SB1681 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 09096 OMW 39233 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
SB1681

Introduced 2/15/2013, by Sen. Terry Link

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Unified Fire Protection District Act. Provides the purpose of the Act and definitions. Provides that a Unified Fire Protection District may be formed either by referendum or intergovernmental agreement, and sets forth requirements for each method of formation. Provides for a Planning Committee, its formation, powers, and duties with regard to the Plan. Provides guidelines for the Plan that shall design, finance, and develop the new District. Provides for the board of trustees of the Unified Fire Protection District and their duties, powers, and obligations with regard to the District. Further provides for employees, contracts, tax levy, indebtedness, and liabilities of the formerly separate units of local government now consolidated into a Unified Fire Protection District. Provides for the dissolution of the District by referendum. Effective immediately.

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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Unified Fire Protection District.

Section 5. Purpose and creation.

(a) Purpose. The General Assembly finds the consolidation of fire protection services on a regional basis provided by fire departments throughout the State of Illinois to be an economic benefit. Therefore, this Act establishes procedures for the creation of Districts that encompass wider service areas by combining existing fire departments and extending service areas of these departments into under-served geographic areas. It is the expressed intent of the General Assembly that Regional Fire Protection Service Districts shall achieve a net savings in the cost of providing fire protection services, emergency medical services, and related services in the expanded service area by reducing and eliminating costs including, but not limited to, duplicative or excessive administrative and operational services, equipment, facilities, and capital expenditures, without a reduction in the quality or level of these services.

(b) Creation. A Unified Fire Protection District may be formed by:

(1) Filing voter-initiated petitions for the purposes of integrating existing service areas of contiguous units of local government to achieve the purposes of this Act; or

(2) Entering into intergovernmental agreements made by and among existing units of local government providing fire protection services, provided that these agreements are approved by a voter referendum if a petition for such referendum is initiated by voters of any affected individual unit of government in accordance with the procedures of this Act.

Section 10. Definitions. The definitions in this Section apply throughout this Act unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

"Board" means the governing body of a Unified Fire Protection District.

"Fire protection jurisdiction" means a fire protection district, municipal fire department, or service organized under Section 5-1056.1 of the Counties Code, Sections 195 and 200 of the Illinois Township Code, Section 10-2.1 of the Illinois Municipal Code, or the Illinois Fire Protection District Act.

"Intergovernmental authority" means a Regional Fire Protection Service Authority implemented pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement.

"Plan" means a plan developed by a Planning Committee or the parties pursuant to a petition to create a district for a particular geographic area. These plans shall cover the financing of a District project or projects including, but not limited to, specific capital projects, maintaining the quality and level of fire operations and emergency service operations, and the preservation and maintenance of existing or future facilities.

"Property Tax" or "Tax" has the same meaning as the term "Tax", as defined in Section 1-145 of the Property Tax Code.

"Regional Fire Protection Service Authority Plan" or "Plan" means a plan to develop and finance a Regional Fire Protection Service Authority project or projects, including, but not limited to, specific capital projects, fire operations and emergency service operations, and preservation and maintenance of existing or future facilities.

"Regional Fire Protection Service Planning Committee" or "Planning Committee" means the advisory committee created under Sections 4.01, 4.02 of the Fire Protection District Act to facilitate the combination of fire protection services and create "Districts" to achieve the purposes of this Act.

"Special mediator" shall be a member of the bar of the State of Illinois or member of the faculty of an accredited law school. A "special mediator" shall have practiced law for at least 7 years and be knowledgeable about municipal, labor, employment, and election law. A "special mediator" shall have strong mediation skills and the temperament and training to listen well, facilitate communication, and assist with negotiations. Special mediators shall have sufficient experience and familiarity with municipal, labor, employment, and election law to provide a credible evaluation and assessment of relative positions.

"Unified Fire Protection District" or "District" means a county, municipal corporation, fire protection district, township, or unit of local government, as defined under the meaning of Article VII, Section 1 of the Illinois State Constitution, that has boundaries that are coextensive with 2 or more adjacent fire protection jurisdictions and has been created by either a referendum under this Act, or by agreement under Article VII of Section 10 of the Illinois Constitution, the Illinois Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, and the provisions of this Act.

