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1 | AN ACT concerning local government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Section 11-141-7 as follows:
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6 | (65 ILCS 5/11-141-7) (from Ch. 24, par. 11-141-7)
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7 | Sec. 11-141-7. Powers. The corporate authorities of any | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | municipality that
owns and operates or that may hereafter own | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | and operate a sewerage system
constructed or acquired under the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | provisions of any law of this state may
make, enact, and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | enforce all needful rules, regulations, and ordinances for
the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | improvement, care, and protection of its sewerage system and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | any other
sewer or sewerage system, located outside the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | corporate boundary of the
municipality and not owned by it, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | that directly or indirectly connects with
the municipality's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | sewerage system, which may be conducive to the
preservation of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | the public health, comfort, and convenience, and may render
the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | sewage carried in the sewerage system of the municipality | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | harmless in
so far as it is reasonably possible to do so.
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20 | The corporate authorities of such a municipality may, by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | ordinance,
charge the inhabitants thereof for the use and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | service of its sewerage
system whether by direct or indirect | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | connection therewith within or without
the corporate boundary, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | and to establish charges or rates for that purpose.
The | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | corporate authorities of such a municipality may by ordinance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
26 | charge
the users thereof, whether they be inside of or outside | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
27 | of the
municipality, for the use and service of its sewerage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | system whether by
direct or indirect connection therewith, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | within or without the corporate
boundary, and may establish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
30 | charges or rates for that purpose, provided
however that where | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31 | such users are residents of another municipality with
whom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
32 | there is a contract for use and service of the sewerage system, |
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1 | then
such charges or rates shall be made in accordance with the | ||||||
2 | terms of the
contract, either directly to the users or to the | ||||||
3 | contracting municipality
as may be provided by the provisions | ||||||
4 | of the contract. In making such rates
and charges the | ||||||
5 | municipality may charge a rate to outside users that is | ||||||
6 | reasonable based on the actual costs of providing service to | ||||||
7 | the outside users but that does not exceed the rate fixed for | ||||||
8 | the inhabitants of the municipality; cost documentation shall | ||||||
9 | be provided to outside users in conjunction with contract | ||||||
10 | documents
the municipality may provide for a rate to the | ||||||
11 | outside users in
excess of the rate fixed for the inhabitants | ||||||
12 | of said municipality as may be
reasonable . Where bonds are | ||||||
13 | issued as provided in Sections 11-141-2 and
11-141-3, the | ||||||
14 | corporate authorities shall establish rates or charges as
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15 | provided in this section, and these charges or rates shall be | ||||||
16 | sufficient at
all times to pay the cost of operation and | ||||||
17 | maintenance, to provide an
adequate depreciation fund, and to | ||||||
18 | pay the principal of and interest upon
all revenue bonds issued | ||||||
19 | under Sections 11-141-2 and 11-141-3.
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20 | A depreciation fund is a fund for such replacements as may | ||||||
21 | be necessary
from time to time for the continued effective and | ||||||
22 | efficient operation of
the system. The depreciation fund shall | ||||||
23 | not be allowed to accumulate beyond
a reasonable amount | ||||||
24 | necessary for that purpose, and shall not be used for
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25 | extensions to the system.
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26 | Charges or rates shall be established, revised, and | ||||||
27 | maintained by
ordinance and become payable as the corporate | ||||||
28 | authorities may determine by
ordinance.
