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Public Act 097-0601 | ||||
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AN ACT concerning local government.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by | ||||
changing Section 7-1-1 as follows:
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(65 ILCS 5/7-1-1) (from Ch. 24, par. 7-1-1)
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Sec. 7-1-1. Annexation of contiguous territory. Any | ||||
territory that is not within the corporate limits of any | ||||
municipality but
is contiguous to a municipality may be annexed | ||||
to the municipality as provided
in this Article. For the | ||||
purposes of this Article any territory to be annexed
to a | ||||
municipality shall be considered to be contiguous to the | ||||
municipality
notwithstanding that the territory is separated | ||||
from the municipality by a
strip parcel, railroad or public | ||||
utility right-of-way, or former railroad right-of-way that has | ||||
been converted to a recreational trail, but upon annexation the | ||||
area included
within that strip parcel, right-of-way, or former | ||||
right-of-way shall not be considered to be annexed to the
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municipality. For purposes of this Section, "strip parcel" | ||||
means a separation no wider than 30 feet between the territory | ||||
to be annexed and the municipal boundary.
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Except in counties with a population of more than
600,000
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but
less than 3,000,000, territory which is not contiguous to a |
municipality but is
separated therefrom only by a forest | ||
preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land or open | ||
space that is part of an open space program, as defined in | ||
Section 115-5 of the Township Code, or conservation area, may | ||
be annexed to the
municipality pursuant to Section 7-1-7 or | ||
7-1-8, but
only if the annexing municipality can show that the | ||
forest preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land, | ||
open space, or conservation area
creates an artificial barrier | ||
preventing the annexation and that the location
of the forest | ||
preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land, open | ||
space, or conservation area property prevents the orderly | ||
natural growth of
the annexing municipality. It shall be | ||
conclusively presumed that the forest
preserve district, | ||
federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or conservation | ||
area does not create an artificial barrier if the property | ||
sought
to be annexed is bounded on at least 3 sides by (i) one | ||
or more other
municipalities (other than the municipality | ||
seeking annexation through the
existing forest preserve | ||
district, federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or | ||
conservation area), (ii) forest preserve district property, | ||
federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or conservation | ||
area, or
(iii) a combination of other municipalities and forest | ||
preserve district
property, federal wildlife refuge property, | ||
open land, open space, or conservation area. It shall also be | ||
conclusively presumed that the forest preserve
district, | ||
federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or conservation |
area
does not create an artificial barrier if the municipality | ||
seeking
annexation is not the closest municipality within the | ||
county to the property to be annexed.
The territory included
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within such forest preserve district, federal wildlife refuge,
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open land, open space, or conservation area shall not be | ||
annexed to the municipality
nor shall the territory of the | ||
forest preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land, | ||
open space, or conservation area be subject to
rights-of-way | ||
for access or services between the parts of the municipality
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separated by the forest preserve district, federal wildlife | ||
refuge, open land, open space, or conservation area without the | ||
consent of the governing
body of the forest preserve district | ||
or federal wildlife refuge.
The changes made to this Section by | ||
Public Act 91-824 are
declaratory of existing law and shall not | ||
be construed as a new enactment.
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For the purpose of this Section, "conservation area" means | ||
an area dedicated to conservation and owned by a not-for-profit | ||
organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code | ||
of 1986 , or any area owned by a conservation district . | ||
In counties that are contiguous to the Mississippi River | ||
with populations
of more than 200,000 but less than 255,000, a | ||
municipality that is partially
located in territory that is | ||
wholly surrounded by the Mississippi River and a
canal, | ||
connected at both ends to the Mississippi River and located on | ||
property
owned by the United States of America, may annex | ||
noncontiguous territory in the
surrounded territory under |
Sections 7-1-7, 7-1-8, or 7-1-9 if that territory is
separated | ||
from the municipality by property owned by the United States of
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America, but that federal property shall not be annexed without | ||
the consent of
the federal government.
