SB 249 — WATER COMMISSION-TERRITORY

SB0249 EngrossedEnrolled LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b AN ACT concerning local government.

County water commissions.

(a) With respect to any water commission constituted pursuant to Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal Code or SB0249 Engrossed - 2 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b established by operation of law under Public Act 83-1123, as SB0249 Enrolled - 2 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b amended, which water commission includes municipalities which in the aggregate have within their corporate limits more than 50% of the population of a county (hereinafter referred to as a "home county"), and such county is contiguous to a county which has a population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants, the provisions of this Act shall apply.

and (ii) the county water commission shall continue to be a body corporate and politic, and shall bear the name of the home county but shall be independent from and not a part of the county government and shall itself be a political subdivision and a unit of local government, and upon appointment of the new commissioners as the governing board of such water commission as provided in subsection (c), such water commission shall remain responsible for the full payment of, and shall by operation of law be deemed to have assumed and shall pay when due all debts and obligations of the commission as the same is constituted and as such debts SB0249and Engrossedobligations -existed 3on -the LRB095date 10656such HLHwater 30886commission bSB0249 andEnrolled obligations- existed3 on- theLRB095 date10656 suchHLH water30886 commissionb becomes a county water commission and such additional debts and obligations as are incurred by such commission after such date and prior to the appointment of the new commissioners as the governing board of such commission, and further shall continue to have and exercise all powers and functions and duties of a water commission created pursuant to Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended, and the county water commission may rely on that Division, as modified and supplemented by the provisions of this Act, as lawful authority under which it may act.

As used in this Act, "excluded unit" means a unit of local government having a waterworks system and having within its corporate limits territory within the home county and which,which either, at the time any commission becomes a county water commission, receives, or has contracted at such time for the receipt of, more than 25% of the water distributed by such SB0249 Engrossed - 4 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b unit’s water system from a source outside of the home countySB0249 or,Enrolled on- or4 after- theLRB095 effective10656 dateHLH of30886 thisb amendatorycounty, Actor ofa theunit 95thof Generallocal Assembly,government any municipality that constructsseeks and operates its own water system which provides a sufficientchange andin economicstatus supplyas ofprovided ain sourcethis ofSection. water to its residents or the customers of its water system.

ExceptA asunit authorizedof bylocal agovernment countymay waterswitch commission,its nostatus homefrom countybeing oran included unit shallto enteran intoexcluded anyunit newprovided orthat renew(i) orit extendhas anyconstructed existinga contract,water agreementtreatment orplant otherprior arrangementto forDecember the31, acquisition2006 orto salecomply ofwith waterUnited fromStates anyEnvironmental sourceProtection locatedAgency outsideregulations aregarding homeradium; county;

(ii) it notifies the commission in writing of its desire to become an excluded unit;

and (iii) it no longer demands future service from the commission and shall not be reinstated as an included unit.

In the event a unit of local government switches status, the water commission shall, from any legally available sources, transfer the sums collected from that unit of local government for the period of time beginning January 1, 2006 to the date that this tax is no longer assessed within the affected excluded unit.

The transfer of funds authorized herein shall be made within 90 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly.

Except as authorized by a county water commission, no home county or included unit shall SB0249 Enrolled - 5 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b enter into any new or renew or extend any existing contract, agreement or other arrangement for the acquisition or sale of water from any source located outside a home county;

this provision is SB0249 Engrossed - 5 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b declarative of existing law.

It is declared to be the law of this State pursuant to paragraphs (g) and (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution that in any home county, the provisions of this Act and Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as modified and supplemented by this Act and this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, constitute a limitation upon the power of any such county and upon all units of local government (except excluded units) within such county, including home rule units, limiting to such county, units of local government and home rule units the power to acquire, supply or distribute water or to establish any water commission for such purposes involving water from any source located outside the home county in a manner other than as provided or permitted by this Act and Division 135, as modified and supplemented by this Act, and further constitute SB0249 Enrolled - 6 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b an exercise of exclusive State power with respect to the acquisition, supply and distribution of water from any source located outside the home county by any such county and by units of local government (except excluded units), including home rule units, within such county and with respect to the establishment for such purposes of any water commission therein, which power may not be exercised concurrently by any unit of local government or home rule unit.

Upon the request of any included unit, a county water commission shall provide such included unit Lake Michigan water in an amount up to the then current Department of Transportation allocation of Lake SB0249 Engrossed - 6 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b Michigan water for such included unit.

