(70 ILCS 755/15)

Sec. 15. Powers of the district. A district formed under this Act has the following powers:

(1) To sue or be sued.

(2) To apply for and accept gifts, grants, and loans from any public agency or private entity.

(3) To enter into intergovernmental agreements with other governmental units including municipalities, sanitary districts, or drainage districts to further ensure levee repair, levee construction or reconstruction, and flood prevention, including agreements with the United States Army Corps of Engineers or any other agency or department of the federal government.

(4) To undertake evaluation, planning, design, construction, and related activities that are determined to be urgently needed to stabilize, repair, restore, improve, or replace existing levees.

(5) To address underseepage problems and old and deteriorating gates, pipes, and other infrastructure related to existing levees.

(6) To conduct evaluations of levees and other flood control facilities including the performance of floodplain mapping studies.

(7) To provide capital moneys for levee studies including the construction of facilities for that purpose.

(8) To borrow money or receive money from the United States Government or any agency thereof, or from any other public or private source, for the purposes of the district.

(9) To enter into agreements with private property owners.

(10) To issue revenue bonds for the purposes of the district. Revenue bonds shall be payable from revenue received from a property tax imposed under Section 20 of this Act and from any other revenue sources available to the flood prevention district. These bonds may be issued with maturities not exceeding 25 years after the date of issue, and in any amounts as may be necessary to provide sufficient funds, together with interest, for the purposes of the district. These bonds shall bear interest at a rate of not more than the maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the making of the contract of sale, payable semi-annually, may be made registerable as to principal, and may be made payable and callable as provided on any date at a price of par and accrued interest under any terms and conditions as may be fixed by an ordinance approved by the affirmative vote of the county board. Bonds issued under this Section are negotiable instruments. In case any officer whose signature appears on the bonds or coupons ceases to hold that office before the bonds are delivered, the officer's signature shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as though the officer had remained in office until the bonds were delivered. The bonds shall be sold in any manner and upon any terms as the district shall determine, except that the selling price shall be such that the interest cost to the district of the proceeds of the bonds shall not exceed the maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the making of the contract of sale, payable semi-annually, computed to maturity according to the standard table of bond values.

(11) To acquire property by gift, grant, or intergovernmental agreement.

(12) To retain professional staff to carry out the functions of the district including, but not limited to, administrative support personnel and legal counsel. The district may employ a Chief Supervisor of Construction and the Works with appropriate professional qualifications, including a degree in engineering, construction, hydrology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. If the district employs a Chief Supervisor of Construction and the Works, he or she shall be vested with the authority to carry out the duties and mission of the district, pursuant to the direction and supervision of the board of commissioners.

(13) To reimburse any unit of local government for costs advanced by the local government for expenses that would have otherwise been paid out of the Beardstown Regional Flood Prevention District Property Tax Fund, had the fund been established at the time of the expenditure. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to permit a unit of local government to seek reimbursement from the district for any expense related to levee maintenance, repair, improvement, construction, staff, operating expenses, the construction of facilities for any such purpose, or any other non-emergency levee related expense that occurred prior to an emergency situation involving the levees within the county.

(14) To change the name of the district by an ordinance approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the commissioners of the district.

(15) To adopt rules, procedures, and policies concerning the operation and purpose of the district.

(16) To establish and maintain accounts with banks and other financial institutions to further the purposes and operations of the district.

(17) To expend monies in furtherance of the district's purposes and operations.

(Source: P.A. 97-309, eff. 8-11-11.)