Section 15. Elections and referenda. If a referendum must be submitted under this Act for approval or rejection by the electors, the time and manner of conducting a referendum, including petition signature requirements, shall be in accordance with the general election law of the State. The creation of any Unified Fire Protection District by referendum shall be secured by an intergovernmental agreement that includes terms that meet the standards set forth in Section 25 of this Act.

Section 20. Notice to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Whenever a county clerk or other election authority places upon a ballot the question of creating or altering a District, or upon recording of an Agreement creating a District, the clerk or other election authority shall notify the Office of the State Fire Marshal that the proposition is to be put before the electorate or has been recorded, as appropriate. The notice shall be sent to the Office of the State Fire Marshal within 10 working days after the question is certified to the clerk or other election authority, or the intergovernmental agreement is recorded.

Section 25. Creation of a District by petition and referendum.

(a) Petition. A Unified Fire Protection District may be formed upon petition signed by the lesser of: (i) at least 100 legal voters in each of the units of local government proposed to be unified; or (ii) 10% of the legal voters in each of the units of local government to be included in the Unified Fire Protection District. The petition shall be filed in the circuit court of county in which the greater part of the land of the proposed Unified Fire Protection District shall be situated. The petition shall set forth the names of the units of local government proposed to be included, the name of the proposed Unified Fire Protection District, the benefits of consolidating the units of local government within a Unified Fire Protection District, and whether the trustees shall be elected or appointed. Upon its filing, the petition shall be presented to the court, and the court shall fix the date and hour for a hearing.

(b) Notice of Hearing. Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall set a hearing date that is at least 4 weeks, but not more than 8 weeks, after the date the petition is filed. The court, or the clerk or sheriff upon order of the court, shall give notice 21 days before the hearing in one or more daily or weekly newspapers of general circulation in each county where an affected unit of local government is organized and by posting at least 10 copies of the notice in conspicuous places within the proposed District. The notice must describe the units of local government to be included and shall state that if the conditions required by this Section are met, then the proposition for the creation of the District shall be submitted to the voters of the units of local government in the proposed District by order of the court.

(c) Hearing and referendum. To certify a question for referendum, the court must find that: (i) based upon a preponderance of the evidence, the representatives of each of the parties to the proposed District has executed an intergovernmental agreement that includes terms that are in compliance with the requirement under subsection (d) of this Section; and (ii) the terms of an agreed-upon intergovernmental agreement have been approved by the requisite governing bodies of each of the units of local government and any collective bargaining units involved.

At the hearing, the court shall first determine if the petition is supported by the required number of valid signatures of legal voters within the contiguous units of local government.

(d) Joint Committee. If the petition is proper, then the court shall remand the matter to a Special Mediator who shall mediate the negotiations regarding the terms of an intergovernmental agreement by the members of the Joint Committee. The court shall appoint members of the Joint Committee as follows:

(1) A representative of each unit of local government included within the proposed service area of the proposed District.

(2) A representative of each exclusive bargaining unit that is a party to a collective bargaining agreement with a fire protection jurisdiction within a unit of local government included within the proposed District.

(3) A representative for the petitioners from each unit of local government included within the proposed District, chosen from among the legal voters that signed the petition.

The Special Mediator shall be selected by the members of the Joint Committee from a panel of 7 individuals selected by the Planning Committee. If the members fail to agree, the court shall appoint the Special Mediator.

After selection, the Special Mediator shall schedule a meeting of the Joint Committee and facilitate the members in negotiating the terms of an intergovernmental agreement. Negotiations may continue for a period of 90 days or, if the court determines that additional time will facilitate agreement, longer.

If no agreement is reached, the court shall dismiss the petition. If an agreement is reached, the court shall schedule an evidentiary hearing with notice to determine if the terms of the agreement are in compliance with the requirements of subsection (e) of this Section.