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For the purposes of this Article, any territory to be | ||
annexed to a municipality that is located in a county with more | ||
than 500,000 inhabitants shall be considered to be contiguous | ||
to the municipality if only a river and a national heritage | ||
corridor separate the territory from the municipality. Upon | ||
annexation, no river or national heritage corridor shall be | ||
considered annexed to the municipality.
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When any land proposed to be annexed is part of any Fire | ||
Protection
District or of any Public Library District and the | ||
annexing
municipality provides fire protection or a public | ||
library, as the case
may be, the Trustees of each District | ||
shall be notified in writing by
certified or registered mail | ||
before any court hearing or other action is
taken for | ||
annexation. The notice shall be served 10 days in advance.
An | ||
affidavit that service of notice has been had as provided by | ||
this
Section must be filed with the clerk of the court in which | ||
the
annexation proceedings are pending or will be instituted | ||
or, when no
court proceedings are involved, with the recorder | ||
for the
county where the land is situated. No annexation of | ||
that land is
effective unless service is had and the affidavit | ||
filed as provided in
this Section.
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The new boundary shall extend to the far side of any |
adjacent highway
and shall include all of every highway within | ||
the area annexed. These
highways shall be considered to be | ||
annexed even though not included in
the legal description set | ||
forth in the petition for annexation. When
any land proposed to | ||
be annexed includes any highway under the
jurisdiction of any | ||
township, the Township Commissioner of Highways,
the Board of | ||
Town Trustees, the Township Supervisor, and the Township Clerk | ||
shall be notified in writing by certified or
registered mail | ||
before any court hearing or other action is taken for
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annexation. In the event that a municipality fails to notify | ||
the Township
Commissioner of Highways, the Board of Town | ||
Trustees, the Township Supervisor, and the Township Clerk of | ||
the annexation
of an area within the township, the municipality | ||
shall reimburse that
township for any loss or liability caused | ||
by the failure to give
notice. If any municipality has annexed | ||
any area before October 1,
1975, and the legal description in | ||
the petition for annexation did not
include the entire adjacent | ||
highway, any such annexation shall be valid and any
highway | ||
adjacent to the area annexed shall be considered to be annexed
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notwithstanding the failure of the petition to annex to include | ||
the
description of the entire adjacent highway.
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Any annexation, disconnection and annexation, or | ||
disconnection under
this Article of any territory must be | ||
reported by certified or
registered mail by the corporate | ||
authority initiating the action to the
election authorities | ||
having jurisdiction in the territory and the post
office |
branches serving the territory within 30 days of the | ||
annexation,
disconnection and annexation, or disconnection.
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Failure to give notice to the required election authorities | ||
or
post office branches will not invalidate the annexation or
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disconnection. For purposes of this Section "election | ||
authorities"
means the county clerk where the clerk acts as the | ||
clerk of elections
or the clerk of the election commission | ||
having jurisdiction.
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No annexation, disconnection and annexation, or | ||
disconnection under
this Article of territory having electors | ||
residing therein made (1)
before any primary election to be | ||
held within the municipality
affected thereby and after the | ||
time for filing petitions as a candidate
for nomination to any | ||
office to be chosen at the primary election or (2) within
60 | ||
days before any general election to be held within the | ||
municipality shall be
effective until the day after the date of | ||
the primary or general election, as
the case may be.
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For the purpose of this Section, a toll highway or | ||
connection between
parcels via an overpass bridge over a toll | ||
highway shall not be
considered a deterrent to the definition | ||
of contiguous territory.
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When territory is proposed to be annexed
by court order | ||
under this Article, the corporate
authorities or petitioners
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initiating the action shall notify each person who pays real | ||
estate taxes on
property within that territory unless the | ||
person is a petitioner. The notice
shall be served
by certified
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or registered mail, return receipt requested, at least 20 days | ||
before a court
hearing or other court action.
If the person
who | ||
pays real estate taxes on the property is not the owner of
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record, then the payor shall notify the owner of record of the | ||
proposed
annexation.
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(Source: P.A. 95-174, eff. 1-1-08; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; | ||
96-1233, eff. 7-23-10.)
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