SB1457 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 05522 HLH 25612 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB1457

Introduced 2/9/2007, by Sen. Mike Jacobs

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

70 ILCS 510/4	from Ch. 85, par. 6204
70 ILCS 510/9	from Ch. 85, par. 6209
70 ILCS 515/4	from Ch. 85, par. 6504
70 ILCS 515/9	from Ch. 85, par. 6509

Amends both the Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority Acts. Provides that the territory of the Authority shall also include JoDaviess, Carroll, Whiteside, and Stephenson Counties. Provides for the appointment of additional members to the Board of the Authority. Provides that the additional members shall be appointed by the county board chairmen of JoDaviess, Carroll, Whiteside, and Stephenson Counties. Increases the bonding power of the Authority to $250,000,000 (now, $100,000,000).

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning local government.

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

Section 5. The Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority Act, approved September 22, 1987, is amended by changing Sections 4 and 9 as follows:

(70 ILCS 510/4) (from Ch. 85, par. 6204)

Sec. 4. (a) There is hereby created a political subdivision, body politic and municipal corporation named the Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority. The territorial jurisdiction of the Authority is that geographic area within the boundaries of JoDaviess, Carroll, Whiteside, Stephenson, Rock Island, Henry, Knox, and Mercer counties in the State of Illinois and any navigable waters and air space located therein.

(b) The governing and administrative powers of the Authority shall be vested in a body consisting of 15 11 members including, as an ex officio member, the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee. The other 10 members of the Authority shall be designated "public members", 6 of whom shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Of the 6 members appointed by the Governor, one shall be from a city within the Authority's territory with a population of 25,000 or more and the remainder shall be appointed at large. Of the 6 members appointed by the Governor, 2 members shall have business or finance experience. One member shall be appointed by each of the county board chairmen of Rock Island, Henry, Knox, and Mercer Counties with the advice and consent of the respective county board. Within 60 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, one additional public member shall be appointed by each of the county board chairmen of JoDaviess, Carroll, Whiteside, and Stephenson Counties with the advice and consent of the respective county board. Of the public members added by this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, one shall serve for a one-year term, one shall serve for a 2-year term, and 2 shall serve for 3-year terms, to be determined by lot. Their successors shall serve for 3-year terms. All public members shall reside within the territorial jurisdiction of this Act. Eight Six members shall constitute a quorum. The public members shall be persons of recognized ability and experience in one or more of the following areas: economic development, finance, banking, industrial development, small business management, real estate development, community development, venture finance, organized labor or civic, community or neighborhood organization. The Chairman of the Authority shall be a public member elected by the affirmative vote of not fewer than 6 members of the Authority, except that any chairman elected on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be elected by the affirmative vote of not fewer than 8 members. The term of the Chairman shall be one year.

(c) The terms of the initial all members of the Authority shall begin 30 days after the effective date of this Act, except (i) the terms of those members added by this amendatory Act of 1989 shall begin 30 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1989 and (ii) the terms of those members added by this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly shall begin 30 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly. Of the 10 public members appointed pursuant to this Act, 2 (one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 1989, 2 (one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 1990, 2 (one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 1991, 2 (both of whom shall be appointed by the Governor) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 1992, and 2 (one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor and one of whom shall be appointed by the county board chairman of Knox County) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 2004. The initial terms of the members appointed by the county board chairmen (other than the county board chairman of Knox County) shall be determined by lot. All successors shall be appointed by the original appointing authority and hold office for a term of 3 years commencing the third Monday in January of the year in which their term commences, except in case of an appointment to fill a vacancy. Vacancies occurring among the public members shall be filled for the remainder of the term. In case of vacancy in a Governor-appointed membership when the Senate is not in session, the Governor may make a temporary appointment until the next meeting of the Senate when a person shall be nominated to fill such office, and any person so nominated who is confirmed by the Senate shall hold office during the remainder of the term and until a successor shall be appointed and qualified. Members of the Authority shall not be entitled to compensation for their services as members but shall be entitled to reimbursement for all necessary expenses incurred in connection with the performance of their duties as members.

(d) The Governor may remove any public member of the Authority appointed by the Governor in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The Chairman of a county board may remove any public member of the Authority appointed by such Chairman in the case of incompetency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

(e) The Board shall appoint an Executive Director who shall have a background in finance, including familiarity with the legal and procedural requirements of issuing bonds, real estate or economic development and administration. The Executive Director shall hold office at the discretion of the Board. The Executive Director shall be the chief administrative and operational officer of the Authority, shall direct and supervise its administrative affairs and general management, shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the members and shall receive compensation fixed by the Authority. The Authority may engage the services of such other agents and employees, including attorneys, appraisers, engineers, accountants, credit analysts and other consultants, as it may deem advisable and may prescribe their duties and fix their compensation.

