Full Text of SB2598 98th General Assembly
SB2598enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | SB2598 Enrolled | | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | AN ACT concerning transportation.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Highway Code is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 6-501 as follows:
| 6 | | (605 ILCS 5/6-501) (from Ch. 121, par. 6-501)
| 7 | | Sec. 6-501. (a) Findings and purpose. The General Assembly | 8 | | finds:
| 9 | | (1) That the financial conditions of the Township and | 10 | | District road
systems of the State of Illinois have | 11 | | suffered adversely as a result of
changes in law concerning | 12 | | assessed valuation of property for tax purposes.
That as a | 13 | | result of the changes beginning in 1945, the rates of
| 14 | | permissible levy were first halved to accommodate full fair | 15 | | value, but
never restored when subsequent law change | 16 | | established the legal assessed
valuation at 50% of fair | 17 | | market value as equalized by the Department of
Revenue.
| 18 | | (2) Townships and district road systems, as a result of | 19 | | the decreased
financial support, have suffered a decline in | 20 | | ability to maintain or
improve roads and bridges in a safe | 21 | | condition to permit the normal and
ordinary use of its | 22 | | highway system. In many instances bridges have been
closed | 23 | | and detours required because of impossible road conditions |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 2 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | resulting
in hardships for school districts in | 2 | | transporting pupils and for farms in
moving products to | 3 | | market.
| 4 | | (3) Further, cost for maintenance and improvements | 5 | | have risen faster
than the valuations of property, the base | 6 | | of financial support.
| 7 | | (4) To solve these problems, this Act makes changes in | 8 | | rates of taxation
-- returning Townships and District road | 9 | | systems to their approximate
financial viability prior to | 10 | | 1945.
| 11 | | (b) The highway commissioner for each road district in each | 12 | | county not
under township organization shall on or before the | 13 | | third Tuesday in December
of each year determine and certify to | 14 | | the county board the amount necessary
to be raised by taxation | 15 | | for road purposes and for the salaries of
elected road district | 16 | | officials in the road district.
| 17 | | Should any highway commissioner during the last year of his | 18 | | term of
office for any reason not file the certificate in the | 19 | | office of the county
clerk, as required by this Section, in | 20 | | time for presentation to the regular
September meeting of the | 21 | | county board, the clerk shall present in lieu
thereof a | 22 | | certificate equal in amount to that presented for the preceding | 23 | | year.
| 24 | | In every such county the certificate shall be filed in the | 25 | | office of the
county clerk and by that official presented to | 26 | | the county board at the
regular September meeting for the |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 3 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | consideration of the board. The amount so
certified if approved | 2 | | by the county board, or the part thereof as the
county board | 3 | | does approve, shall be extended by the county clerk as road
| 4 | | taxes against the taxable property of the district.
| 5 | | (c) The highway commissioner in each road district in each | 6 | | county having
adopted township organization shall in | 7 | | accordance with the Illinois
Municipal Budget Law at least 30 | 8 | | days prior to the public meeting required by
this paragraph, | 9 | | each year prepare or cause to be prepared a tentative budget
| 10 | | and appropriation ordinance and file the same with the clerk of | 11 | | the township or
consolidated township road district, as the | 12 | | case may be, who shall make the
tentative budget and | 13 | | appropriation ordinance conveniently available to the
public | 14 | | inspection for at least 30 days prior to final action. One | 15 | | public
hearing shall be held. This public hearing shall be held | 16 | | on or before the last
day of the first quarter of the fiscal | 17 | | year before the township board of
trustees or the highway board | 18 | | of trustees, as the case may be. Notice of the
hearing shall be | 19 | | given by publication in a newspaper published in the road
| 20 | | district at least 30 days prior to the time of the hearing. If | 21 | | there is no
newspaper published in the road district, notice of | 22 | | the public hearing shall be
given by posting notices in 5 of | 23 | | the most public places in the district. It
shall be the duty of | 24 | | the clerk of the road district to arrange for the public
| 25 | | hearing. The township board of trustees or highway board of | 26 | | trustees, as the
case may be, at the public hearing shall adopt |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 4 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | the tentative budget and
appropriation ordinance, or any part | 2 | | as the board of trustees deem necessary.