SB0249 Enrolled - 7 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b (c) The governing body of any water commission to which the provisions of subsection (a) apply shall be a board of commissioners, each to be appointed within 30 days after the water commission becomes a county water commission to a term commencing on such date, as follows:

(i) one commissioner, who shall serve as chairman, who shall be a resident of the home county, to be appointed by the chairman of the county board of such county with the advice and consent of the county board, provided that following the expiration of the term or vacancy of the current chairman serving on the effective date of this SB0249 Engrossed - 7 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, any subsequent appointment as chairman shall also be subject to the advice and consent of the county water commission;

The mayors of the respective county board districts shall meet for the purpose of making said respective appointments at SB0249 Enrolled - 8 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b a time and place designated by that mayor in each county board district of the included unit with the largest population voting for a commissioner upon not less than 10 days’ written notice to each other mayor entitled to vote.

The commissioners so appointed shall serve for a term of 6 years, or until their successors have been appointed and have qualified in the same manner as the original appointments, except that at the first meeting of such commissioners, (A) the commissioners first appointed pursuant to paragraph (ii) of this subsection shall determine publicly by lot 1/3 of their number to serve for terms of 2 years, 1/3 of their number to SB0249 Engrossed - 8 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b serve for terms of 4 years and 1/3 of their number to serve for terms of 6 years, any odd number of commissioners so determined by dividing into thirds to serve 6 year terms, and (B) the commissioners first appointed pursuant to paragraph (iii) of this subsection shall determine publicly by lot 1/3 of their number to serve for terms of 2 years, 1/3 of their number to serve for terms of 4 years and 1/3 of their number to serve for terms of 6 years, any odd number of commissioners so determined by dividing into thirds to serve 6 year terms.

A vacancy in the SB0249 Enrolled - 9 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b office of a commissioner shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term by appointment and qualification as to residency in the same manner as the original appointment was made.

The county water SB0249 Engrossed - 9 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b commission shall determine its own rules of proceeding.

SB0249 Enrolled - 10 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b (d) Except as provided in subsection (g), subject to the referendum provided for in subsection (e), a county water commission may borrow money for corporate purposes on the credit of the commission, 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 to exceed 5.75% of the aggregate value of the taxable property within the territorial boundaries of the county water commission, as equalized and assessed by the Department of Revenue and as most recently available at the SB0249 Engrossed - 10 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b time of the issue of said bonds.

The clerk of the commission 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 SB0249 Enrolled - 11 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b the County Clerk of each county in which any of the territory of the county water commission is located and such filing shall constitute, without the doing of any other act, full and complete authority for each such County Clerk to extend such tax for collection upon all the taxable property within the territory of the county water commission subject to such tax in each and every year required sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on such bonds, as aforesaid, without limit as to rate or amount, and shall be in addition to and in excess of all other taxes authorized to be levied by the commission or any included unit.

The general obligation bonds shall be issued SB0249 Engrossed - 11 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b pursuant to an ordinance or resolution and may be issued in one or more series, and shall bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times and in any event not more than 40 years from the date thereof, be sold at such price at private or public sale as determined by a county water commission, bear interest at such rate or rates such that the net effective interest rate received upon the sale of such bonds does not exceed the maximum rate determined under Section 2 of the Bond Authorization Act, which rates may be fixed or variable, be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or registered, carry such conversion, registration, and exchange privileges, be executed in such manner, be payable in such medium of payment at such place or places within or without the State of Illinois, be subject to such terms of redemption, and contain or be subject to such other terms as the ordinance or SB0249 Enrolled - 12 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b resolution may provide, and shall not be restricted by the provisions of any other terms of obligations of public agencies or private persons.

SB0249 Engrossed - 12 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b The proposition shall be in the form provided in Section 5 or shall be substantially in the following form:

------------------------------------------------------------   Shall general obligation   bonds for the purpose of   (state purpose), in the           YES   sum of $....(insert amount),   ----------------------------   be issued by the .........        NO   (insert corporate name of   the county water commission)? ------------------------------------------------------------ (f) In order to carry out and perform its powers and functions and duties under the provisions of this Act and Division 135 of the Illinois Municipal Code, as modified and supplemented by this Act, the governing body of any county SB0249 Enrolled - 13 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b water commission may by ordinance levy annually upon all taxable property within its territory a tax at a rate not to exceed .005% of the value of such property, as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue for the year in which the levy is made.

SB0249 Engrossed - 13 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b (g) Any county water commission shall have the power to borrow money, subject to the indebtedness limitation provided in subsection (d), from the home county or included units, in such amounts and in such terms as agreed by the governing bodies of the commission and the home county or included units.

The State of Illinois also recognizes that persons may SB0249 Enrolled - 14 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b loan funds to a county water commission (including, without limitation, the purchase of revenue or general obligation bonds of such commission) in reliance upon the terms and conditions of any such contract for the supply of water.

Therefore, the State of Illinois pledges and agrees to those parties and persons which make loans of funds to a county water commission that it will not impair or limit the power or ability of a county water commission or a unit of local government fully to carry out the financial obligations and obligation to furnish water pursuant to the terms of any contract for the supply of water entered into by such county water commission or unit of SB0249 Engrossed - 14 - LRB095 10656 HLH 30886 b local government for the term of such contracts or loans.