An agreement shall be executed by the authorized representative of each party appointed to the Joint Committee by the court for each unit of local government included in the proposed District. If the agreement is executed by representatives of at least 2 units of local government included in the original petition, then the petition may proceed provided that the agreement is executed by at least 2 parties within 2 or more units of local government included in the original petition. The units of local government that did not consent to inclusion shall be dismissed, and an amended petition on behalf of the consenting units shall be scheduled for an evidentiary hearing.

The persons or entities, or their duly authorized representatives, that shall have standing to present evidence at the hearing are the petitioners, the units of local government that shall be included in the proposed District, and representatives of each exclusive bargaining unit that is a party to a collective bargaining unit with a fire protection jurisdiction within a unit of local government included within the proposed District.

If the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the petition is supported by a proper intergovernmental agreement, the court shall enter an order certifying the proposition to the proper election officials, who shall submit the question of the creation of the proposed District to the legal voters of each included unit of local government at the next election. Notice of the election shall be given and the election conducted in the manner provided by the general election law. The notice shall state the boundaries of the proposed District.

The question shall be submitted in substantially the following form:

Shall the service areas of (names of existing units of local government to be combined) be combined to create the (name of the Unified Fire Protection District)?

Responses shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".

A written statement of the election results shall be filed with the court. If, in each unit of local government included within the boundaries of the Unified Fire Protection District, a majority of the voters voting on the question shall favor the proposition, then the court shall issue an order stating that the Unified District has been approved.

(e) Intergovernmental agreement; minimum standards of service. The terms of the intergovernmental agreement shall ensure that all of the following standards of service are met:

(1) The formation of the District shall result in no net increase in the cost of fire protection services and emergency medical services to each unit of local government due to the reduction or elimination of duplicative administrative operational services, equipment, or capital expenditures. A net increase in cost is permissible if the members of the Joint Committee can demonstrate that an increase in the cost to a participating unit of local government is justified by a corresponding increase in the quality of services provided to a participating unit of local government under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement.

(2) The formation of the District shall not increase the average response times in any included unit of local government.

(3) Districts shall have no independent ability to levy taxes and shall rely on the fiscal support and contributions from component fire protection jurisdictions, as required under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement.

(4) The District shall apply savings in operating costs as follows: A minimum of 50% of cost savings shall be contributed, pro rata, to the Firemen's Pension Fund of each included unit of local government as applicable. Those contributions shall be applied as a credit to reduce the unfunded accrued liability of the Fund, if one exists. If no unfunded accrued liabilities exist, the savings in operating costs shall be divided into equal amounts and applied to reduce the contributions otherwise required by the unit of government and its firefighter employees under the Pension Code.

Section 30. Creation of a District by an intergovernmental authority. The governing bodies of 2 or more adjacent fire protection jurisdictions may commence and implement action to adopt a proposed Plan pursuant to Section 10 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution and the Illinois Intergovernmental Cooperation Act and create an Intergovernmental Authority.

(a) Notice. The governing body of a fire protection jurisdiction seeking to implement and adopt a Plan under Section 50 of this Act shall publish a written notice regarding their intention to adopt a plan of and hold a public hearing.

If the fire protection jurisdiction is located entirely in one county, the notice shall be published in an English language newspaper of general circulation published in the fire protection jurisdiction, or, if no such newspaper exists, then in an English language newspaper of general circulation published in the county and having circulation in the fire protection jurisdiction.

If the fire protection jurisdiction is located primarily in one county but extends into smaller portions of adjoining counties, the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in the Fire Protection Jurisdiction, or, if no such newspaper exists, then in a newspaper of general circulation published in each county in which any part of the fire protection jurisdiction is located.

If the fire protection jurisdiction includes all or a large portion of two or more counties, the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in each county in which any part of the fire protection jurisdiction is located.

The notice shall appear not more than 30 and no less than 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing.

(b) All hearings shall be open to the public. The corporate authority of each participating fire protection jurisdiction shall explain the reasons for the proposed creation of an Intergovernmental Authority and provide persons with an opportunity to present testimony within reasonable time limits, as determined by the corporate entities of the affected fire protection jurisdictions.