(f) The Board shall create a task force to study and make recommendations to the Board on the economic development of the territory within the jurisdiction of this Act. The number of members constituting the task force shall be set by the Board and may vary from time to time. The Board may set a specific date by which the task force is to submit its final report and recommendations to the Board.

(Source: P.A. 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)

(70 ILCS 510/9) (from Ch. 85, par. 6209)

Sec. 9. Bonds and notes. (a)(1) The Authority may, with the written approval of the Governor, at any time and from time to time, issue bonds and notes for any corporate purpose, including the establishment of reserves and the payment of interest. In this Act the term "bonds" includes notes of any kind, interim certificates, refunding bonds or any other evidence of obligation.

(2) The bonds of any issue shall be payable solely from the property or receipts of the Authority, including, without limitation:

(I) fees, charges or other revenues payable to the Authority;

(II) payments by financial institutions, insurance companies, or others pursuant to letters or lines of credit, policies of insurance, or purchase agreements;

(III) investment earnings from funds or accounts maintained pursuant to a bond resolution or trust agreement; and

(IV) proceeds of refunding bonds.

(3) Bonds shall be authorized by a resolution of the Authority and may be secured by a trust agreement by and between the Authority and a corporate trustee or trustees, which may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the State. Bonds shall:

(I) be issued at, above or below par value, for cash or other valuable consideration, and mature at time or times, whether as serial bonds or as term bonds or both, not exceeding 40 years from their respective date of issue; however, the length of the term of the bond should bear a reasonable relationship to the value life of the item financed;

(II) bear interest at the fixed or variable rate or rates determined by the method provided in the resolution or trust agreement;

(III) be payable at a time or times, in the denominations and form, either coupon or registered or both, and carry the registration and privileges as to conversion and for the replacement of mutilated, lost or destroyed bonds as the resolution or trust agreement may provide;

(IV) be payable in lawful money of the United States at a designated place;

(V) be subject to the terms of purchase, payment, redemption, refunding or refinancing that the resolution or trust agreement provides;

(VI) be executed by the manual or facsimile signatures of the officers of the Authority designated by the Authority, which signatures shall be valid at delivery even for one who has ceased to hold office; and

(VII) be sold in the manner and upon the terms determined by the Authority.

(b) Any resolution or trust agreement may contain provisions which shall be a part of the contract with the holders of the bonds as to:

(1) pledging, assigning or directing the use, investment or disposition of receipts of the Authority or proceeds or benefits of any contract and conveying or otherwise securing any property or property rights;

(2) the setting aside of loan funding deposits, debt service reserves, capitalized interest accounts, cost of issuance accounts and sinking funds, and the regulations, investment and disposition thereof;

(3) limitations on the purpose to which or the investments in which the proceeds of sale of any issue of bonds may be applied and restrictions to investment of revenues or bond proceeds in government obligations for which principal and interest are unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America;

(4) limitations on the issue of additional bonds, the terms upon which additional bonds may be issued and secured, the terms upon which additional bonds may rank on a parity with, or be subordinate or superior to, other bonds;

(5) the refunding or refinancing of outstanding bonds;

(6) the procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders may be altered or amended and the amount of bonds and holders of which must consent thereto, and the manner in which consent shall be given;

(7) defining the acts or omissions which shall constitute a default in the duties of the Authority to holders of bonds and providing the rights or remedies of such holders in the event of a default which may include provisions restricting individual right of action by bondholders;

(8) providing for guarantees, pledges of property, letters of credit, or other security, or insurance for the benefit of bondholders; and

(9) any other matter relating to the bonds which the Authority determines appropriate.

(c) No member of the Authority nor any person executing the bonds shall be liable personally on the bonds or subject to any personal liability by reason of the issuance of the bonds.

(d) The Authority may enter into agreements with agents, banks, insurers or others for the purpose of enhancing the marketability of or as security for its bonds.

(e)(1) A pledge by the Authority of revenues as security for an issue of bonds shall be valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made.

(2) The revenues pledged shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery or further act, and the lien of any pledge shall be valid and binding against any person having any claim of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against the Authority, irrespective of whether the person has notice.

(3) No resolution, trust agreement or financing statement, continuation statement, or other instrument adopted or entered into by the Authority need be filed or recorded in any public record other than the records of the authority in order to perfect the lien against third persons, regardless of any contrary provision of law.

(f) The Authority may issue bonds to refund any of its bonds then outstanding, including the payment of any redemption premium and any interest accrued or to accrue to the earliest or any subsequent date of redemption, purchase or maturity of the bonds. Refunding bonds may be issued for the public purposes of realizing savings in the effective costs of debt service, directly or through a debt restructuring, for alleviating impending or actual default and may be issued in one or more series in an amount in excess of that of the bonds to be refunded.

(g) Bonds or notes of the Authority may be sold by the Authority through the process of competitive bid or negotiated sale.

