Public Act 0164 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0472 Enrolled LRB096 04431 RLJ 14482 b

Public Act 096-0164

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act is amended by changing Section 12 as follows:

(70 ILCS 2605/12) (from Ch. 42, par. 332)

Sec. 12. Power to levy taxes. The board of commissioners annually may levy taxes for corporate purposes upon property within the territorial limits of such sanitary district, the aggregate amount of which, exclusive of the amount levied for (a) the payment of bonded indebtedness and the interest on bonded indebtedness (b) employees' annuity and benefit purposes (c) construction purposes, and (d) for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a reserve fund for the payment of claims, awards, losses, judgments or liabilities which might be imposed on such sanitary district under the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act, and any claim in tort, including but not limited to, any claim imposed upon such sanitary district under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, and for all costs related to the repair or replacement of any property owned by such sanitary district which is damaged by fire, flood, explosion, vandalism or any other peril, natural or manmade, shall not exceed the sum produced by extending the rate of .46% for each of the years 1979 through 2004 and by extending the rate of 0.41% for the year 2005 and each year thereafter, upon the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the sanitary district as equalized and determined for State and local taxes.

In addition, for stormwater management purposes, including but not limited to those provided in subsection (f) of Section 7(h), the board of commissioners may levy taxes for the year 2005 and each year thereafter at a rate not to exceed 0.05% of the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the District as equalized and determined for State and local taxes.

And in addition thereto, for construction purposes as defined in Section 5.2 of this Act, the board of commissioners may levy taxes for the year 1985 and each year thereafter which shall be at a rate not to exceed .10% of the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the sanitary district as equalized and determined for State and local taxes. Amounts realized from taxes so levied for construction purposes shall be limited for use to such purposes and shall not be available for appropriation or used to defray the cost of repairs to or expense of maintaining or operating existing or future facilities, but such restrictions, however, shall not apply to additions, alterations, enlargements, and replacements which will add appreciably to the value, utility, or the useful life of said facilities. Such rates shall be extended against the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the corporate limits as the same shall be assessed and equalized for the county taxes for the year in which the levy is made and said board shall cause the amount to be raised by taxation in each year to be certified to the county clerk on or before the thirtieth day of March; provided, however, that if during the budget year the General Assembly authorizes an increase in such rates, the board of commissioners may adopt a supplemental levy and shall make such certification to the County Clerk on or before the thirtieth day of December.

For the purpose of establishing and maintaining a reserve fund for the payment of claims, awards, losses, judgments or liabilities which might be imposed on such sanitary district under the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act, and any claim in tort, including but not limited to, any claim imposed upon such sanitary district under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, and for all costs related to the repair or replacement, where the cost thereof exceeds the sum of $10,000, of any property owned by such sanitary district which is damaged by fire, flood, explosion, vandalism or any other peril, natural or man-made, such sanitary district may also levy annually upon all taxable property within its territorial limits a tax not to exceed .005% of the assessed valuation of said taxable property as equalized and determined for State and local taxes; provided, however, the aggregate amount which may be accumulated in such reserve fund shall not exceed .05% of such assessed valuation.

All taxes so levied and certified shall be collected and enforced in the same manner and by the same officers as State and county taxes, and shall be paid over by the officer collecting the same to the treasurer of the sanitary district, in the manner and at the time provided by the general revenue law. No part of the taxes hereby authorized shall be used by such sanitary district for the construction of permanent, fixed, immovable bridges across any channel constructed under the provisions of this Act. All bridges built across such channel shall not necessarily interfere with or obstruct the navigation of such channel, when the same becomes a navigable stream, as provided in Section 24 of this Act, but such bridges shall be so constructed that they can be raised, swung or moved out of the way of vessels, tugs, boats or other water craft navigating such channel. Nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to compel said district to maintain or operate said bridges, as movable bridges, for a period of 9 years from and after the time when the water has been turned into said channel pursuant to law, unless the needs of general navigation of the Des Plaines and Illinois Rivers, when connected by said channel, sooner require it. In levying taxes the board of commissioners, in order to produce the net amount required by the levies for payment of bonds and interest thereon, shall include an amount or rate estimated to be sufficient to cover losses in collection of taxes, the cost of collecting taxes, abatements in the amount of such taxes as extended on the collector's books and the amount of such taxes collection of which will be deferred; the amount so added for the purpose of producing the net amount required shall not exceed any applicable maximum tax rate or amount.

(Source: P.A. 93-1049, eff. 11-17-04.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.