(c) The Board of an Intergovernmental Authority created under the provisions of this Section may, on its own initiative or upon receiving notice that a petition has been filed under Section 25 of this Act, convert the Authority into a District formed by petition, subject to approval by the affected voters in accordance with the procedures of this Act.

Section 35. Judicial Notice. All courts in this State shall take judicial notice of the existence of any District organized under this Act, and every such District shall constitute a body corporate that may sue or be sued in all courts.

Section 40. Support. Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, a Unified Fire Protection District, whether created by petition or intergovernmental agreement, may receive supplementary funding, fiscal support, or other revenue or property consideration from the State, including the Office of the State Fire Marshal, a county, or any other unit of local government to defray the expenses of organizing a new Authority or as may be deemed necessary or appropriate, and may be appropriated by that entity to the Authority.

Section 45. Enforcement of an intergovernmental agreement. In the event of a default, the District shall be authorized to secure collection of promised contributions from the unit of local government by intercepting: (1) monies deposited or to be deposited into any special fund of the defaulting unit of local government; or (2) grants or other revenues or taxes expected to be received by the unit of local government from the State or Federal government, including taxes imposed by the governmental unit pursuant to a grant of authority by the State, such as sales or use taxes or utility taxes.

Any interception authorized under this Section by the District shall be valid and binding from the time the interception is made. The revenues, monies, and other funds intercepted and to be intercepted by the District shall immediately be subject to the District's lien. The lien shall be valid and binding against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the defaulting unit of local government, irrespective of whether such parties have notice. Under any such interception, a defaulting unit of local government may bind itself to impose rates, charges, or taxes to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Any ordinance, resolution, trust agreement, or other instrument by which a lien is created shall be filed in the records of the District.

The State Treasurer, the State Comptroller, the Department of Revenue, and the Department of Transportation shall deposit or cause to be deposited any amount of grants or other revenues or taxes expected to be received by the defaulting unit of local government from that official or entity that has been pledged to the defaulting unit of local government, directly into a designated escrow account established by the District at a trust company or bank having trust powers, unless otherwise prohibited by law. The ordinance authorizing that disposition shall, within 10 days after adoption by the governing body of the District, be filed with the official or entity with custody of the garnished grants or other revenues or taxes.

Section 50. Planning committee; formation; powers. A Planning Committee is an advisory entity that is created, convened, and empowered as provided in this Section.

(a) Creation. Any 2 or more adjacent fire protection jurisdictions may create a Planning Committee to discuss the formation of a Regional Fire Protection Service Authority. A Planning Committee may also be formed following the filing of a petition that meets the requirements of Section 25 of this Act. No fire protection jurisdiction may simultaneously participate in more than one Planning Committee or Authority.

Each governing body of a participating fire protection jurisdiction under this Section shall appoint two officials or employees to the Planning Committee. Each exclusive representative of any collective bargaining unit containing fire department related employees of each affected fire protection jurisdiction shall appoint 2 members or officials to the Planning Committee. In a proposed District formed by petition, the Planning Committee shall also include a petitioner representative, a representative of each collective bargaining unit containing fire department related employees of each affected fire protection jurisdiction, and a representative from each affected fire protection jurisdiction. Pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 25 of this Act, any petitioner representative shall be selected from among the electors signing the petition, as set forth in the petition. Members of a Planning Committee may be reimbursed for travel and incidental expenses at the discretion of the governing body of each respective fire protection jurisdiction.

(b) Funding. A Planning Committee may receive state funding, as appropriated by the legislature or from the Office of the State Fire Marshal or any affected fire protection jurisdiction for initial funding to pay for salaries, expenses, overhead, supplies, and similar expenses ordinarily and necessarily incurred.

(c) A Planning Committee shall conduct its affairs and formulate a Plan as provided under Section 55 of this Act.

(d) At its first meeting, a Planning Committee may elect officers and provide for the adoption of rules and other operating procedures.

(e) Dissolution. A Planning Committee may dissolve itself at any time by a majority vote of the total membership of the Planning Committee. Any participating fire protection jurisdiction may withdraw upon 10 days written notice to all other fire protection jurisdictions that are members of the Planning Committee.

(f) Planning Committees are subject to the requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Section 55. Planning Committee; duties; formulation of plan.