(h) At no time shall the total outstanding bonds and notes of the Authority exceed $250,000,000 $100 million.

(i) The bonds and notes of the Authority shall not be debts of the State.

(j) In no event may proceeds of bonds or notes issued by the Authority be used to finance any structure which is not constructed pursuant to an agreement between the Authority and a party, which provides for the delivery by the party of a completed structure constructed pursuant to a fixed price contract, and which provides for the delivery of such structure at such fixed price to be insured or guaranteed by a third party determined by the Authority to be capable of completing construction of such a structure.

(Source: P.A. 85-713.)

Section 10. The Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority Act, certified December 30, 1987, is amended by changing Sections 4 and 9 as follows:

(70 ILCS 515/4) (from Ch. 85, par. 6504)

Sec. 4. (a) There is hereby created a political subdivision, body politic and municipal corporation named the Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority. The territorial jurisdiction of the Authority is that geographic area within the boundaries of JoDaviess, Carroll, Whiteside, Stephenson, Rock Island, Henry and Mercer counties in the State of Illinois and any navigable waters and air space located therein.

(b) The governing and administrative powers of the Authority shall be vested in a body consisting of 11 7 members including, as an ex officio member, the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee. The other 8 members of the Authority shall be designated "public members", 3 of whom shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Of the 3 members appointed by the Governor, one shall be from a city within the Authority's territory with a population of 25,000 or more and the remainder shall be appointed at large. One member shall be appointed by each of the county board chairmen of Rock Island, Henry and Mercer counties with the advice and consent of the respective county board. In addition, within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, one additional public member shall be appointed by each of the county board chairmen of JoDaviess, Carroll, Whiteside, and Stephenson Counties with the advice and consent of the respective county board. Of the public members added by this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, one shall serve for a one-year term, one shall serve for a 2-year term, and 2 shall serve for 3-year terms, to be determined by lot. Their successors shall serve for 3-year terms. All public members shall reside within the territorial jurisdiction of this Act. Six Four members shall constitute a quorum. The public members shall be persons of recognized ability and experience in one or more of the following areas: economic development, finance, banking, industrial development, small business management, real estate development, community development, venture finance, organized labor or civic, community or neighborhood organization. The Chairman of the Authority shall be a public member elected by the affirmative vote of not fewer than 4 members of the Authority, except that any chairman elected on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be elected by the affirmative vote of not fewer than 6 members. The term of the Chairman shall be one year.

(c) The terms of all members of the Authority shall begin 30 days after the effective date of this Act. Of the 6 initial public members appointed pursuant to this Act, 2 (one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 1989, 2 (one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 1990, and 2 (one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor) shall serve until the third Monday in January, 1991. The initial terms of the members appointed by the county board chairmen shall be determined by lot. All successors shall be appointed by the original appointing authority and hold office for a term of 3 years commencing the third Monday in January of the year in which their term commences, except in case of an appointment to fill a vacancy. Vacancies occurring among the public members shall be filled for the remainder of the term. In case of vacancy in a Governor-appointed membership when the Senate is not in session, the Governor may make a temporary appointment until the next meeting of the Senate when a person shall be nominated to fill such office, and any person so nominated who is confirmed by the Senate shall hold office during the remainder of the term and until a successor shall be appointed and qualified. Members of the Authority shall not be entitled to compensation for their services as members but shall be entitled to reimbursement for all necessary expenses incurred in connection with the performance of their duties as members.

(d) The Governor may remove any public member of the Authority appointed by the Governor in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The Chairman of a county board may remove any public member of the Authority appointed by such Chairman in the case of incompetency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

(e) The Board shall appoint an Executive Director who shall have a background in finance, including familiarity with the legal and procedural requirements of issuing bonds, real estate or economic development and administration. The Executive Director shall hold office at the discretion of the Board. The Executive Director shall be the chief administrative and operational officer of the Authority, shall direct and supervise its administrative affairs and general management, shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the members and shall receive compensation fixed by the Authority. The Authority may engage the services of such other agents and employees, including attorneys, appraisers, engineers, accountants, credit analysts and other consultants, as it may deem advisable and may prescribe their duties and fix their compensation.

(f) The Board shall create a task force to study and make recommendations to the Board on the economic development of the territory within the jurisdiction of this Act. The number of members constituting the task force shall be set by the Board and may vary from time to time. The Board may set a specific date by which the task force is to submit its final report and recommendations to the Board.

(Source: P.A. 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)

(70 ILCS 515/9) (from Ch. 85, par. 6509)

Sec. 9. Bonds and notes. (a)(1) The Authority may, with the written approval of the Governor, at any time and from time to time, issue bonds and notes for any corporate purpose, including the establishment of reserves and the payment of interest. In this Act the term "bonds" includes notes of any kind, interim certificates, refunding bonds or any other evidence of obligation.

