(70 ILCS 2405/17.1) (from Ch. 42, par. 316.1)

Sec. 17.1. Acquiring district or municipal treatment works.

(a) After incorporation, any district organized under this Act may, in accordance with this Act and an intergovernmental agreement with the sanitary district being acquired or the municipality from whom the treatment works and lines are to be acquired, acquire the territory, treatment works, lines, appurtenances, and other property of (i) any sanitary district organized under this Act, the Sanitary District Act of 1907, the North Shore Water Reclamation District Act, the Sanitary District Act of 1936, or the Metro-East Sanitary District Act of 1974 or (ii) any municipality whose treatment works were established under the Illinois Municipal Code or the Municipal Wastewater Disposal Zones Act, regardless of whether that district or municipality is contiguous to the acquiring sanitary district. The distance between the sanitary district being acquired or municipality and the acquiring sanitary district, however, as measured between the points on their corporate boundaries that are nearest to each other, shall not exceed 20 miles. In the case of a municipality, only that property used by the municipality for transport, treatment, and discharge of wastewater and for disposal of sewage sludge shall be transferred to the acquiring sanitary district.

(b) The board of trustees of the sanitary district being acquired, or the corporate authorities of a municipality whose treatment works is being acquired, shall, jointly with the board of trustees of the acquiring sanitary district, petition the circuit court of the county containing all or the larger portion of the sanitary district being acquired or the municipality to permit the acquisition. The petition shall show the following:

(1) The reason for the acquisition.

(2) That there are no debts of the sanitary district being acquired or municipality outstanding, or that there are sufficient funds on hand or available to satisfy those debts.

(3) That no contract or federal or State permit or grant will be impaired by the acquisition.

(4) That all assets and responsibilities of the sanitary district being acquired or municipality, as they relate to wastewater treatment, have been properly assigned to the acquiring sanitary district.

(5) That the acquiring sanitary district will pay any court costs incurred in connection with the petition.

(6) The boundaries of the acquired sanitary district or municipality as of the date of the petition.

(c) Upon adequate notice, including appropriate notice to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the circuit court shall hold a hearing to determine whether there is good cause for the acquisition by the acquiring district and whether the allegations of the petition are true. If the court finds that there is good cause and that the allegations are true, it shall order the acquisition to proceed. If the court finds that there is not good cause for the acquisition or that the allegations of the petition are not true, the court shall dismiss the petition. In either event, the costs shall be taxed against the acquiring sanitary district. The order shall be final. Separate or joint appeals may be taken by any party affected by the order as in other civil cases.

(d) If the court orders the acquisition contemplated in the petition, there shall be no further appointments of trustees if the acquired agency is a sanitary district. The trustees of the acquired sanitary district acting at the time of the order shall close up the business affairs of the sanitary district and make the necessary conveyances of title to the sanitary district property in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the acquiring and acquired sanitary districts. In the case of a municipality, the governing body of the municipality shall make the necessary conveyances of title to municipal property to the acquiring sanitary district in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the municipality and the acquiring sanitary district. The acquiring sanitary district's ordinances take effect in the acquired territory upon entry of the order.

(e) The acquisition of any sanitary district by another sanitary district or the acquisition of a treatment works from a municipality by another sanitary district shall not affect the obligation of any bonds issued or contracts entered into by the acquired sanitary district or the municipality, nor invalidate the levy, extension, or collection of any taxes or special assessments upon a property in the acquired sanitary district, but all those bonds and contracts shall be discharged. The general obligation indebtedness of the acquired sanitary district shall be paid from the proceeds of continuing taxes and special assessments as provided in this Act.

All money remaining after the business affairs of the acquired sanitary district or acquired treatment works of the municipality have been closed up and all debts and obligations of the entities paid shall be paid to the acquiring sanitary district in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the parties.

(f) The board of trustees of the acquiring sanitary district required to provide sewer service under this Act may levy and collect, for that purpose, a tax on the taxable property within that district. The aggregate amount of the tax shall be as provided in this Act.

(g) Any intergovernmental agreement entered into by the parties under this Section shall provide for the imposition or continuance of a user charge system in accordance with the acquiring district's ordinance, the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, and the federal Clean Water Act.

(h) All courts shall take judicial notice of the acquisition of the sanitary district being acquired or municipal treatment works by the acquiring sanitary district.

(Source: P.A. 99-669, eff. 7-29-16.)