| 3 | | On or before the last Tuesday in December the township | 4 | | board of
trustees or highway board of trustees or road district | 5 | | commissioner, as
the case may be, shall levy and certify to the | 6 | | county clerk the amount
necessary to be raised by taxation for | 7 | | road purposes and the road district
commissioner shall levy and | 8 | | certify to the county clerk the amount necessary to
be raised | 9 | | by taxation for the salaries of elected road district officials | 10 | | in
the road district, as determined by the highway | 11 | | commissioner.
| 12 | | The amount so certified shall be extended by the county | 13 | | clerk as road
taxes against the taxable property of the | 14 | | district.
| 15 | | On or after October 10, 1991, a road district commissioner | 16 | | whose district is
located in a county not under township | 17 | | organization may not levy separately
a tax for
salaries of | 18 | | elected road district officials unless the tax has been first
| 19 | | approved by a majority of the electors voting on the question | 20 | | at a referendum
conducted in accordance with the general | 21 | | election law. The question submitted
to the electors at the | 22 | | referendum shall be in substantially the following form:
"Shall | 23 | | the road district commissioner be authorized to levy an annual | 24 | | tax for
the salaries of elected road district officials under | 25 | | Section 6-501 of the
Illinois Highway Code?"
| 26 | | Except as is otherwise permitted by this Code and when the |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 5 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | road district
commissioner establishes the tax rate for the | 2 | | salaries of elected road
district officials, the county clerk | 3 | | shall not extend taxes for road
purposes against the taxable | 4 | | property in any road district at rates in
excess of the | 5 | | following:
| 6 | | (1) in a road district comprised of a single township | 7 | | in a county
having township organization, at a rate in | 8 | | excess of .125% of the value, as
equalized or assessed by | 9 | | the Department of Revenue; unless before the
last Tuesday | 10 | | in December annually the highway commissioner of
the | 11 | | township road district shall have secured the consent in | 12 | | writing of a
majority of the members of the township board | 13 | | of trustees to the extension
of a greater rate, in which | 14 | | case the rate shall not
exceed that approved by a majority | 15 | | of the members of the township board of
trustees, but in no | 16 | | case shall it exceed .165% of the value, as
equalized or | 17 | | assessed by the Department. Once approved by the township
| 18 | | board of trustees, the rate shall remain in effect until | 19 | | changed by the
township board of trustees;
| 20 | | (2) in a consolidated township road district, at a rate | 21 | | in excess of
.175% of the value, as equalized or assessed | 22 | | by the Department of Revenue;
| 23 | | (3) in a road district in a county not having township | 24 | | organization, at a
rate in excess of .165% of the value, as | 25 | | equalized or assessed by the
Department of Revenue.
| 26 | | However, road districts that have higher tax rate |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 6 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | limitations on a
permanent basis for road purposes on July 1, | 2 | | 1967, than the limitations
herein provided, may continue to | 3 | | levy the road taxes at the higher
limitations, and the county | 4 | | clerk shall extend the taxes at not to exceed
the higher | 5 | | limitations.
| 6 | | If the amount of taxes levied by the township board of | 7 | | trustees or the
highway board of trustees or approved by the | 8 | | county board in any case is in
excess of the amount that may be | 9 | | extended the county clerk shall reduce
the amount so that the | 10 | | rate extended shall be no greater than authorized
by law. | 11 | | However, the tax shall not be reduced or scaled in any manner
| 12 | | whatever by reason of the levy and extension by the county | 13 | | clerk of any tax
to pay the principal or interest, or both, of | 14 | | any bonds issued by a road
district.
| 15 | | The taxes, when collected, shall be held by the treasurer | 16 | | of the district
as the regular road fund of the district.
