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91_HB3274
LRB9110777REdv
1 AN ACT concerning fire protection districts.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended
5 by changing Section 4 as follows:
6 (70 ILCS 705/4) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 24)
7 Sec. 4. Trustees; conflict of interest; violations.
8 (a) A board of trustees consisting of 3 members for the
9 government and control of the affairs and business of a fire
10 protection district incorporated under this Act shall be
11 created in the following manner:
12 (1) If the district lies wholly within a single
13 township but does not also lie wholly within a
14 municipality, the board of trustees of that township
15 shall appoint the trustees for the district but no
16 township official who is eligible to vote on the
17 appointment shall be eligible for such appointment.
18 (2) If the district is wholly contained within a
19 municipality, the governing body of the municipality
20 shall appoint the trustees for the district.
21 (3) If the district is wholly contained within a
22 single county but does not lie wholly within a single
23 township or a single municipality, the trustees for the
24 district shall be appointed by the presiding officer of
25 the county board with the advice and consent of the
26 county board; except that in counties with a population
27 in excess of 3,000,000, 2 trustees for the district shall
28 be appointed by the board of trustees of the township
29 that has the greatest population within the district as
30 determined by the last preceding federal census. That
31 board of trustees shall also appoint the remaining
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1 trustee if no other township comprises at least 10% of
2 the population of the district. If only one other
3 township comprises at least 10% of the population of the
4 district, then the board of trustees of that district
5 shall appoint the remaining trustee. If 2 or more other
6 townships each comprise at least 10% of the population of
7 the district, then the boards of trustees of those
8 townships shall jointly appoint the remaining trustee.
9 No township official who is eligible to vote on the
10 appointment shall be eligible for the appointment.
11 (4) If the district is located in more than one
12 county, the number of trustees who are residents of a
13 county shall be in proportion, as nearly as practicable,
14 to the number of residents of the district who reside in
15 that county in relation to the total population of the
16 district.
17 (A) In counties with a population of 3,000,000
18 or more, the trustees shall be appointed as provided
19 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) of
20 this Section. For purposes of this item (A) and in
21 item (B), "district" means that portion of the total
22 fire protection district lying within a county with
23 a population in excess of 3,000,000.
24 (B) In counties with a population of less than
25 3,000,000, the trustees for the district shall be
26 appointed by the presiding officer of the county
27 board with the advice and consent of the county
28 board.
29 Upon the expiration of the term of a trustee who is in
30 office on October 1, 1975, the successor shall be a resident
31 of whichever county is entitled to such representation in
32 order to bring about the proportional representation required
33 herein, and he shall be appointed by the county board of that
34 county, or in the case of a home rule county as defined by
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1 Article VII, Section 6 of the Constitution of 1970, the chief
2 executive officer of that county, with the advice and consent
3 of the county board.
4 Thereafter, each trustee shall be succeeded by a resident
5 of the same county who shall be appointed by the same
6 appointing authority; however, the provisions of the
7 preceding paragraph shall apply to the appointment of the
8 successor to each trustee who is in office at the time of the
9 publication of each decennial Federal census of population.
10 Within 60 days after the adoption of this Act as provided
11 in Section 1, or within 60 days after the adoption of an
12 ordinance pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 4.01, the
13 appropriate appointing authority shall appoint 3 trustees who
14 are electors in the district, not more than one of whom shall
15 be from any one city or village or incorporated town in a
16 district unless such city or village or incorporated town has
17 more than 50% of the population in the district according to
18 last preceding Federal census. Such trustees shall hold
19 their offices thenceforward and for one, 2 and 3 years from
20 the first Monday of May next after their appointment and
21 until their successors have been selected and qualified and
22 thereafter, unless the district has determined to elect
23 trustees as provided in Section 4a, on or before the second
24 Monday in April of each year the appointing authority shall
25 appoint one trustee whose term shall be for 3 years
26 commencing on the first Monday in May next after they are
27 respectively appointed. The length of term of the first
28 trustees shall be determined by lot at their first meeting.
29 Each trustee shall, before entering on the duties of his
30 office, enter into bond with security to be approved by the
31 appointing authority in such sum as the authority may
32 determine.
33 A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a
34 quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day. No
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1 trustee or employee of such district shall be directly or
2 indirectly interested financially in any contract work or
3 business or the sale of any article, the expense, price or
4 consideration of which is paid by the district; nor in the
5 purchase of any real estate or other property, belonging to
6 the district, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments
7 or by virtue of legal process at the suit of the district.
8 Nothing in this Section prohibits the appointment or
9 selection of any person or trustee or employee whose only
10 interest in the district is as an owner of real estate in
11 such fire protection district or of contributing to the
12 payment of taxes levied by the district. The trustees shall
13 have the power to provide and adopt a corporate seal for the
14 district.