(a) A Planning Committee shall adopt a Plan providing for the design, financing, and development of fire protection services for the territory to comprise the new District. The Planning Committee may coordinate its activities with neighboring municipalities, fire protection districts, and other local governments that engage in fire protection planning. The Planning Committee may consider land use planning criteria and the input of local government officials located within, or partially within, a participating fire protection jurisdiction.

(b) The Planning Committee shall:

(1) create opportunities for public input in the development of the Plan; and

(2) adopt a Plan proposing the creation of a District and recommending design, financing, and development of fire protection and emergency service facilities and operations, including maintenance and preservation of facilities or systems which may include the provision of ambulance and other fire department related services. The Plan shall identify the existing levels of fire department emergency services as measured by nationally acceptable practices. It shall ensure that, absent an increase in the level of services to be provided to the territory of the proposed District, no net increase in cost of services shall occur. The Plan shall also provide that the average emergency services response times in the District shall not be increased compared with those of each affected fire protection jurisdiction;

(3) Adopt, as part of the Plan, recommended and identified resources and assets to be available to the District from prospective contributing or component fire protection jurisdictions, or other sources;

(4) Adopt, as part of the Plan, recommended and identified obligations and liabilities to be assumed by the District from prospective contributing or component fire protection jurisdictions, or to be retained by the prospective contributing or component fire protection jurisdictions;

(5) Adopt, as part of the Plan, a recommended timeline for establishing common and uniform operating procedures, standards, and guidelines, as well as rules and policies, to be applicable to the District upon approval by the District or Authority Board subsequent to its activation as a viable entity;

(6) Recommend sources of revenue authorized by Section 60 of this Act and undertake financial and budgeting processes to fund selected fire protection service projects. The Plan shall include amendment, termination, and enforcement provisions, specifically to include breach or default in the payment and funding provisions of the Plan and the penalties for such a breach, as well as the means to enforce the provisions of the Plan by the affected fire protection jurisdictions;

(7) Identify the composition of the Board and the relative representation of each fire protection jurisdiction on the Board; and

(8) Determine whether to seek a voter-approved Plan for any non-elector initiated Authority the decision whether to seek an elector-approved District in accordance with Section 25 of this Act or an Intergovernmental Authority in accordance with Section 30 of this Act.

(9) Once adopted, the Plan must be forwarded to the participating fire protection jurisdictions' governing bodies for their approval, and, if approved by all affected fire protection jurisdictions, to either initiate the election process of general election law under Section 25 of this Act, or for implementation by intergovernmental agreement under Section 30 of this Act.

(10) For elector-approved Plans initiated by the fire protection jurisdictions, if the ballot measure to adopt the Plan is not approved by the voters, the Planning Committee may reconvene to redefine the scope and purpose of the District, its projects, financing plan, and the ballot measure. The governing bodies of the member fire protection jurisdictions may approve a new Plan and ballot measure, and may then submit the revised proposition to the voters at a subsequent regular election. Alternatively, the Plan may be approved and implemented under provisions creating an Intergovernmental Authority pursuant to Section 30 of this Act.

Section 60. Unified Fire Protection District; initial startup.

(a) A District formed by voter petition in accordance with Section 25, or as otherwise provided in this Act, shall commence operations no later than 90 days after the date of the election and shall operate for the purposes set forth in the Plan. An Intergovernmental Authority comprised of governing bodies of 2 or more fire protection jurisdictions shall be considered to be formed upon approval of the governing bodies of each member fire protection jurisdiction. The Intergovernmental Authority shall commence operations on the date identified in the Plan.

(b) Governing board. The District shall be governed by a Board of 5 trustees. The Board shall elect a Chairperson from among its members, who shall vote only in the case of a tie.

