HB2853ham001 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin

Filed: 3/11/2025

10400HB2853ham001 LRB104 06123 RTM 23450 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2853

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2853 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Conservation District Act is amended by changing Section 6 as follows:

(70 ILCS 410/6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7106)

Sec. 6. Officers and employees. As soon as possible after the initial election or the initial appointments, as the case may be, the trustees shall organize by selecting from their members a president, secretary, treasurer, and other officers as are deemed necessary, who shall hold office for 2 years in the case of an elected board, or the fiscal year in which elected in the case of an appointed board, and until their successors are selected and qualify. Three trustees shall constitute a quorum of the board for the transaction of business if the district has 5 trustees. If the district has 7 trustees, 4 trustees shall constitute a quorum of the board for the transaction of business. The board shall hold regular monthly meetings. Special meetings may be called by the president and shall be called on the request of a majority of members, as may be required.

The board shall provide for the proper and safe keeping of its permanent records and for the recording of the corporate action of the district. It shall keep a proper system of accounts showing a true and accurate record of its receipts and disbursements, and it shall cause an annual audit to be made of its books, records, and accounts.

The records of the district shall be subject to public inspection at all reasonable hours and under regulations as the board may prescribe.

The district shall annually make a full and complete report to the county board of each county within the district and to the Department of Natural Resources of its transactions and operations for the preceding year. The report shall contain a full statement of its receipts, disbursements, and the program of work for the period covered, and may include recommendations as may be deemed advisable.

Executive or ministerial duties may be delegated to one or more trustees or to an authorized officer, employee, agent, attorney, or other representative of the district.

All officers and employees authorized to receive or retain the custody of money or to sign vouchers, checks, warrants, or evidences of indebtedness binding upon the district shall furnish surety bond for the faithful performance of their duties and the faithful accounting for all moneys that may come into their hands in an amount to be fixed and in a form to be approved by the board.

All contracts for supplies, material, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $60,000 for supplies or materials and $30,000 for work, or a lower amount for any contract for supplies, material, or work if required by board policy, shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, after due advertisement, excepting work requiring personal confidence or necessary supplies under the control of monopolies, where competitive bidding is impossible, or as otherwise provided in the Forest Preserve District and Conservation District Design-Build Authorization Act. All contracts for supplies, material, or work shall be signed by the president of the board and by any other officer as the board in its discretion may designate.

(Source: P.A. 102-460, eff. 6-1-22.)

Section 10. The Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:

(70 ILCS 805/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6315)

Sec. 8. Powers and duties of corporate authority and officers; contracts; salaries.

(a) The board shall be the corporate authority of such forest preserve district and shall have power to pass and enforce all necessary ordinances, rules and regulations for the management of the property and conduct of the business of such district. The president of such board shall have power to appoint such employees as may be necessary. In counties with population of less than 3,000,000, within 60 days after their selection the commissioners appointed under the provisions of Section 3a of this Act shall organize by selecting from their members a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and such other officers as are deemed necessary who shall hold office for the fiscal year in which elected and until their successors are selected and qualify. In the one district in existence on July 1, 1977, that is managed by an appointed board of commissioners, the incumbent president and the other officers appointed in the manner as originally prescribed in this Act shall hold such offices until the completion of their respective terms or in the case of the officers other than president until their successors are appointed by said president, but in all cases not to extend beyond January 1, 1980 and until their successors are selected and qualify. Thereafter, the officers shall be selected in the manner as prescribed in this Section except that their first term of office shall not expire until June 30, 1981 and until their successors are selected and qualify.

(a-5) An officer selected pursuant to subsection (a) may be removed, with or without cause, upon a motion adopted by an affirmative vote of four-fifths of the board of the forest preserve district. Upon adoption of a motion to remove an officer: (i) the office becomes vacant and the former officer's compensation shall be prorated to the date the motion was approved; (ii) if the officer removed is the president then the vice president immediately assumes the duties of the president without president compensation and, if the officer removed is the vice president, treasurer, or secretary, then the president shall select an interim appointee who shall serve until the next regularly scheduled forest preserve district board meeting; and (iii) a new officer shall be selected at the next regularly scheduled forest preserve district board meeting. An officer removed under this Section maintains his or her status as a member of the forest preserve district board.

