SB3597sam001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Rachel Ventura

Filed: 3/8/2024

10300SB3597sam001 LRB103 38800 AWJ 70657 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3597

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3597 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section 5-1135 as follows:

(55 ILCS 5/5-1135)

Sec. 5-1135. Borrowing from financial institutions. The county board of a county may borrow money for any corporate purpose from any bank or other financial institution provided such money shall be repaid within 2 years from the time the money is borrowed. The county board chairman or county executive, as the case may be, shall execute a promissory note or similar debt instrument, but not a bond, to evidence the indebtedness incurred by the borrowing. The obligation to make the payments due under the promissory note or other debt instrument shall be a lawful direct general obligation of the county payable from the general funds of the county and such other sources of payment as are otherwise lawfully available. The promissory note or other debt instrument shall be authorized by an ordinance passed by the county board and shall be valid whether or not an appropriation with respect to that ordinance is included in any annual or supplemental appropriation adopted by the county board. The indebtedness incurred under this Section, when aggregated with the existing indebtedness of the county, may not exceed any debt limitation otherwise provided for by law. "Financial institution" means any bank subject to the Illinois Banking Act, any savings and loan association subject to the Illinois Savings and Loan Act of 1985, any savings bank subject to the Savings Bank Act, any credit union subject to the Illinois Credit Union Act, and any federally chartered commercial bank, savings and loan association, savings bank, or credit union organized and operated in this State pursuant to the laws of the United States, and the Illinois Finance Authority.

(Source: P.A. 98-525, eff. 8-23-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)

Section 10. The Township Code is amended by changing Section 240-5 as follows:

(60 ILCS 1/240-5)

Sec. 240-5. Borrowing money. The township board may borrow money (i) from any bank or financial institution if the money is to be repaid within 10 years from the time it is borrowed or (ii) with the approval of the highway commissioner, from a township road district fund, if the money is to be repaid within one year from the time it is borrowed. "Financial institution" means any bank subject to the Illinois Banking Act, any savings and loan association subject to the Illinois Savings and Loan Act of 1985, and any federally chartered commercial bank or savings and loan association organized and operated in this State under the laws of the United States, and the Illinois Finance Authority.

(Source: P.A. 93-743, eff. 7-15-04.)

Section 15. The School Code is amended by adding Section 22-100 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/22-100 new)

Sec. 22-100. Financing from the Illinois Finance Authority.

(a) The school board of a school district may apply for and obtain a loan from the Illinois Finance Authority to build, purchase, or lease new clean energy infrastructure or perform maintenance or improvements on existing clean energy infrastructure. The school board may also issue bonds in association with the loan under subsection (e). Except as provided in subsection (e), before the school board may apply for a loan or issue a bond under this Section, the school board must first adopt a resolution and receive approval by proposition under subsection (b).

(b) The school board shall adopt a resolution for a proposition to apply for a loan with the Illinois Finance Authority or to have the Illinois Finance Authority issue bonds, or both, for the purposes described in subsection (a) and, after adoption of the resolution, shall certify the proposition to the proper election authority. The election authority shall submit the proposition to the voters of the district at an election in accordance with general election law. The proposition of financing moneys through the Illinois Finance Authority for the purpose of building, purchasing, or leasing new clean energy infrastructure or performing maintenance or improvements on existing clean energy infrastructure within the school district and issuing bonds in association with the loan may be combined into one or more propositions on the ballot. The form of the proposition submitted to the voters shall be substantially in one of the following forms:

(1) If the proposition is requesting both a loan and bonds, the proposition shall be substantially as follows:

"Shall (name of school district) borrow (amount) from the Illinois Finance Authority to (build, purchase, or lease new clean energy infrastructure or perform maintenance or improvements on existing clean energy infrastructure) and have the Illinois Finance Authority issue bonds in the amount of (amount) in association with the loan?"

The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".

(2) If the proposition is requesting only a loan, the proposition shall be substantially as follows:

"Shall (name of school district) borrow (amount) from the Illinois Finance Authority to (build, purchase, or lease new clean energy infrastructure or perform maintenance or improvements on existing clean energy infrastructure)?"

The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".

(3) If the proposition is requesting only a bond, the proposition shall be substantially as follows:

"Shall (name of school district) have the Illinois Finance Authority issue bonds in the amount of (amount) in association with a loan obtained from the Illinois Finance Authority to (build, purchase, or lease new clean energy infrastructure or perform maintenance or improvements on existing clean energy infrastructure)?"

The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".

(c) If a majority of the votes on a proposition requesting bonding authority under subsection (b) are in favor of a proposition for bonds, the school board shall adopt a resolution authorizing the Illinois Finance Authority to issue the bonds, prescribing all the details of the issuance and stating when the principal and interest shall become payable and the place of payment. These bonds shall be sold in a manner, at a price, and in denominations determined by the Illinois Finance Authority, with the approval of the school board. The amount of the bonds issued shall not exceed 2.3% of the value of the taxable property of the district as ascertained by the assessment for the State and county taxes for the preceding year, nor shall the amount of the bonds issued exceed, including the then existing indebtedness of the district, 5.75% of the value of the taxable property of the district as ascertained by the assessment for the State and county taxes for the preceding year.

(d) Upon adoption of a resolution by the school board under subsection (c), the Illinois Finance Authority may issue bonds in an amount not to exceed that approved by the voters at the election. The bonds shall be signed by the Illinois Finance Authority, after the approval of the school board, shall mature not later than 20 years from the date of issuance, and shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed the maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act at the time of the making of the contract. The bonds shall be sold at no less than par.

(e) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, the school board of a school district may, by resolution, apply for and obtain a loan from the Illinois Finance Authority to build, purchase, or lease new clean energy infrastructure or perform maintenance or improvements on existing clean energy infrastructure within the district without proposal approval if the loan is paid or provided for with funds that are not the proceeds of bonds authorized under this Section.

(f) The school board shall, in the resolution authorizing bonds under this subsection (c), provide for the collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and principal of the bonds as each falls due. A certified copy of the resolution authorizing the bonds and levying the tax shall be filed in the office of the county clerk or county clerks, as applicable, and the county clerk or county clerks shall extend annually against the property in the district a tax sufficient to raise in each year the amount provided in the resolution for the payment of principal and interest that year.

(g) Before erecting, purchasing, leasing, or remodeling any clean energy infrastructure using revenue received by a loan or a bond under this Section, the school board shall submit the plans and specifications respecting heating, ventilating, lighting, seating, water supply, toilets, and safety against fire to the regional superintendent of schools having supervision and control over the district for approval in accordance with Section 2-3.12.".