| 17 | | Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for a period of | 18 | | time ending 18
years after the effective date of this | 19 | | amendatory Act of 1994, a road district
or consolidated road | 20 | | district may accumulate up to 50% of the taxes collected
from a | 21 | | subdivision under this Section for improvements of | 22 | | nondedicated
roads within the subdivision from which and for
| 23 | | which the taxes were collected. These nondedicated roads will | 24 | | become a part of
the
township and district road system if the | 25 | | roads meet the criteria established by
the counties in which | 26 | | the roads are located. The total accumulations under
this |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 7 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | provision may not exceed 10% of the total funds held by the
| 2 | | district for
road purposes. This provision applies only to | 3 | | townships within counties
adjacent to a county with a | 4 | | population of 3,000,000 or more and only with
respect to | 5 | | subdivisions whose plats were filed or recorded before July 23,
| 6 | | 1959.
| 7 | | Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for a period of | 8 | | time ending 10
years after the effective date of this | 9 | | amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, a road district
or | 10 | | consolidated road district may accumulate up to 50% of the | 11 | | taxes collected
from a subdivision under this Section for | 12 | | improvements of nondedicated
roads within the subdivision from | 13 | | which and for
which the taxes were collected. These | 14 | | nondedicated roads will become a part of
the
township and | 15 | | district road system if the roads meet the criteria established | 16 | | by
the counties in which the roads are located. The total | 17 | | accumulations under
this provision may not exceed 10% of the | 18 | | total funds held by the
district for
road purposes. This | 19 | | provision applies only to townships within counties
adjacent to | 20 | | a county with a population of 3,000,000 or more and only with
| 21 | | respect to subdivisions whose plats were filed or recorded | 22 | | before July 23,
1959. | 23 | | Any road district may accumulate funds for the purpose of | 24 | | acquiring,
constructing, repairing and improving buildings and | 25 | | procuring land in
relation to the building and for the purpose | 26 | | of procuring road maintenance
apparatus and equipment, and for |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 8 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | the construction of roads, and may
annually levy taxes for the | 2 | | purposes in excess of its current requirements
for other | 3 | | purposes, subject to the tax rate limitations provided in this
| 4 | | Section, provided a proposition to accumulate funds for the | 5 | | purposes is
first submitted to and approved by the electors of | 6 | | the district. The
proposition shall be certified to the proper | 7 | | election officials by the
district clerk upon the direction of | 8 | | the highway commissioner, and the
election officials shall | 9 | | submit the proposition at a regular election.
Notice and | 10 | | conduct of the referendum shall be in accordance with the
| 11 | | general election law. The proposition shall be in substantially | 12 | | the
following form:
| 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------
| 14 | | Shall .......... road district
| 15 | | accumulate funds in the amount
| 16 | | of $......... for ........ years YES
| 17 | | for the purpose of acquiring,
| 18 | | constructing, repairing and improving --------------------
| 19 | | buildings and procuring land
| 20 | | therefor, and for procuring road NO
| 21 | | maintenance apparatus and equipment
| 22 | | and for the construction of roads?
| 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------
| 24 | | If a majority of the electors voting on the proposition | 25 | | vote in
favor of it, the road district may use a portion of the | 26 | | funds levied,
subject to the tax rate limitations provided in |
| | | SB2598 Enrolled | - 9 - | LRB098 13500 MLW 48023 b |
|
| 1 | | this Section, for the
purposes for which accumulation was | 2 | | authorized. It shall not be a valid
objection to any subsequent | 3 | | tax levy made under this Section, that there
remains unexpended | 4 | | money arising from the levy of a prior year because
of an | 5 | | accumulation permitted by this Section and provided for in the
| 6 | | budget for that prior year.
| 7 | | (d) Any road district may accumulate moneys in a dedicated | 8 | | fund for a
specific
capital construction or maintenance project | 9 | | or a major equipment purchase
without submitting a proposition | 10 | | to the electors of the district if the annual
budget and | 11 | | appropriation ordinance for the road district states the | 12 | | amount,
purpose, and duration of any accumulation of funds | 13 | | authorized under this
Section, with specific reference to each | 14 | | project to be constructed or equipment
to be purchased. Nothing | 15 | | in this subsection precludes a road district from
accumulating | 16 | | moneys for non-specific purposes as provided in this Section.
| 17 | | (Source: P.A. 92-395, eff. 8-16-01; 92-656, eff. 7-16-02 .)
| 18 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 19 | | becoming law.
|
|