pertaining to the
State rate of tax, and except provisions concerning collection
or refunding of the tax by retailers, and except that food for
human consumption that is to be consumed off the premises where
it is sold (other than alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, and
food that has been prepared for immediate consumption) and
prescription and nonprescription medicines, drugs, medical
appliances and insulin, urine testing materials, syringes, and
needles used by diabetics, for human use, shall not be subject
to tax hereunder), 4, 11, 12, 12a, 14, 15, 19 (except the
portions pertaining to claims by retailers and except the last
paragraph concerning refunds), 20, 21 and 22 of the Use Tax Act
and Section 3-7 of the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act that
are not inconsistent with this paragraph, as fully as if those
provisions were set forth herein.
    Whenever the Department determines that a refund should be
made under this paragraph to a claimant instead of issuing a
credit memorandum, the Department shall notify the State
Comptroller, who shall cause the order to be drawn for the
amount specified, and to the person named, in the notification
from the Department. The refund shall be paid by the State
Treasurer out of a county water commission tax fund established
under paragraph (g) of this Section.
    (e) A certificate of registration issued by the State
Department of Revenue to a retailer under the Retailers'
Occupation Tax Act or under the Service Occupation Tax Act
shall permit the registrant to engage in a business that is
taxed under the tax imposed under paragraphs (b), (c) or (d) of
this Section and no additional registration shall be required
under the tax. A certificate issued under the Use Tax Act or
the Service Use Tax Act shall be applicable with regard to any
tax imposed under paragraph (c) of this Section.
    (f) Any ordinance imposing or discontinuing any tax under
this Section shall be adopted and a certified copy thereof
filed with the Department on or before June 1, whereupon the
Department of Revenue shall proceed to administer and enforce
this Section on behalf of the county water commission as of
September 1 next following the adoption and filing. Beginning
January 1, 1992, an ordinance or resolution imposing or
discontinuing the tax hereunder shall be adopted and a
certified copy thereof filed with the Department on or before
the first day of July, whereupon the Department shall proceed
to administer and enforce this Section as of the first day of
October next following such adoption and filing. Beginning
January 1, 1993, an ordinance or resolution imposing or
discontinuing the tax hereunder shall be adopted and a
certified copy thereof filed with the Department on or before
the first day of October, whereupon the Department shall
proceed to administer and enforce this Section as of the first
day of January next following such adoption and filing.
    (g) The State Department of Revenue shall, upon collecting
any taxes as provided in this Section, pay the taxes over to
the State Treasurer as trustee for the commission. The taxes
shall be held in a trust fund outside the State Treasury. On or
before the 25th day of each calendar month, the State
Department of Revenue shall prepare and certify to the
Comptroller of the State of Illinois the amount to be paid to
the commission, which shall be the then balance in the fund,
less any amount determined by the Department to be necessary
for the payment of refunds. Within 10 days after receipt by the
Comptroller of the certification of the amount to be paid to
the commission, the Comptroller shall cause an order to be
drawn for the payment for the amount in accordance with the
direction in the certification.
    (h) Beginning June 1, 2016, any tax imposed pursuant to
this Section may no longer be imposed or collected, unless a
continuation of the tax is approved by the voters at a
referendum as set forth in this Section.
(Source: P.A. 92-221, eff. 8-2-01; 93-1068, eff. 1-15-05.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.