If a District is wholly contained within a single county, the trustees for the District shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the county board with the advice and consent of the county board. If the District lies within more than one county, the number of trustees who are residents of a county shall be in proportion, as nearly as practicable, to the number of residents of the District who reside in that county in relation to the total population of the District, unless the District has voted by referendum to elect the trustees. Thereafter, each trustee shall be succeeded by a resident of the same county who shall be appointed by the same appointing authority. The appropriate appointing authorities shall appoint 5 trustees of the District within 60 days after the entry of the order establishing the District. The trustees shall be electors in the District, provided that the Board shall consist of a trustee representing each unit of local government included in the District. The trustees shall hold such terms of offices and shall have the powers and qualifications that are provided for trustees under Section 4 of the Fire Protection District Act.

In the event of a conflict between the terms of the intergovernmental agreement and the powers of the trustees otherwise provided by law, the terms of the intergovernmental agreement shall prevail and supersede.

(c) Powers and duties. The District shall have the power, duties, and obligations of a fire protection district as otherwise provided under this Act, except as modified or limited by the provisions of this Section. The District shall develop a budget funded at a level sufficient to ensure that the quality of service provided to the residents of the service area within the boundary of the included units of local government continues at a level equal to or greater than those provided prior to the modification.

(d) Local fire departments. The establishment of a District as a separate named unit of local government shall not prevent the units of local government within it from identifying their historical fire departments with the names of their localities. In that event, local fire departments shall be described as [local name] Branch of the [name of the District].

(e) Single chain of command. Upon the formation of a District under either Section 25 or 30 of this Act, the fire departments of the participating units of local government shall be operated under a single chain of command under the leadership of one fire chief appointed by the Board of the District. Chiefs and subordinate chief officers who are redundant under the single chain of command, or consolidated shifts established by the Board, shall be eligible to apply for vacancies in positions that may be established under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement entered into by the parties, provided that the positions shall not be available to any person who is already retired and receiving benefits under Article 4 of the Illinois Pension Code. These positions include, but are not limited to, training officer, EMS coordinator, fire inspector, or company officer. Any proposed reduction to a bargaining unit position resulting from the abolishment of a non-bargaining unit position shall be subject to compliance with the bargaining rights of any affected collective bargaining representative.

Upon taking office, the fire chief of the District shall command all shifts covering the unified service area of the units of local government included in the District. The District shall become a body politic and corporate with all the powers, rights, duties, and obligations vested in it under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement and as otherwise provided under the provisions of this Act.

(f) Upon the organization of the District, the duties of each included unit of local government relating to the operation of a fire department and emergency medical services within the boundaries of the District shall be transferred to the Board of the District to be exercised according to the terms of the intergovernmental agreement and as otherwise provided under the provisions of this Act.

(g) Unless otherwise agreed upon, all firefighters and EMS personnel lawfully in the employment of any unit of local government included in the District shall remain members of the fire departments that they were serving on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, but shall be subject to the unified chain of command established under the Board.

A District consisting of any fire department that employs full-time officers or members shall be subject to Sections 16.01 through 16.18 of the Fire Protection District Act unless the terms of the intergovernmental agreement agreed to by the units of local government and the exclusive bargaining agents representing employees engaged in providing fire protection or emergency medical services within the service area of the District provides otherwise.

(h) Contracts in effect between an exclusive bargaining agent and a unit of local government shall continue according to their terms. Successor contracts shall be negotiated in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. Upon agreement of any 2 or more units of local government and corresponding exclusive bargaining representatives, and approval of that agreement by a majority of the members of each respective bargaining unit, any 2 or more bargaining units may be consolidated into a single bargaining unit.

(i) Any unit of local government that is included in a District shall be exempt from any reduction in the formula for distribution of income tax revenues under Section 901 of the Illinois Income Tax Act and personal property replacement tax revenues under subsection (c) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act collected from local taxpayers by State agencies and redistributed to the units of local government based on the formula and laws in effect as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly.

A District shall be eligible to receive the distribution of income tax revenues collected from local taxpayers according to the same formula applicable to municipalities.

Section 65. Levy of taxes; limitations; indebtedness.

(a) To carry out the purposes for which a District is created, a District Board is empowered to take all actions authorized by law and authorized under this Act for the purpose of enforcing payment of any and all contributions and payments required under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement executed under the provisions of this Act.