(b) In any county, city, village, incorporated town or sanitary district where the corporate authorities act as the governing body of a forest preserve district, the person exercising the powers of the president of the board shall have power to appoint a secretary and an assistant secretary and treasurer and an assistant treasurer and such other officers and such employees as may be necessary. The assistant secretary and assistant treasurer shall perform the duties of the secretary and treasurer, respectively in case of death of such officers or when such officers are unable to perform the duties of their respective offices. All contracts for supplies, material, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $60,000 for supplies or materials and $30,000 for work, or a lower amount for any contract for supplies, material, or work if required by board policy, shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, after advertising at least once in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the district, excepting work requiring personal confidence or necessary supplies under the control of monopolies, where competitive bidding is impossible, or as otherwise provided in the Forest Preserve District and Conservation District Design-Build Authorization Act. Contracts for supplies, material, or work involving an expenditure of $60,000 for supplies or materials and $30,000 for work, or a lower amount for any contract for supplies, material, or work if required by board policy, or less may be let without advertising for bids, but whenever practicable, at least 3 competitive bids shall be obtained before letting such contract. All contracts for supplies, material or work shall be signed by the president of the board of commissioners or by any such other officer as the board in its discretion may designate.

(c) The president of any board of commissioners appointed under the provisions of Section 3a of this Act shall receive a salary not to exceed the sum of $2500 per annum and the salary of other members of the board so appointed shall not exceed $1500 per annum. Salaries of the commissioners, officers and employees shall be fixed by ordinance.

(d) Whenever a forest preserve district owns any personal property that, in the opinion of three-fifths of the members of the board of commissioners, is no longer necessary, useful to, or for the best interests of the forest preserve district, then three-fifths of the members of the board, at any regular meeting or any special meeting called for that purpose by an ordinance or resolution that includes a general description of the personal property, may authorize the conveyance or sale of that personal property in any manner that they may designate, with or without advertising the sale.

(Source: P.A. 101-544, eff. 8-23-19; 102-460, eff. 6-1-22.)

Section 15. The Park District Code is amended by changing Section 8-1 as follows:

(70 ILCS 1205/8-1) (from Ch. 105, par. 8-1)

Sec. 8-1. General corporate powers. Every park district shall, from the time of its organization, be a body corporate and politic by the name set forth in the petition for its organization, the specific name set forth in this Code, or the name it may adopt under Section 8-9 and shall have and exercise the following powers:

(a) To adopt a corporate seal and alter the same at pleasure; to sue and be sued; and to contract in furtherance of any of its corporate purposes.

(b)(1) To acquire by gift, legacy, grant or purchase, or by condemnation in the manner provided for the exercise of the power of eminent domain under the Eminent Domain Act, any and all real estate, or rights therein necessary for building, laying out, extending, adorning and maintaining any such parks, boulevards and driveways, or for effecting any of the powers or purposes granted under this Code as its board may deem proper, whether such lands be located within or without such district; but no park district, except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, shall have any power of condemnation in the manner provided for the exercise of the power of eminent domain under the Eminent Domain Act or otherwise as to any real estate, lands, riparian rights or estate, or other property situated outside of such district, but shall only have power to acquire the same by gift, legacy, grant or purchase, and such district shall have the same control of and power over lands so acquired without the district as over parks, boulevards and driveways within such district.

(2) In addition to the powers granted in paragraph (1) of subsection (b), a park district located in more than one county, the majority of its territory located in a county over 450,000 in population and none of its territory located in a county over 1,000,000 in population, shall have condemnation power in the manner provided for the exercise of the power of eminent domain under the Eminent Domain Act or as otherwise granted by law as to any and all real estate situated up to one mile outside of such district which is not within the boundaries of another park district.

