HB1926sam002 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Randall M. Hultgren

Filed: 6/28/2007

09500HB1926sam002 LRB095 09066 NHT 37874 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1926

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1926 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section 16-6.5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/16-6.5 new)

Sec. 16-6.5. Immediate possession of lands for school purposes. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article or the provisions of any other law, a unit school district shall, upon written motion, be vested with the fee simple title to the real property that is the subject of an eminent domain proceeding filed pursuant to Section 10-22.35A and Section 16-6 of this Code and be authorized to take possession of and use such property immediately for the construction of a high school building and facilities ancillary thereto if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The school district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 2006 of at least $4,500,000,000 and an enrollment for the 2006-2007 school year of at least 28,000.

(2) At least 58% of those voting in a general primary election held prior to November 2006 approved a proposition for the construction of the high school building and the issuance of $124,660,000 general obligation bonds for the purpose of paying the costs thereof.

(3) The eminent domain proceeding was filed on or before December 23, 2005 for the acquisition of a vacant parcel of land containing approximately 55 acres in a county contiguous to a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants.

(4) The circuit court in which such proceeding is pending entered its order, on or before November 17, 2006, denying defendants' traverse motion and motion to dismiss.

(5) The school district waives its right to dismiss the complaint or to abandon the proceeding as to all or any part of the property so taken.

(6) The school district deposits the sum of $600,000 per acre with the county treasurer, who shall invest the deposit in an interest-bearing account for the benefit of the parties to the action.

(7) The school district shall have filed a stipulation in the pending eminent domain action binding itself to cooperate with the owners and any developers of the remainder property to (i) cause a water main and sanitary sewer line to be brought to the western boundary of the remainder property, subject to the developers of the remainder property bearing the additional cost for any oversizing of the sanitary sewer line required by the developers' use of the remainder property, (ii) design and construct its stormwater management facilities to accept up to 12 acre feet of stormwater from the northern portion of the remainder property, (iii) design, permit, and construct a full-access intersection providing shared access to the school district property and the remainder property on the north side of the properties, provided that the owners grant the school district easement rights over the remainder property for that purpose and subject to recapture from any developers of the remainder parcel for 50% of the cost of off-site intersection improvements and 100% of the cost of improvements on the remainder property, and (iv) grant such cross-access easement rights as required by local development authorities to permit access to the remainder property.

In the order of the circuit court vesting the fee simple title to the real property with the school district, the owners shall be given the authority to immediately withdraw the sum of $300,000 per acre for the 55 acres of land being acquired. The amount withdrawn by the owners shall be credited against any future award of just compensation in the eminent domain proceeding. The balance of the deposit and accrued interest shall be held by the treasurer until entry of a final judgment by the circuit court determining the just compensation to be paid for the property. Upon entry of the final and appealable judgment order, the circuit court shall hear and determine all rights in and to such just compensation and shall order the treasurer to disburse the just compensation, after credit for the amount previously withdrawn, to the owners and any excess deposit to the school district and direct the refund of any excess amount withdrawn from the deposit by any of the interested parties, as the case may be. Interest accrued on the balance of the deposit shall be disbursed to the owners and the school district in the same proportion as the principal balance is disbursed to the owners and the school district. In the event the deposit and all accrued interest are insufficient to satisfy the award of just compensation determined in the final and appealable order, then the school district shall pay such deficiency, together with judgment interest accruing from the date of the final and appealable order within 30 days. In no event shall the amount of the deposit be admissible as evidence in the eminent domain proceeding. Appeals may be taken from any findings or judgment by the court as in other civil cases. The school district shall not require an appeal bond in the event of an appeal by the owners.

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