(65 ILCS 5/11-141-16) (from Ch. 24, par. 11-141-16)
Sec. 11-141-16.
Powers; particular locality.
If after the public hearing
the corporate authorities of
the municipality adopt a resolution to proceed with the construction or
acquisition of the project, the corporate authorities may make and enforce
all needful rules and regulations in connection with the construction,
acquisition, improvement, or extension, and with the management and maintenance
of the project to be constructed or acquired. The corporate authorities also
may establish the rate or charge to each user of the sewerage system or
improvement or extension at a rate which will be sufficient to pay the
principal and interest of any bonds, issued to pay the cost thereof,
maintenance, and operation of the system, improvement, or extension and may
provide an adequate depreciation fund therefor. Charges or rates shall be
established, revised, and maintained by ordinance and become payable as the
corporate authorities may determine by ordinance. Such charges or rates are
liens upon the real estate upon or for which sewerage service is supplied
whenever the charges or rates become delinquent as provided by the ordinance of
the municipality fixing a delinquency date. A lien is created under the
preceding sentence only if the municipality 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. However, the municipality has no preference over the rights of any
purchaser, mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lien holder arising prior to
the filing of the notice of such a lien 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 "An Act
concerning land titles", approved May 1, 1897, as amended. This notice shall
consist of a sworn statement setting out (1) a description of such real estate
sufficient for the identification thereof, (2) the amount of money due for such
sewerage service, and (3) the date when such amount became delinquent, (4) the
owner of record of the premises. The municipality 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 municipality may
foreclose this lien in the same manner and with the same effect as in the
foreclosure of mortgages on real estate.
Except in counties with a population of more than 250,000 where the
majority
of the municipal sewerage
system users are located outside of the municipality's corporate limits, 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 municipality
providing sewerage service 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.
An investor-owned public utility providing water service within a municipality
that provides sewerage service may contract with the municipality to
discontinue
water service to a premises with respect to which the
payment of a rate or charge for sewerage service has become delinquent.
The municipality shall reimburse the privately owned public utility, public or
municipal corporation, or
political subdivision of the State for the reasonable cost of the
discontinuance and the resumption of water service, any
lost water service revenues, and the costs of discontinuing water service.
The municipality shall indemnify the privately owned public utility, public or
municipal corporation, or political subdivision of the State for any judgment
and related attorney's fees resulting from an action based on any provision of
this paragraph.
The municipality also may, from time to time, sue the occupant or user
of the real estate in a civil action to recover the money due for sewerage
services, plus a reasonable attorney's fee, to be fixed by the court. However,
whenever a judgment is entered in such a civil action, the foregoing provision
in this section with respect to filing sworn statements of such delinquencies
in the office of the recorder and creating a lien against the
real estate shall not be effective as to the charges sued upon and no lien
shall exist thereafter against the real estate for that delinquency. Judgment
in such a civil action operates as a release and waiver of the lien upon
the real estate for the amount of the judgment. The charge provided in this
section to be made against each user of an improvement or extension shall
be in addition to the charge, if any, made of all users of the system under
Section 11-141-7 and shall be kept separate and distinct therefrom.
This amendatory Act of 1975 is not a limit on any municipality which is
a home rule unit.
(Source: P.A. 93-500, eff. 6-1-04.)
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