(70 ILCS 3010/7) (from Ch. 42, par. 319.7)

Sec. 7. The board of trustees of any sanitary district that owns and operates or that may hereafter own and operate a sewerage system constructed or acquired under the provisions of any law of this State has the power to make, enact, and enforce all needful rules and regulations in the construction, acquisition, improvement, extension, management, and maintenance of its sewerage system and for the use thereof. The board of trustees of such a sanitary district also has the power to make, enact, and enforce all needful rules, regulations, and ordinances for the improvement, care, and protection of its sewerage system, which may be conducive to the preservation of the public health, comfort, and convenience, and to render the sewage of the sanitary district harmless in so far as it is reasonably possible to do so.

The board of trustees of such a sanitary district has the power, by ordinance, to charge the inhabitants thereof for the use and service of its sewerage system and to establish charges or rates for that purpose. Where bonds are issued as provided in Sections 2 and 3 of this Act, the board of trustees shall establish rates or charges as provided in this section, and these charges or rates shall be sufficient at all times to pay the cost of operation and maintenance, to provide an adequate depreciation fund, and to pay the principal of and interest upon all revenue bonds issued under Sections 2 and 3 hereof.

A depreciation fund is a fund for such replacements as may be necessary from time to time for the continued effective and efficient operation of the system. The depreciation fund shall not be allowed to accumulate beyond a reasonable amount necessary for that purpose, and shall not be used for extensions to the system.

Charges or rates shall be established, revised, and maintained by ordinance and become payable as the board of trustees may determine by ordinance. Such charges or rates shall be liens upon the real estate upon or for which sewerage service is supplied; provided, however, such liens shall not attach to such real estate until such charges or rates have become delinquent as provided by the ordinance of the sanitary district fixing a delinquency date. A lien is created under the preceding sentence only if the sanitary district sends to the owner or owners of record of the real estate, as referenced by the taxpayer's identification number, (i) a copy of each delinquency notice sent to the person who is delinquent in paying the charges or rates or other notice sufficient to inform the owner or owners of record, as referenced by the taxpayer's identification number, that the charges or rates have become delinquent and (ii) a notice that unpaid charges or rates may create a lien on the real estate under this Section. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to give the sanitary district a preference over the rights of any purchaser, mortgagee, judgment creditor or other lien holder arising prior to the filing in the office of the recorder of the county in which such real estate is located, or in the office of the registrar of titles of such county if the property affected is registered under the Torrens System, of notice of said lien. The notice shall consist of a sworn statement setting out (1) a description of the real estate sufficient for the identification thereof, upon or for which the sewerage service was supplied, (2) the amount or amounts of money due for such sewerage service, and (3) the date or dates when such amount or amounts became delinquent. The sanitary district shall send a copy of the notice of the lien to the owner or owners of record of the real estate, as referenced by the taxpayer's identification number. The sanitary district shall have the power to foreclose such lien in like manner and with like effect as in the foreclosure of mortgages on real estate.

The payment of delinquent charges for sewerage service to any premises may be enforced by discontinuing either the water service or the sewerage service to that premises, or both. A rate or charge is delinquent if it is more than 30 days overdue. Any public or municipal corporation or political subdivision of the State furnishing water service to a premises (i) shall discontinue that service upon receiving written notice from the sanitary district in which the premises lies that payment of the rate or charge for sewerage service to the premises has become delinquent and (ii) shall not resume water service until receiving a similar notice that the delinquency has been removed. The provider of sewerage service shall not request discontinuation of water service before sending a notice of the delinquency to the sewer user and affording the user an opportunity to be heard. The sanitary district shall reimburse the public or municipal corporation or political subdivision of the State for the reasonable cost of the discontinuance and the resumption of water service. The sanitary district may contract with any privately owned public utility for the discontinuance of water service to a premises with respect to which the payment of a rate or charge for sewerage service has become delinquent. The sanitary district shall reimburse the water service provider for any lost water service revenues and the costs of discontinuing water service, and shall indemnify the water service provider for any judgment and related attorney's fees resulting from an action based on any provision of this paragraph.

The sanitary district also has the power, from time to time, to sue the owner, occupant or user of that real estate, or a person receiving any direct or indirect benefit from such services, in a civil action to recover money due for sewerage services, plus a reasonable attorney's fee, to be fixed by the court; provided, however, that the sanitary district shall give notice of its intention to bring such action to the owner of record by regular mail not less than 7 days prior to filing such civil action.

Judgment in a civil action brought by the sanitary district to recover or collect such charges shall not operate as a release or waiver of the lien upon the real estate for the amount of the judgment. Only satisfaction of the judgment or the filing of a release and satisfaction of lien shall release said lien. The lien for charges on account of services or benefits provided for in this Section and the rights created hereunder shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the lien upon real estate created by and imposed for general real estate taxes.

(Source: P.A. 93-500, eff. 6-1-04.)