(c) To acquire by gift, legacy or purchase any personal property necessary for its corporate purposes provided that all contracts for supplies, materials, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $60,000 for supplies or materials and $30,000 for work, or a lower amount for any contract for supplies, material, or work if required by board policy, shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder after due advertisement. No district shall be required to accept a bid that does not meet the district's established specifications, terms of delivery, quality, and serviceability requirements. Contracts which, by their nature, are not adapted to award by competitive bidding, such as contracts for the services of individuals possessing a high degree of professional skill where the ability or fitness of the individual plays an important part, contracts for the printing of finance committee reports and departmental reports, contracts for the printing or engraving of bonds, tax warrants and other evidences of indebtedness, contracts for utility services such as water, light, heat, telephone or telegraph, contracts for fuel (such as diesel, gasoline, oil, aviation, or propane), lubricants, or other petroleum products, contracts for the use, purchase, delivery, movement, or installation of data processing equipment, software, or services and telecommunications and interconnect equipment, software, or services, contracts for duplicating machines and supplies, contracts for goods or services procured from another governmental agency, purchases of equipment previously owned by some entity other than the district itself, and contracts for the purchase of magazines, books, periodicals, pamphlets and reports are not subject to competitive bidding. Contracts for emergency expenditures are also exempt from competitive bidding when the emergency expenditure is approved by 3/4 of the members of the board.

All competitive bids for contracts involving an expenditure in excess of $60,000 for supplies or materials and $30,000 for work, or a lower amount for any contract for supplies, material, or work if required by board policy, must be sealed by the bidder and must be opened by a member or employee of the park board at a public bid opening at which the contents of the bids must be announced. Each bidder must receive at least 3 days notice of the time and place of the bid opening.

For purposes of this subsection, "due advertisement" includes, but is not limited to, at least one public notice at least 10 days before the bid date in a newspaper published in the district or, if no newspaper is published in the district, in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the district.

(d) To pass all necessary ordinances, rules and regulations for the proper management and conduct of the business of the board and district and to establish by ordinance all needful rules and regulations for the government and protection of parks, boulevards and driveways and other property under its jurisdiction, and to effect the objects for which such districts are formed.

(e) To prescribe such fines and penalties for the violation of ordinances as it shall deem proper not exceeding $1,000 for any one offense, which fines and penalties may be recovered by an action in the name of such district in the circuit court for the county in which such violation occurred. The park district may also seek in the action, in addition to or instead of fines and penalties, an order that the offender be required to make restitution for damage resulting from violations, and the court shall grant such relief where appropriate. The procedure in such actions shall be the same as that provided by law for like actions for the violation of ordinances in cities organized under the general laws of this State, and offenders may be imprisoned for non-payment of fines and costs in the same manner as in such cities. All fines when collected shall be paid into the treasury of such district.

(f) To manage and control all officers and property of such districts and to provide for joint ownership with one or more cities, villages or incorporated towns of real and personal property used for park purposes by one or more park districts. In case of joint ownership, the terms of the agreement shall be fair, just and equitable to all parties and shall be set forth in a written agreement entered into by the corporate authorities of each participating district, city, village or incorporated town.

(g) To secure grants and loans, or either, from the United States Government, or any agency or agencies thereof, for financing the acquisition or purchase of any and all real estate, or rights therein, or for effecting any of the powers or purposes granted under this Code as its Board may deem proper.

(h) To establish fees for the use of facilities and recreational programs of the districts and to derive revenue from non-resident fees from their operations. Fees charged non-residents of such district need not be the same as fees charged to residents of the district. Charging fees or deriving revenue from the facilities and recreational programs shall not affect the right to assert or utilize any defense or immunity, common law or statutory, available to the districts or their employees.

(i) To make contracts for a term exceeding one year, but not to exceed 3 years, notwithstanding any provision of this Code to the contrary, relating to: (1) the employment of a park director, superintendent, administrator, engineer, health officer, land planner, finance director, attorney, police chief, or other officer who requires technical training or knowledge; (2) the employment of outside professional consultants such as engineers, doctors, land planners, auditors, attorneys, or other professional consultants who require technical training or knowledge; (3) the provision of data processing equipment and services; and (4) the purchase of energy from a utility or an alternative retail electric supplier. With respect to any contract made under this subsection (i), the corporate authorities shall include in the annual appropriation ordinance for each fiscal year an appropriation of a sum of money sufficient to pay the amount which, by the terms of the contract, is to become due and payable during that fiscal year.

(j) To enter into licensing or management agreements with not-for-profit corporations organized under the laws of this State to operate park district facilities if the corporation covenants to use the facilities to provide public park or recreational programs for youth.

(Source: P.A. 101-304, eff. 8-9-19; 102-999, eff. 5-27-22.)

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