Bill Text: IL HB6041 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Amends the Fire Protection District Act. Provides that a petition to disconnect territory from a fire protection district that would cause serious injury to a fire protection district shall be dismissed. Defines serious injury. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Passed) 2016-08-05 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 99-0715 [HB6041 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HB6041-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Amends the Fire Protection District Act. Provides that a petition to disconnect territory from a fire protection district that would cause serious injury to a fire protection district shall be dismissed. Defines serious injury. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Passed) 2016-08-05 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 99-0715 [HB6041 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HB6041-Engrossed.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning local government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 16 as follows:
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6 | (70 ILCS 705/16) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 37)
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7 | Sec. 16. In order to facilitate circumstances in which fire | ||||||
8 | protection may be materially improved by adjustment of | ||||||
9 | jurisdictional boundaries of adjoining fire protection | ||||||
10 | districts without impairing the overall provision of fire | ||||||
11 | protection services in the adjoining districts,
territory | ||||||
12 | Territory included within the limits of any fire protection | ||||||
13 | district
may be disconnected from the district and added to | ||||||
14 | another district to which
the territory is contiguous, in the | ||||||
15 | manner hereinafter set forth; (1) if
the territory would | ||||||
16 | receive equal or greater benefits from the district
to which it | ||||||
17 | seeks to be transferred; (2) if the transfer will not cause
the | ||||||
18 | territory remaining in the district from which the transfer is | ||||||
19 | to be
made, to be noncontiguous; (3) if the transfer will not | ||||||
20 | cause a serious
injury to the district from which the transfer | ||||||
21 | is to be made; and, (4)
if the trustees of the district to | ||||||
22 | which the transfer is sought to be made
do not file a written | ||||||
23 | refusal to accept the territory within the time hereinafter
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1 | provided.
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2 | Territory disconnected pursuant to this Section shall | ||||||
3 | remain liable for
its proportionate share of the bonded | ||||||
4 | indebtedness outstanding as of the
date of disconnection, if | ||||||
5 | any, of the district from which it was disconnected
and shall | ||||||
6 | assume a proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness, if | ||||||
7 | any,
of the district to which it is transferred.
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8 | Five One per cent or more of the legal voters residing | ||||||
9 | within the limits of
the territory proposed to be transferred | ||||||
10 | may file a petition, in the court
of the county where the | ||||||
11 | district to which it seeks to be transferred is
organized, | ||||||
12 | setting forth: the description of the territory sought to be
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13 | transferred; that the territory would receive equal or greater | ||||||
14 | benefits
by the transfer; that the transfer will not cause a | ||||||
15 | serious injury to the
district or districts from which the | ||||||
16 | transfer is proposed to be made; and
the amount of any | ||||||
17 | outstanding bonded indebtedness against the district or
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18 | districts in which the territory is then situated which has | ||||||
19 | been incurred
pursuant to this Act; and praying that the | ||||||
20 | question whether the transfer
shall be made, and whether the | ||||||
21 | voters of such territory shall remain liable
for a | ||||||
22 | proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness outstanding as | ||||||
23 | of the
date of disconnection, if any, of the district from | ||||||
24 | which it was disconnected
and also assume a proportionate share | ||||||
25 | of the bonded indebtedness, if any,
of the district to which | ||||||
26 | the transfer is to be made, be submitted to the
voters of the |
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1 | entire district from which the transfer is sought to be made | ||||||
2 | territory sought to be transferred .
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3 | Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall set a day | ||||||
4 | for hearing,
not less than 2 weeks nor more than 4 weeks from | ||||||
5 | the filing thereof, and
the court, or the circuit clerk or | ||||||
6 | sheriff upon order of the court, (i) shall
give 2 weeks notice | ||||||
7 | of such hearing in one or more daily or weekly newspapers
of | ||||||
8 | general circulation in the county or in each county wherein the | ||||||
9 | district
or districts from which the territory sought to be | ||||||
10 | transferred is organized
and by posting at least 10 copies of | ||||||
11 | the notice in conspicuous places in
the district or in each of | ||||||
12 | the districts from which the territory is sought
to be | ||||||
13 | transferred, (ii) shall cause a copy of the notice to be | ||||||
14 | personally served upon each trustee of the district from which | ||||||
15 | the transfer is sought to be made, and (iii) in addition shall | ||||||
16 | cause a copy of the notice to be
personally served upon each of | ||||||
17 | the trustees of the district to which the
transfer is sought to | ||||||
18 | be made at least one week before the date set for
the hearing, | ||||||
19 | and in the notice, or in any accompanying notice to be served
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20 | upon the Trustees at the same time, a recital shall be made | ||||||
21 | stating that
the Trustees may at any time prior to the date of | ||||||
22 | the hearing, or within
such additional time as may be granted | ||||||
23 | by the court upon request in writing
filed on or before such | ||||||
24 | date, file a written refusal to accept the territory
as a part | ||||||
25 | of their district, provided, that such notification need not be
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26 | given to the trustees if they file in the proceeding their |
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1 | written appearances
or written consent to a transfer of the | ||||||
2 | territory to their district. Both the fire protection district | ||||||
3 | from which the territory seeks to be transferred and the fire | ||||||
4 | protection district to which the territory seeks to be | ||||||
5 | transferred are necessary parties in any action to disconnect | ||||||
6 | under this Section.