(2) The bonds of any issue shall be payable solely from the property or receipts of the Authority, including, without limitation:

(I) fees, charges or other revenues payable to the Authority;

(II) payments by financial institutions, insurance companies, or others pursuant to letters or lines of credit, policies of insurance, or purchase agreements;

(III) investment earnings from funds or accounts maintained pursuant to a bond resolution or trust agreement; and

(IV) proceeds of refunding bonds.

(3) Bonds shall be authorized by a resolution of the Authority and may be secured by a trust agreement by and between the Authority and a corporate trustee or trustees, which may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the State. Bonds shall:

(I) be issued at, above or below par value, for cash or other valuable consideration, and mature at time or times, whether as serial bonds or as term bonds or both, not exceeding 40 years from their respective date of issue; however, the length of the term of the bond should bear a reasonable relationship to the value life of the item financed;

(II) bear interest at the fixed or variable rate or rates determined by the method provided in the resolution or trust agreement;

(III) be payable at a time or times, in the denominations and form, either coupon or registered or both, and carry the registration and privileges as to conversion and for the replacement of mutilated, lost or destroyed bonds as the resolution or trust agreement may provide;

(IV) be payable in lawful money of the United States at a designated place;

(V) be subject to the terms of purchase, payment, redemption, refunding or refinancing that the resolution or trust agreement provides;

(VI) be executed by the manual or facsimile signatures of the officers of the Authority designated by the Authority, which signatures shall be valid at delivery even for one who has ceased to hold office; and

(VII) be sold in the manner and upon the terms determined by the Authority.

(b) Any resolution or trust agreement may contain provisions which shall be a part of the contract with the holders of the bonds as to:

(1) pledging, assigning or directing the use, investment or disposition of receipts of the Authority or proceeds or benefits of any contract and conveying or otherwise securing any property or property rights;

(2) the setting aside of loan funding deposits, debt service reserves, capitalized interest accounts, cost of issuance accounts and sinking funds, and the regulations, investment and disposition thereof;

(3) limitations on the purpose to which or the investments in which the proceeds of sale of any issue of bonds may be applied and restrictions to investment of revenues or bond proceeds in government obligations for which principal and interest are unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America;

(4) limitations on the issue of additional bonds, the terms upon which additional bonds may be issued and secured, the terms upon which additional bonds may rank on a parity with, or be subordinate or superior to, other bonds;

(5) the refunding or refinancing of outstanding bonds;

(6) the procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders may be altered or amended and the amount of bonds and holders of which must consent thereto, and the manner in which consent shall be given;

(7) defining the acts or omissions which shall constitute a default in the duties of the Authority to holders of bonds and providing the rights or remedies of such holders in the event of a default which may include provisions restricting individual right of action by bondholders;

(8) providing for guarantees, pledges of property, letters of credit, or other security, or insurance for the benefit of bondholders; and

(9) any other matter relating to the bonds which the Authority determines appropriate.

(c) No member of the Authority nor any person executing the bonds shall be liable personally on the bonds or subject to any personal liability by reason of the issuance of the bonds.

(d) The Authority may enter into agreements with agents, banks, insurers or others for the purpose of enhancing the marketability of or as security for its bonds.

(e)(1) A pledge by the Authority of revenues as security for an issue of bonds shall be valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made.

(2) The revenues pledged shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery or further act, and the lien of any pledge shall be valid and binding against any person having any claim of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against the Authority, irrespective of whether the person has notice.

(3) No resolution, trust agreement or financing statement, continuation statement, or other instrument adopted or entered into by the Authority need be filed or recorded in any public record other than the records of the authority in order to perfect the lien against third persons, regardless of any contrary provision of law.

(f) The Authority may issue bonds to refund any of its bonds then outstanding, including the payment of any redemption premium and any interest accrued or to accrue to the earliest or any subsequent date of redemption, purchase or maturity of the bonds. Refunding bonds may be issued for the public purposes of realizing savings in the effective costs of debt service, directly or through a debt restructuring, for alleviating impending or actual default and may be issued in one or more series in an amount in excess of that of the bonds to be refunded.

(g) Bonds or notes of the Authority may be sold by the Authority through the process of competitive bid or negotiated sale.

(h) At no time shall the total outstanding bonds and notes of the Authority exceed $250,000,000 $100 million.

(i) The bonds and notes of the Authority shall not be debts of the State.

(j) In no event may proceeds of bonds or notes issued by the Authority be used to finance any structure which is not constructed pursuant to an agreement between the Authority and a party, which provides for the delivery by the party of a completed structure constructed pursuant to a fixed price contract, and which provides for the delivery of such structure at such fixed price to be insured or guaranteed by a third party determined by the Authority to be capable of completing construction of such a structure.

(Source: P.A. 85-988.)