Bill Text: IL SB0585 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Counties Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning stormwater management.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [SB0585 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-SB0585-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 SB0585 Introduced 2/8/2011, by Sen. John J. Cullerton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
55 ILCS 5/5-1062 from Ch. 34, par. 5-1062
Amends the Counties Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning stormwater management.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section
5-1062 as follows:
(55 ILCS 5/5-1062) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-1062)
Sec. 5-1062. Stormwater management.
(a) The The purpose of this Section is to allow management
and mitigation of the effects of urbanization on stormwater
drainage in metropolitan counties located in the area served by
the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, and references
to "county" in this Section shall apply only to those counties.
This Section shall not apply to any county with a population in
excess of 1,500,000, except as provided in subsection (c). The
purpose of this Section shall be achieved by:
(1) consolidating the existing stormwater management
framework into a united, countywide structure;
(2) setting minimum standards for floodplain and
stormwater management; and
(3) preparing a countywide plan for the management of
stormwater runoff, including the management of natural and
man-made drainageways. The countywide plan may incorporate
watershed plans.

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(b) A stormwater management planning committee shall be
established by county board resolution, with its membership
consisting of equal numbers of county board and municipal
representatives from each county board district, and such other
members as may be determined by the county and municipal
members. However, if the county has more than 6 county board
districts, the county board may by ordinance divide the county
into not less than 6 areas of approximately equal population,
to be used instead of county board districts for the purpose of
determining representation on the stormwater management
planning committee.
The county board members shall be appointed by the chairman
of the county board. Municipal members from each county board
district or other represented area shall be appointed by a
majority vote of the mayors of those municipalities which have
the greatest percentage of their respective populations
residing in such county board district or other represented
area. All municipal and county board representatives shall be
entitled to a vote; the other members shall be nonvoting
members, unless authorized to vote by the unanimous consent of
the municipal and county board representatives. A municipality
that is located in more than one county may choose, at the time
of formation of the stormwater management planning committee
and based on watershed boundaries, to participate in the
stormwater management planning program of either or both of the
counties. Subcommittees of the stormwater management planning

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committee may be established to serve a portion of the county
or a particular drainage basin that has similar stormwater
management needs. The stormwater management planning committee
shall adopt by-laws, by a majority vote of the county and
municipal members, to govern the functions of the committee and
its subcommittees. Officers of the committee shall include a
chair and vice chair, one of whom shall be a county
representative and one a municipal representative.
The principal duties of the committee shall be to develop a
stormwater management plan for presentation to and approval by
the county board, and to direct the plan's implementation and
revision. The committee may retain engineering, legal and
financial advisors and inspection personnel. The committee
shall meet at least quarterly and shall hold at least one
public meeting during the preparation of the plan and prior to
its submittal to the county board.
(c) In the preparation of a stormwater management plan, a
county stormwater management planning committee shall
coordinate the planning process with each adjoining county to
ensure that recommended stormwater projects will have no
significant impact on the levels or flows of stormwaters in
inter-county watersheds or on the capacity of existing and
planned stormwater retention facilities. An adopted stormwater
management plan shall identify steps taken by the county to
coordinate the development of plan recommendations with
adjoining counties.

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(d) Before the stormwater management planning committee
recommends to the county board a stormwater management plan for
the county or a portion thereof, it shall submit the plan to
the Office of Water Resources of the Department of Natural
Resources and to the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
for review and recommendations. The Office and the Commission,
in reviewing the plan, shall consider such factors as impacts
on the levels or flows in rivers and streams and the cumulative
effects of stormwater discharges on flood levels. The Office of
Water Resources shall determine whether the plan or ordinances
enacted to implement the plan complies with the requirements of
subsection (f). Within a period not to exceed 60 days, the
review comments and recommendations shall be submitted to the
stormwater management planning committee for consideration.
Any amendments to the plan shall be submitted to the Office and
the Commission for review.
(e) Prior to recommending the plan to the county board, the
stormwater management planning committee shall hold at least
one public hearing thereon and shall afford interested persons
an opportunity to be heard. The hearing shall be held in the
county seat. Notice of the hearing shall be published at least
once no less than 15 days in advance thereof in a newspaper of
general circulation published in the county. The notice shall
state the time and place of the hearing and the place where
copies of the proposed plan will be accessible for examination
by interested parties. If an affected municipality having a

