20 ILCS 3501/825-80

(20 ILCS 3501/825-80)

Sec. 825-80. Fire truck revolving loan program.

(a) This Section is a continuation and re-enactment of the fire truck revolving loan program enacted as Section 3-27 of the Rural Bond Bank Act by Public Act 93-35, effective June 24, 2003, and repealed by Public Act 93-205, effective January 1, 2004. Under the Rural Bond Bank Act, the program was administered by the Rural Bond Bank and the State Fire Marshal.

(a-5) For purposes of this Section, "brush truck" means a pickup chassis with or equipped with a flatbed or a pickup box. The truck must be rated by the manufacturer as between three-fourths of a ton and one ton and outfitted with a fire or rescue apparatus.

(b) The Authority and the State Fire Marshal may jointly administer a fire truck revolving loan program. The program shall, in instances where sufficient loan funds exist to permit applications to be accepted, provide zero-interest and low-interest loans for the purchase of fire trucks by a fire department, a fire protection district, or a township fire department. For the purchase of brush trucks by a fire department, a fire protection district, or a township fire department, the program shall provide loans at a 2% rate of simple interest per year for a brush truck if both the chassis and the apparatus are built outside of Illinois, a 1% rate of simple interest per year for a brush truck if either the chassis or the apparatus is built in Illinois, or a 0% rate of interest for a brush truck if both the chassis and the apparatus are built in Illinois. The Authority shall make loans based on need, as determined by the State Fire Marshal.

(c) The loan funds, subject to appropriation, shall be paid out of the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund, a special fund in the State Treasury. The Fund shall consist of any moneys transferred or appropriated into the Fund, as well as all repayments of loans made under the program and any balance existing in the Fund on the effective date of this Section. The Fund shall be used for loans to fire departments and fire protection districts to purchase fire trucks and brush trucks and for no other purpose. All interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall be deposited into the Fund. As soon as practical after January 1, 2013 (the effective date of Public Act 97-901), all moneys in the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund shall be paid by the State Fire Marshal to the Authority, and, on and after that date, all future moneys deposited into the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund under this Section shall be paid by the State Fire Marshal to the Authority under the continuing appropriation provision of subsection (c-1) of this Section; provided that the Authority and the State Fire Marshal enter into an intergovernmental agreement to use the moneys transferred to the Authority from the Fund solely for the purposes for which the moneys would otherwise be used under this Section and to set forth procedures to otherwise administer the use of the moneys.

(c-1) There is hereby appropriated, on a continuing annual basis in each fiscal year, from the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund, the amount, if any, of funds received into the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund to the State Fire Marshal for payment to the Authority for the purposes for which the moneys would otherwise be used under this Section.

(d) A loan for the purchase of fire trucks or brush trucks may not exceed $350,000 to any fire department or fire protection district. A loan for the purchase of brush trucks may not exceed $100,000 per truck. The repayment period for the loan may not exceed 20 years. The fire department or fire protection district shall repay each year at least 5% of the principal amount borrowed or the remaining balance of the loan, whichever is less. All repayments of loans shall be deposited into the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund.

(e) The Authority and the State Fire Marshal may adopt rules in accordance with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to administer the program.

(f) Notwithstanding the repeal of Section 3-27 of the Rural Bond Bank Act, all otherwise lawful actions taken on or after January 1, 2004 and before the effective date of this Section by any person under the authority originally granted by that Section 3-27, including without limitation the granting, acceptance, and repayment of loans for the purchase of fire trucks, are hereby validated, and the rights and obligations of all parties to any such loan are hereby acknowledged and confirmed.

(Source: P.A. 97-900, eff. 8-6-12; 97-901, eff. 1-1-13; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13; 98-662, eff. 6-23-14.)