70 ILCS 705/19a

(70 ILCS 705/19a) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 38.2a)

Sec. 19a. (a) In any county having a population of more than 600,000 but less than 1,000,000, territory located within the corporate limits of any municipality and which is included within the limits of any fire protection district may be disconnected from the district and transferred to another district providing fire protection service within such municipality and to which the territory is contiguous, in the manner hereinafter set forth, if: (1) the municipality does not provide fire protection service; (2) the territory comprises all of that portion of a fire protection district located within such municipality; (3) the territory would receive equal or greater benefits from the district to which it seeks to be transferred; (4) the district to which the transfer is sought to be made provides fire protection service to more than 70% of the territory of the municipality; and (5) the trustees of the district to which the transfer is sought to be made do not file a written refusal to accept the territory within the time hereinafter specified.

(b) Territory disconnected pursuant to this Section shall remain liable for its proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness outstanding as of the date of disconnection, if any, of the district from which it was disconnected, and shall assume a proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness, if any, of the district to which it is transferred.

(c) Five percent or more of the legal voters residing within the limits of the territory proposed to be transferred may file a petition, in the court of the county where the district to which it seeks to be transferred is organized, setting forth: the description of the territory sought to be transferred; that the territory is located within the corporate limits of a municipality; that the district to which the transfer is sought provides fire protection service within such municipality; that the territory is contiguous to the district to which the transfer is sought to be made; that such municipality does not provide fire protection service; that the territory comprises all of that portion of a fire protection district located within such municipality; that the territory will receive equal or greater benefits from the district to which it seeks the transfer; that the district to which the transfer is sought to be made provides fire protection service to more than 70% of the territory of such municipality; and the amount of any outstanding bonded indebtedness against the district or districts in which the territory is then situated which has been incurred pursuant to this Act; and praying that the question whether the transfer shall be made, and whether the voters of such territory shall remain liable for a proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness outstanding as of the date of the transfer, if any, of the district from which it was transferred and also assume a proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness, if any, of the district to which the transfer is to be made, be submitted to the voters of the territory sought to be transferred.

(d) Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall set a day for hearing, not less than 2 weeks nor more than 4 weeks from the filing thereof, and the court, or the circuit clerk or sheriff upon order of the court, shall give 2 weeks notice of such hearing in one or more daily or weekly newspapers of general circulation in the county or in each county wherein the district or districts from which the territory sought to be transferred is organized, and by posting at least 10 copies of the notice in conspicuous places in the district or in each of the districts from which the territory is sought to be transferred, and in addition shall cause a copy of the notice to be personally served upon each of the trustees of the district to which the transfer is sought to be made at least one week before the date set for the hearing. In such notice, or in any accompanying notice to be served upon the trustees at the same time, a recital shall be made stating that the trustees may at any time prior to the date of the hearing, or within such additional time as may be granted by the court upon request in writing filed on or before such date, file a written refusal to accept the territory as part of their district. However, such notification need not be given to the trustees if they file in the proceeding their written appearances or written consent to a transfer of the territory to their district.

(e) At any time prior to the date set for the hearing, or within such additional time as may be granted by the court, the trustees of the district to which the transfer is sought to be made may file a written refusal to accept the territory as part of their district and in case of such refusal the court shall enter an order dismissing the petition for the transfer. The trustees may withdraw their refusal at any time prior to the entry of an order dismissing the petition. In case the trustees fail to file a written refusal within the time hereinbefore authorized, they shall be deemed to have consented to a transfer of the territory to their district, and consent once given may not be withdrawn without leave of court for good cause shown. In case of such consent, the court shall proceed with the matter as herein provided, but if the court finds that any of the conditions herein required for the making of a transfer do not exist it shall enter an order dismissing the petition. In taking any action upon the petition, the findings of the court shall become a part of the court record in the case.

(f) All property owners in the district from which the transfer is sought, and all persons interested therein, may file objections, and at the hearing may appear and contest the transfer and the matters averred in the petition, and objectors and petitioners may offer any competent evidence in regard thereto. In addition, all persons residing in or interested in any of the property situated in the territory sought to be transferred shall have an opportunity to be heard regarding the location and boundary of the territory to be voted upon for such transfer, and may make suggestions about such matters.

(g) If the court shall, upon hearing the petition, find that the territory described in the petition would receive equal or greater benefits by being so transferred and meet the conditions hereinbefore set forth, it shall certify to the proper election officials the question of whether the territory shall be transferred, and its order, and such officials shall submit that question at an election in such territory in accordance with the general election law. The proposition shall be in substantially the following form:

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

For making the transfer from the

.......... Fire Protection

District to the .......... Fire

Protection District, remaining liable

for a proportionate share of the bonded

indebtedness outstanding as of the date

of disconnection, if any, of the district

from which disconnection is proposed,

and also assuming a proportionate

share of the bonded indebtedness, if

any, of the district to which transfer

is proposed.

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

Against making the transfer from

the .......... Fire Protection

District to the ..........

Fire Protection District, remaining

liable for a proportionate share of

the bonded indebtedness outstanding

as of the date of disconnection, if

any, of the district from which

disconnection is proposed, and also

assuming a proportionate share of the

bonded indebtedness, if any, of the

district to which the transfer is proposed.

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

(h) If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of making the transfer shall be in favor of the transfer, the territory shall thenceforth cease to be a part of the fire protection district or districts to which it has been attached and shall become an integral part of the fire protection district to which the transfer shall have been sought and shall be subject to all the enjoyments and responsibilities of the latter district. In each case in which a transfer is effected pursuant to the provisions hereof, the circuit clerk in whose court the transfer proceedings have been conducted shall certify copies of all orders entered in effecting such transfer and file or send them to the proper county clerk or clerks for filing and to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

(Source: P.A. 85-556.)