(315 ILCS 20/2) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 252)
Sec. 2.
Necessity and purpose of act and declaration of public policy and public
use.
There exist in certain urban areas of the State these degenerative
conditions, at once both characteristic and causative of Slum and Blight
Areas, namely:
(1) Disproportionate tax delinquency and consequent inadequacy of tax
payments in relation to the cost of State and municipal services rendered;
(2) Economic deterioration of properties and impaired investments;
(3) A constant exodus of the population of such areas resulting in the
further deterioration of such areas and in added costs to the
municipalities of this State for the creation of new public facilities and
services elsewhere;
(4) Age, physical deterioration or obsolescence of improvements in such
areas particularly those improvements affording family accommodations, to
such a degree as to render such areas unfit and unsafe for human use and
habitation; and
(5) Prevalence of the factors conducive to ill health, transmission of
disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, crime and poverty.
Such Slum and Blight Areas are usually situated in the older and more
centrally located portions of the cities, villages and incorporated towns
involved and, once existing, spread unless eradicated. As a result of these
degenerative conditions, the territories and properties embraced in Slum
and Blight Areas fall into a state of non-productiveness, fail to share
their due and proper portion of the taxes necessary for the support of the
municipalities within whose boundaries they are situated, and ultimately
become waste territories, economic and social, producing but a meager,
while consuming a disproportionate, share of the public revenue raised by
government to defray the cost of police and fire protection, to preserve
the public health and to promote the general welfare. The drain upon the
public revenue necessitated by Slum and Blight Areas, if they are permitted
to remain and spread, will impair these indispensable governmental
functions not only as to such areas but as to the municipalities and the
State as well.
The elimination of these degenerative conditions, and the rehabilitation
and rebuilding of Slum and Blight Areas, is in the best interests of the
health, morals, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the State.
The accomplishment of these ends by private initiative, through
Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporations, supervised and regulated by the
public, should be fostered, encouraged and aided. Accordingly, such
elimination and rehabilitation and rebuilding, through the activities of
Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporations as provided by this Act, are hereby
declared to be a public use, and Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporations,
for these purposes, are hereby authorized to be created with the powers and
subject to the public supervision and regulation as hereinafter set forth.
(Source: Laws 1941, vol. 1, p. 431.)
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