(b) The inclusion of any unit of local government into a District shall not affect the obligation of any contract entered into by the unit of local government unless otherwise agreed upon in the intergovernmental agreement. Such contracts shall remain the obligation of the unit of local government that incurred the obligation.

The inclusion of units of local government shall not adversely affect proceedings for the collection or enforcement of any tax. The proceedings shall continue to finality as if no inclusion had taken place. The proceeds thereof shall be paid to the treasurer of the unit of local government, subject to the terms of the intergovernmental agreement, to be used for the purpose for which the tax was levied or assessed.

All suits pending in any court on behalf of or against any unit of local government relating to the provision of fire or emergency medical services on the date that the unit of local government is joined into a District under this Act may be prosecuted or defended in the name of the unit of local government unless otherwise provided in the intergovernmental agreement. All judgments obtained for any unit of local government joined into a District shall be collected and enforced by the District for its benefit unless otherwise provided in the intergovernmental agreement.

The title to all property of a unit of local government related to providing fire or emergency medical services in the District that is transferred to the District under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement shall remain vested in the unit of local government to be held for the same purposes and uses, and subject to the same conditions as before inclusion.

(c) Exclusivity. Any intergovernmental contracts otherwise authorized by law that relate to the combination of contracts or the integration of service areas where fire protection or emergency medical services are performed shall be entered into exclusively by referendum in accordance with this Section.

Section 70. Petition to dissolve a District; referendum. The Board of a District may certify and submit the question of dissolution of the District to the electors of the District. The Board may draft a ballot title, give notice as required by the general election law, and perform other duties as required to put the question before the voters of the District for their approval or rejection as a single ballot measure. The electorate consists of the voters voting within the boundaries of the existing District. A simple majority of the registered voters voting on the single ballot measure is required to approve dissolution of the petitioned District. The District shall act in accordance with general election law. The District seeking dissolution is liable for its proportionate share of the costs of the election.

The question shall be in substantially the following form: -

---------------------------

For dissolution of the

.........Regional Fire

Protection Service Authority. -

---------------------------

Against dissolution of the

.........Regional Fire

Protection Service Authority. -

---------------------------

Votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No". If a majority of the votes cast are in favor of the dissolution, the assets, liabilities, obligations, and personnel assigned or belonging to the District shall revert to the component fire protection jurisdictions comprising or contributing to the District, proportional to each fire protection jurisdiction's contribution. All such transfers and reassignments shall be made in an expeditious and timely manner, and no longer than 120 days after the date upon which the District dissolution vote was certified by local election authorities.

Unlike an Intergovernmental Authority, which may convert to an elector-approved authority as provided in Section 30 of this Act, an elector-approved District may not convert to an Intergovernmental Authority, its recourse being dissolution rather than conversion.

Section 75. Intergovernmental Authority and District; dissolution.

A District created by an intergovernmental agreement under Section 30 may be dissolved upon consent of the component fire protection jurisdictions comprising or contributing to the District.

The board of the District seeking dissolution shall publish a written notice of and hold a public hearing on its intention to dissolve the District. If the District is located entirely in one county, the notice shall be published in an English language newspaper of general circulation published in the District, or, if there is no such newspaper, in an English language newspaper of general circulation published in the county and having circulation in the District. If the District is located primarily in one county but extends into smaller portions of adjoining counties, the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in the District, or, if there is no such newspaper, in a newspaper of general circulation published in each county in which any part of the District is located. If the District includes all or a large portion of two or more counties, the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in each county in which any part of the District is located. The notice shall appear not more than 30 and no less than 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing.

All hearings shall be open to the public. The Board shall explain the reasons for the proposed dissolution of the District and shall permit persons an opportunity to present testimony within reasonable time limits as the Board determines.

A simple majority of votes the District is required for dissolution of the District.

Upon approval of dissolution of a District, the assets, liabilities, obligations, and personnel assigned or belonging to the District shall revert to the component fire protection jurisdictions comprising or contributing to the District, in proportion to each fire protection jurisdiction's contribution. All such transfers and reassignments shall be made in an expeditious and timely manner, but no longer than 120 days after the date upon which the District dissolution vote was affirmed by the District Board.

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