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29 | Such charges or rates are liens upon the real estate upon | ||||||
30 | or for which
sewerage service is supplied whenever the charges | ||||||
31 | or rates become
delinquent as provided by the ordinance of the | ||||||
32 | municipality fixing a
delinquency date. A lien is created under | ||||||
33 | the preceding sentence only if the
municipality sends to the | ||||||
34 | owner or owners of record, as referenced by the
taxpayer's | ||||||
35 | identification number, of the real estate (i) a copy of each
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36 | delinquency notice sent to the person who is delinquent in |
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1 | paying the charges
or rates or other notice sufficient to | ||||||
2 | inform the owner or owners of record, as
referenced by the | ||||||
3 | taxpayer's identification number, that the charges or rates
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4 | have become delinquent and (ii) a notice that unpaid charges or | ||||||
5 | rates may
create a lien on the real estate under this Section. | ||||||
6 | However, the municipality
has no preference over the rights of | ||||||
7 | any purchaser, mortgagee, judgment
creditor, or other lien | ||||||
8 | holder arising prior to the filing of the notice of
such a lien | ||||||
9 | in the office of the recorder of the county in which such real
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10 | estate is located, or in the office of the registrar of titles | ||||||
11 | of such county
if the property affected is registered under "An | ||||||
12 | Act concerning land titles",
approved May 1, 1897, as amended. | ||||||
13 | This notice shall consist of a sworn
statement setting out (1) | ||||||
14 | a description of such real estate sufficient for the
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15 | identification thereof, (2) the amount of money due for such | ||||||
16 | sewerage service,
and (3) the date when such amount became | ||||||
17 | delinquent. The municipality shall
send a copy of the notice of | ||||||
18 | the lien to the owner or owners of
record of the real estate, | ||||||
19 | as referenced by the taxpayer's identification
number. The | ||||||
20 | municipality has the power to foreclose this lien in the same
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21 | manner and with the same effect as in the foreclosure of | ||||||
22 | mortgages on real
estate.
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23 | Except in counties with a population of more than 250,000 | ||||||
24 | where the majority
of the municipal sewerage system users are | ||||||
25 | located outside of the
municipality's
corporate limits, the | ||||||
26 | payment of delinquent charges for sewerage service to
any | ||||||
27 | premises may be enforced by discontinuing either the water | ||||||
28 | service or the
sewerage service to that premises, or both.
A | ||||||
29 | rate or charge is delinquent if it is more than 30 days
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30 | overdue. Any public or municipal corporation
or political
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31 | subdivision of the State furnishing water service to a premises | ||||||
32 | (i) shall
discontinue that service upon receiving written | ||||||
33 | notice from the municipality
providing sewerage service that | ||||||
34 | payment of the rate or charge for
sewerage
service to the | ||||||
35 | premises has become delinquent and (ii) shall not resume water
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36 | service until receiving a similar notice that the delinquency |
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1 | has been removed.
The provider of sewerage service shall not | ||||||
2 | request discontinuation of water
service before sending a | ||||||
3 | notice of the delinquency to the sewer user and
affording the | ||||||
4 | user an opportunity to be heard.
An investor-owned public | ||||||
5 | utility providing water service within a municipality
that | ||||||
6 | provides sewerage service may contract with the municipality to
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7 | discontinue
water service to a premises with respect to which | ||||||
8 | the
payment of a rate or charge for sewerage service has become | ||||||
9 | delinquent.
The municipality shall reimburse the privately | ||||||
10 | owned public utility, public or
municipal corporation, or
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11 | political subdivision of the State for the reasonable cost of | ||||||
12 | the
discontinuance and the resumption of water service, any
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13 | lost water service revenues, and the costs of discontinuing | ||||||
14 | water service.
The municipality shall indemnify the privately | ||||||
15 | owned public utility, public or
municipal corporation, or | ||||||
16 | political subdivision of the State for any judgment
and related | ||||||
17 | attorney's fees resulting from an action based on any provision | ||||||
18 | of
this paragraph.
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19 | The municipality also has the power, from time to time, to | ||||||
20 | sue the
occupant or user of that real estate in a civil action | ||||||
21 | to recover money due
for sewerage services, plus a reasonable | ||||||
22 | attorney's fee, to be fixed by the
court. However, whenever a | ||||||
23 | judgment is entered in such a civil action, the
foregoing | ||||||
24 | provisions in this section with respect to filing sworn
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25 | statements of such delinquencies in the office of the recorder | ||||||
26 | and
creating a lien against the real estate shall not be | ||||||
27 | effective as to the
charges sued upon and no lien shall exist | ||||||
28 | thereafter against the real
estate for the delinquency. | ||||||
29 | Judgment in such a civil action operates as a
release and | ||||||
30 | waiver of the lien upon the real estate for the amount of the
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31 | judgment.
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32 | (Source: P.A. 93-500, eff. 6-1-04 .)
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33 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
34 | becoming law.
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