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stormwater management plan adopted by ordinance wishes to
protest the proposed county plan provisions, it shall appear at
the hearing and submit in writing specific proposals to the
stormwater management planning committee. After consideration
of the matters raised at the hearing, the committee may amend
or approve the plan and recommend it to the county board for
adoption.
The county board may enact the proposed plan by ordinance.
If the proposals for modification of the plan made by an
affected municipality having a stormwater management plan are
not included in the proposed county plan, and the municipality
affected by the plan opposes adoption of the county plan by
resolution of its corporate authorities, approval of the county
plan shall require an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds
of the county board members present and voting. If the county
board wishes to amend the county plan, it shall submit in
writing specific proposals to the stormwater management
planning committee. If the proposals are not approved by the
committee, or are opposed by resolution of the corporate
authorities of an affected municipality having a municipal
stormwater management plan, amendment of the plan shall require
an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the county board
members present and voting.
(f) The county board may prescribe by ordinance reasonable
rules and regulations for floodplain management and for
governing the location, width, course and release rate of all

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stormwater runoff channels, streams and basins in the county,
in accordance with the adopted stormwater management plan.
These rules and regulations shall, at a minimum, meet the
standards for floodplain management established by the Office
of Water Resources and the requirements of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency for participation in the National
Flood Insurance Program.
(g) In accordance with, and if recommended in, the adopted
stormwater management plan, the county board may adopt a
schedule of fees as may be necessary to mitigate the effects of
increased stormwater runoff resulting from new development.
The fees shall not exceed the cost of satisfying the onsite
stormwater retention or detention requirements of the adopted
stormwater management plan. The fees shall be used to finance
activities undertaken by the county or its included
municipalities to mitigate the effects of urban stormwater
runoff by providing regional stormwater retention or detention
facilities, as identified in the county plan. All such fees
collected by the county shall be held in a separate fund, and
shall be expended only in the watershed within which they were
collected.
(h) For the purpose of implementing this Section and for
the development, design, planning, construction, operation and
maintenance of stormwater facilities provided for in the
stormwater management plan, a county board that has established
a stormwater management planning committee pursuant to this

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Section may cause an annual tax of not to exceed 0.20% of the
value, as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue,
of all taxable property in the county to be levied upon all the
taxable property in the county. The tax shall be in addition to
all other taxes authorized by law to be levied and collected in
the county and shall be in addition to the maximum tax rate
authorized by law for general county purposes. The 0.20%
limitation provided in this Section may be increased or
decreased by referendum in accordance with the provisions of
Sections 18-120, 18-125, and 18-130 of the Property Tax Code.
Any revenues generated as a result of ownership or
operation of facilities or land acquired with the tax funds
collected pursuant to this subsection (h) shall be held in a
separate fund and be used either to abate such property tax or
for implementing this Section.
However, unless at least part of the county has been
declared after July 1, 1986 by presidential proclamation to be
a disaster area as a result of flooding, the tax authorized by
this subsection (h) shall not be levied until the question of
its adoption, either for a specified period or indefinitely,
has been submitted to the electors thereof and approved by a
majority of those voting on the question. This question may be
submitted at any election held in the county after the adoption
of a resolution by the county board providing for the
submission of the question to the electors of the county. The
county board shall certify the resolution and proposition to

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the proper election officials, who shall submit the proposition
at an election in accordance with the general election law. If
a majority of the votes cast on the question is in favor of the
levy of the tax, it may thereafter be levied in the county for
the specified period or indefinitely, as provided in the
proposition. The question shall be put in substantially the
following form:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Shall an annual tax be levied
for stormwater management purposes YES
(for a period of not more than
...... years) at a rate not exceeding ------------------
.....% of the equalized assessed
value of the taxable property of NO
........ County?
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(i) Upon the creation and implementation of a county
stormwater management plan, the county may petition the circuit
court to dissolve any or all drainage districts created
pursuant to the Illinois Drainage Code or predecessor Acts
which are located entirely within the area of the county
covered by the plan.
However, any active drainage district implementing a plan
that is consistent with and at least as stringent as the county
stormwater management plan may petition the stormwater
management planning committee for exception from dissolution.

