70 ILCS 3610/5

(70 ILCS 3610/5) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 355)

Sec. 5. (a) The Board of Trustees of every District may establish or acquire any or all manner of mass transit facility. The Board may engage in the business of transportation of passengers on scheduled routes and by contract on nonscheduled routes within the territorial limits of the counties or municipalities creating the District, by whatever means it may decide. Its routes may be extended beyond such territorial limits with the consent of the governing bodies of the municipalities or counties into which such operation is extended.

(b) The Board of Trustees of every District may for the purposes of the District, acquire by gift, purchase, lease, legacy, condemnation, or otherwise and hold, use, improve, maintain, operate, own, manage or lease, as lessor or lessee, such cars, buses, equipment, buildings, structures, real and personal property, and interests therein, and services, lands for terminal and other related facilities, improvements and services, or any interest therein, including all or any part of the plant, land, buildings, equipment, vehicles, licenses, franchises, patents, property, service contracts and agreements of every kind and nature. Real property may be so acquired if it is situated within or partially within the area served by the District or if it is outside the area if it is desirable or necessary for the purposes of the District.

(c) The Board of Trustees of every District which establishes, provides, or acquires mass transit facilities or services may contract with any person or corporation or public or private entity for the operation or provision thereof upon such terms and conditions as the District shall determine.

(d) The Board of Trustees of every District shall have the authority to contract for any and all purposes of the District, including with an interstate transportation authority, or with another local Mass Transit District or any other municipal, public, or private corporation entity in the transportation business including the authority to contract to lease its or otherwise provide land, buildings, and equipment, and other related facilities, improvements, and services, for the carriage of passengers beyond the territorial limits of the District or to subsidize transit operations by a public or private or municipal corporation operating entity providing mass transit facilities.

(e) The Board of Trustees of every District shall have the authority to establish, alter and discontinue transportation routes and services and any or all ancillary or supporting facilities and services, and to establish and amend rate schedules for the transportation of persons thereon or for the public or private use thereof which rate schedules shall, together with any grants, receipts or income from other sources, be sufficient to pay the expenses of the District, the repair, maintenance and the safe and adequate operation of its mass transit facilities and public mass transportation system and to fulfill the terms of its debts, undertakings, and obligations.

(f) The Board of Trustees of every District shall have perpetual succession and shall have the following powers in addition to any others in this Act granted:

(1) to sue and be sued;

(2) to adopt and use a seal;

(3) to make and execute contracts loans, leases, subleases, installment purchase agreements, contracts, notes and other instruments evidencing financial obligations, and other instruments necessary or convenient in the exercise of its powers;

(4) to make, amend and repeal bylaws, rules and regulations not inconsistent with this Act, including rules and regulations proper or necessary to regulate the use, operation, and maintenance of its properties and facilities and to carry into effect the powers granted to the Board of Trustees, with any necessary fines or penalties, such as the suspension of riding privileges or confiscation of fare media under Section 5.6, as the Board deems proper;

(5) to sell, lease, sublease, license, transfer, convey or otherwise dispose of any of its real or personal property, or interests therein, in whole or in part, at any time upon such terms and conditions as it may determine, with public bidding if the value exceeds $1,000 at negotiated, competitive, public, or private sale;

(6) to invest funds, not required for immediate disbursement, in property, agreements, or securities legal for investment of public funds controlled by savings banks under applicable law;

(7) to mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or otherwise encumber all or any part of its real or personal property or other assets, or interests therein;

(8) to apply for, accept and use grants, loans or other financial assistance from any private entity or municipal, county, State or Federal governmental agency or other public entity;

(9) to borrow money from the United States Government or any agency thereof, or from any other public or private source, for the purposes of the District and, as evidence thereof, to issue its revenue bonds, payable solely from the revenue derived from the operation of the District. These bonds may be issued with maturities not exceeding 40 years from the date of the bonds, and in such amounts as may be necessary to provide sufficient funds, together with interest, for the purposes of the District. These bonds shall bear interest at a rate of not more than the maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the making of the contract of sale, payable semi-annually, may be made registerable as to principal, and may be made payable and callable as provided on any interest payment date at a price of par and accrued interest under such terms and conditions as may be fixed by the ordinance authorizing the issuance of the bonds. Bonds issued under this Section are negotiable instruments. They shall be executed by the chairman and members of the Board of Trustees, attested by the secretary, and shall be sealed with the corporate seal of the District. In case any Trustee or officer whose signature appears on the bonds or coupons ceases to hold that office before the bonds are delivered, such officer's signature, shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes, the same as though such officer had remained in office until the bonds were delivered. The bonds shall be sold in such manner and upon such terms as the Board of Trustees shall determine, except that the selling price shall be such that the interest cost to the District of the proceeds of the bonds shall not exceed the maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the making of the contract of sale, payable semi-annually, computed to maturity according to the standard table of bond values.

The ordinance shall fix the amount of revenue bonds proposed to be issued, the maturity or maturities, the interest rate, which shall not exceed the maximum rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at the time of the making of the contract of sale, and all the details in connection with the bonds. The ordinance may contain such covenants and restrictions upon the issuance of additional revenue bonds thereafter, which will share equally in the revenue of the District, as may be deemed necessary or advisable for the assurance of the payment of the bonds first issued. Any District may also provide in the ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds under this Section that the bonds, or such ones thereof as may be specified, shall, to the extent and in the manner prescribed, be subordinated and be junior in standing, with respect to the payment of principal and interest and the security thereof, to such other bonds as are designated in the ordinance.

The ordinance shall pledge the revenue derived from the operations of the District for the purpose of paying the cost of operation and maintenance of the District, and, as applicable, providing adequate depreciation funds, and paying the principal of and interest on the bonds of the District issued under this Section;

(10) subject to Section 5.1, to levy a tax on property within the District at the rate of not to exceed .25% on the assessed value of such property in the manner provided in the Illinois Municipal Budget Law;

(11) to issue tax anticipation warrants;

(12) to contract with any school district in this State to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school within such district pursuant to the provisions of Section 29-15 of the School Code;

(13) to provide for the insurance of any property, directors, officers, employees or operations of the District against any risk or hazard, and to self-insure or participate in joint self-insurance pools or entities to insure against such risk or hazard;

(14) to use its established funds, personnel, and other resources to acquire, construct, operate, and maintain bikeways and trails. Districts may cooperate with other governmental and private agencies in bikeway and trail programs; and

(15) to acquire, own, maintain, construct, reconstruct, improve, repair, operate or lease any light-rail public transportation system, terminal, terminal facility, public airport, or bridge or toll bridge across waters with any city, state, or both.

With respect to instruments for the payment of money issued under this Section either before, on, or after June 6, 1989 (the effective date of Public Act 86-4), it is and always has been the intention of the General Assembly (i) that the Omnibus Bond Acts are and always have been supplementary grants of power to issue instruments in accordance with the Omnibus Bond Acts, regardless of any provision of this Act that may appear to be or to have been more restrictive than those Acts, (ii) that the provisions of this Section are not a limitation on the supplementary authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts, and (iii) that instruments issued under this Section within the supplementary authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts are not invalid because of any provision of this Act that may appear to be or to have been more restrictive than those Acts.

This Section shall be liberally construed to give effect to its purposes.

(Source: P.A. 103-281, eff. 1-1-24.)