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7 | At any time prior to the date set for the hearing, or | ||||||
8 | within such additional
time as may be granted by the court, the | ||||||
9 | trustees of the district to which
the transfer is sought to be | ||||||
10 | made may file a written refusal to accept the
territory as a | ||||||
11 | part of their district and in case of such refusal the court
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12 | shall enter an order dismissing the petition for the transfer. | ||||||
13 | The trustees
may withdraw their refusal at any time prior to | ||||||
14 | the entry of an order dismissing
the petition. In case the | ||||||
15 | trustees fail to file a written refusal within
the time | ||||||
16 | hereinbefore authorized, they shall be deemed to have consented
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17 | to a transfer of the territory to their district, and consent | ||||||
18 | once given
may not be withdrawn without leave of court for good | ||||||
19 | cause shown. In case
of such consent, the court shall proceed | ||||||
20 | with the matter as herein provided
but if the court finds that | ||||||
21 | any of the conditions herein required for the
making of a | ||||||
22 | transfer do not exist it shall enter an order dismissing the
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23 | petition. In taking any action upon the petition the findings | ||||||
24 | of the court
shall be filed of record in the case.
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25 | All property owners in the district from which the transfer | ||||||
26 | is sought and
all persons interested therein, may file |
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1 | objections, and at the hearing
may appear and contest the | ||||||
2 | transfer and the matters averred in the petition,
and both | ||||||
3 | objectors and petitioners may offer any competent evidence in | ||||||
4 | regard
thereto. In addition, all persons residing in or | ||||||
5 | interested in any of the
property situated in the territory | ||||||
6 | sought to be transferred shall have an
opportunity to be heard | ||||||
7 | touching the location and boundary of the territory
to be voted | ||||||
8 | upon for such transfer, and may make suggestions regarding the | ||||||
9 | same. For purposes of this Section, serious injury shall be | ||||||
10 | found to exist in the district from which the transfer is | ||||||
11 | sought when a material impairment of the ability to provide | ||||||
12 | continuing fire protection and related emergency services to | ||||||
13 | the territory remaining in the district after the transfer may | ||||||
14 | occur. The court may consider the following, but not limited | ||||||
15 | to, in its determination as to whether a serious injury may | ||||||
16 | occur: the financial resources, facilities, and equipment | ||||||
17 | which will remain in the district; and the financial | ||||||
18 | obligations, including remaining non-bonded debt of the | ||||||
19 | district, from which the transfer is sought. A loss of annual | ||||||
20 | real estate tax revenues by the district from which the | ||||||
21 | transfer is sought of 15 percent or more by reason of the | ||||||
22 | disconnection and transfer shall constitute serious injury and | ||||||
23 | require dismissal of the petition. However, the court is not | ||||||
24 | precluded from finding serious injury to exist with a lesser | ||||||
25 | tax revenue loss if it shown by the preponderance of other | ||||||
26 | evidence presented to the court that serious injury would |
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1 | result if the transfer were to occur.
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2 | If the court shall, upon hearing the petition, find that | ||||||
3 | the territory
described in the petition would receive equal or | ||||||
4 | greater benefits by being
so transferred and meet the | ||||||
5 | conditions hereinbefore set forth, it shall
certify to the | ||||||
6 | proper election officials the question of whether the territory
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7 | shall be transferred,
and its order, and such officials shall | ||||||
8 | submit that question at an election in the entire district from | ||||||
9 | which the transfer is sought to be made
in such territory in | ||||||
10 | accordance with the general election law. The proposition
shall | ||||||
11 | be in substantially the following form:
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12 | -------------------------------------------------------------
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13 | For making the transfer from the
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14 | ..... Fire Protection District to the
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15 | ..... Fire Protection District, remaining
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16 | liable for a proportionate share of the
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17 | bonded indebtedness outstanding as of the
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18 | date of disconnection, if any, of the district
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19 | from which disconnection is proposed and also
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20 | assuming a proportionate share of the bonded
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21 | indebtedness, if any, of the district
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22 | to which transfer is proposed.
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23 | -------------------------------------------------------------
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24 | Against making the transfer from the
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25 | ..... Fire Protection District to the
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26 | ..... Fire Protection District, remaining
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1 | liable for a proportionate share of the
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2 | bonded indebtedness outstanding as of the
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3 | date of disconnection, if any, of the district
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4 | from which disconnection is proposed and also
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5 | assuming a proportionate share of the bonded
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6 | indebtedness, if any, of the district
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7 | to which transfer is proposed.
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8 | -------------------------------------------------------------
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9 | If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of making | ||||||
10 | the transfer
shall be in favor of the transfer, the territory | ||||||
11 | shall thenceforth cease
to be a part of the fire protection | ||||||
12 | district or districts to which it has
been attached and shall | ||||||
13 | become an integral part of the fire protection district
to | ||||||
14 | which the transfer shall have been sought and shall be subject | ||||||
15 | to all
the enjoyments and responsibilities of the latter | ||||||
16 | district. In each case
in which a transfer is effected pursuant | ||||||
17 | to the provisions
hereof, the circuit clerk in whose court the | ||||||
18 | transfer proceedings have been conducted,
shall certify copies | ||||||
19 | of all orders entered in effecting such transfer and
file or | ||||||
20 | send them to the proper county clerk or clerks for filing and | ||||||
21 | to
the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
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22 | (Source: P.A. 94-806, eff. 1-1-07.)
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23 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
24 | becoming law.
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