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Upon filing of the petition, the committee shall set a date for
hearing not less than 2 weeks, nor more than 4 weeks, from the
filing thereof, and the committee shall give at least one
week's notice of the hearing in one or more newspapers of
general circulation within the district, and in addition shall
cause a copy of the notice to be personally served upon each of
the trustees of the district. At the hearing, the committee
shall hear the district's petition and allow the district
trustees and any interested parties an opportunity to present
oral and written evidence. The committee shall render its
decision upon the petition for exception from dissolution based
upon the best interests of the residents of the district. In
the event that the exception is not allowed, the district may
file a petition within 30 days of the decision with the circuit
court. In that case, the notice and hearing requirements for
the court shall be the same as herein provided for the
committee. The court shall likewise render its decision of
whether to dissolve the district based upon the best interests
of residents of the district.
The dissolution of any drainage district shall not affect
the obligation of any bonds issued or contracts entered into by
the district nor invalidate the levy, extension or collection
of any taxes or special assessments upon the property in the
former drainage district. All property and obligations of the
former drainage district shall be assumed and managed by the
county, and the debts of the former drainage district shall be

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discharged as soon as practicable.
If a drainage district lies only partly within a county
that adopts a county stormwater management plan, the county may
petition the circuit court to disconnect from the drainage
district that portion of the district that lies within that
county. The property of the drainage district within the
disconnected area shall be assumed and managed by the county.
The county shall also assume a portion of the drainage
district's debt at the time of disconnection, based on the
portion of the value of the taxable property of the drainage
district which is located within the area being disconnected.
The operations of any drainage district that continues to
exist in a county that has adopted a stormwater management plan
in accordance with this Section shall be in accordance with the
adopted plan.
(j) Any county that has adopted a county stormwater
management plan under this Section may, after 10 days written
notice to the owner or occupant, enter upon any lands or waters
within the county for the purpose of inspecting stormwater
facilities or causing the removal of any obstruction to an
affected watercourse. The county shall be responsible for any
damages occasioned thereby.
(k) Upon petition of the municipality, and based on a
finding of the stormwater management planning committee, the
county shall not enforce rules and regulations adopted by the
county in any municipality located wholly or partly within the

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county that has a municipal stormwater management ordinance
that is consistent with and at least as stringent as the county
plan and ordinance, and is being enforced by the municipal
authorities.
(l) A county may issue general obligation bonds for
implementing any stormwater plan adopted under this Section in
the manner prescribed in Section 5-1012; except that the
referendum requirement of Section 5-1012 shall not apply to
bonds issued pursuant to this Section on which the principal
and interest are to be paid entirely out of funds generated by
the taxes and fees authorized by this Section.
(m) The powers authorized by this Section may be
implemented by the county board for a portion of the county
subject to similar stormwater management needs.
(n) The powers and taxes authorized by this Section are in
addition to the powers and taxes authorized by Division 5-15;
in exercising its powers under this Section, a county shall not
be subject to the restrictions and requirements of that
Division.
(o) Pursuant to paragraphs (g) and (i) of Section 6 of
Article VII of the Illinois Constitution, this Section
specifically denies and limits the exercise of any power which
is inconsistent herewith by home rule units in any county with
a population of less than 1,500,000 in the area served by the
Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission. This Section does
not prohibit the concurrent exercise of powers consistent

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herewith.
(Source: P.A. 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)