15 (b) However, any trustee may provide materials,
16 merchandise, property, services or labor, if:
17 A. the contract is with a person, firm,
18 partnership, association, corporation or cooperative
19 association in which such interested trustee has less
20 than a 7 1/2% share in the ownership; and
21 B. such interested trustee publicly discloses the
22 nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
23 deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
24 contract; and
25 C. such interested trustee abstains from voting on
26 the award of the contract, though he shall be considered
27 present for the purposes of establishing a quorum; and
28 D. such contract is approved by a majority vote of
29 those trustees presently holding office; and
30 E. the contract is awarded after sealed bids to the
31 lowest responsible bidder if the amount of the contract
32 exceeds $1500, but the contract may be awarded without
33 bidding if the amount is less than $1500; and
34 F. the award of the contract would not cause the
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1 aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
2 same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
3 or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
4 exceed $25,000.
5 (c) In addition to the above exemption, any trustee or
6 employee may provide materials, merchandise, property,
7 services or labor if:
8 A. the award of the contract is approved by a
9 majority vote of the board of trustees of the fire
10 protection district provided that any such interested
11 member shall abstain from voting; and
12 B. the amount of the contract does not exceed
13 $2,000 $1000; and
14 C. the award of the contract would not cause the
15 aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
16 same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
17 or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
18 exceed $4,000 $2000; and
19 D. such interested member publicly discloses the
20 nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
21 deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
22 contract; and
23 E. such interested member abstains from voting on
24 the award of the contract, though he shall be considered
25 present for the purposes of establishing a quorum.
26 (d) A contract for the procurement of public utility
27 services by a district with a public utility company is not
28 barred by this Section by one or more members of the board of
29 trustees being an officer or employee of the public utility
30 company or holding an ownership interest if no more than 7
31 1/2% in the public utility company, or holding an ownership
32 interest of any size if the fire protection district has a
33 population of less than 7,500 and the public utility's rates
34 are approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. An elected
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1 or appointed member of the board of trustees having such an
2 interest shall be deemed not to have a prohibited interest
3 under this Section.
4 (e) Any officer or employee who violates this Section is
5 guilty of a Class 4 felony and in addition thereto any office
6 held by such person so convicted shall become vacant and
7 shall be so declared as part of the judgment of the court.
8 (f) Nothing contained in this Section, including the
9 restrictions set forth in subsections (b), (c) and (d), shall
10 preclude a contract of deposit of monies, loans or other
11 financial services by a fire protection district with a local
12 bank or local savings and loan association, regardless of
13 whether a member or members of the board of trustees of the
14 fire protection district are interested in such bank or
15 savings and loan association as an officer or employee or as
16 a holder of less than 7 1/2% of the total ownership interest.
17 A member or members holding such an interest in such a
18 contract shall not be deemed to be holding a prohibited
19 interest for purposes of this Act. Such interested member or
20 members of the board of trustees must publicly state the
21 nature and extent of their interest during deliberations
22 concerning the proposed award of such a contract, but shall
23 not participate in any further deliberations concerning the
24 proposed award. Such interested member or members shall not
25 vote on such a proposed award. Any member or members
26 abstaining from participation in deliberations and voting
27 under this Section may be considered present for purposes of
28 establishing a quorum. Award of such a contract shall require
29 approval by a majority vote of those members presently
30 holding office. Consideration and award of any such contract
31 in which a member or members are interested may only be made
32 at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the board of
33 trustees of the fire protection district.
34 (g) Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory
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1 Act of 1990 and ending 3 years after the effective date of
2 this amendatory Act of 1990, in the case of a fire protection
3 district board of trustees in a county with a population of
4 more than 400,000 but less than 450,000, according to the
5 1980 general census, created under subsection (a), paragraph
6 (3) of this Section a petition for the redress of a trustee,
7 charging the trustee with palpable omission of duty or
8 nonfeasance in office, signed by not less than 5% of the
9 electors of the district may be presented to the township
10 supervisor or the presiding officer of the county board, as
11 appropriate. Upon receipt of the petition, the township
12 supervisor or presiding officer of the county board, as
13 appropriate, shall preside over a hearing on the matter of
14 the requested redress. The hearing shall be held not less
15 than 14 nor more than 30 days after receipt of the petition.
16 In the case of a fire protection district trustee appointed
17 by the presiding officer of the county board, the presiding
18 officer shall appoint at least 4 but not more than 8 members
19 of the county board, a majority of whom shall reside in a
20 county board district in which the fire protection district
21 is wholly or partially located, to serve as the hearing
22 panel. In the case of a fire protection district trustee
23 appointed by the board of town trustees, the township
24 supervisor and 2 other town trustees appointed by the
25 supervisor shall serve as the hearing panel. Within 30 days
26 after the hearing, the panel shall issue a statement of its
27 findings concerning the charges against the trustee, based
28 upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and may make to
29 the fire protection district any recommendations deemed
30 appropriate.
31 (Source: P.A. 89-482, eff. 1-1-97; 89-588, eff. 1-1-97;
32 90-14, eff. 7-1-97.)