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91_SB0376eng SB376 Engrossed LRB9103085PTpk 1 AN ACT in relation to truth in taxation. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing 5 Section 18-55 and by adding Division 2.1 to Article 18 as 6 follows: 7 (35 ILCS 200/18-55) 8 Sec. 18-55. Short title and definitions. This Division 9 2Section and Sections 18-60 through 18-95may be cited as 10 the Truth in Taxation Law. As used in this Division 2 11Sections 18-60 through 18-95: 12 (a) "Taxing district" has the meaning specified in 13 Section 1-150 and includes home rule units, but from January 14 1, 2000 through December 31, 2002 does not include taxing 15 districts that have territory in Cook County.;16 (b) "Aggregate levy" means the annual corporate levy of 17 the taxing district and those special purpose levies which 18 are made annually (other than debt service levies and levies 19 made for the purpose of paying amounts due under public 20 building commission leases).;21 (c) "Special purpose levies" include, but are not 22 limited to, levies made on an annual basis for contributions 23 to pension plans, unemployment and worker's compensation, or 24 self-insurance.;25 (d) "Debt service" means levies made by any taxing 26 district pursuant to home rule authority, statute, 27 referendum, ordinance, resolution, indenture, agreement, or 28 contract to retire the principal or pay interest on bonds, 29 notes, debentures or other financial instruments which 30 evidence indebtedness. 31 (Source: P.A. 86-957; 86-1475; 88-455; revised 10-28-98.) SB376 Engrossed -2- LRB9103085PTpk 1 (35 ILCS 200/Art. 18, Div. 2.1 heading new) 2 DIVISION 2.1. COOK COUNTY TRUTH IN TAXATION 3 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.1 new) 4 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 5 Sec. 18-101.1. Short title. This Division 2.1 may be 6 cited as the Cook County Truth in Taxation Law. 7 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.5 new) 8 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 9 Sec. 18-101.5. Definitions. As used in this Division 10 2.1: 11 "Aggregate levy" or "levy" means the annual corporate 12 levy of the taxing district and those special purpose levies 13 which are made annually (other than debt service levies and 14 levies made for the purpose of paying amounts due under 15 public building commission leases). 16 "Debt service" means levies made by a taxing district 17 pursuant to home rule authority, statute, referendum, 18 ordinance, resolution, indenture, agreement, or contract to 19 retire the principal or pay interest on bonds, notes, 20 debentures, or other financial instruments that evidence 21 indebtedness. 22 "Special purpose levies" include, but are not limited to, 23 levies made on an annual basis for contributions to pension 24 plans, unemployment and workers' compensation, or 25 self-insurance. 26 "Taxing district" means any unit of local government, 27 including a home rule unit, school district, or community 28 college district with the power to levy taxes on territory in 29 Cook County. 30 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.10 new) 31 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) SB376 Engrossed -3- LRB9103085PTpk 1 Sec. 18-101.10. Legislative purpose. The purpose of 2 this Division 2.1 is to require taxing districts to disclose 3 by publication and to hold a public hearing on their 4 intention to adopt an aggregate levy. 5 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.15 new) 6 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 7 Sec. 18-101.15. Estimate of taxes to be levied. Not 8 less than 30 days before the adoption of its aggregate levy, 9 the corporate authority of each taxing district shall 10 determine the amounts of money, exclusive of any portion of 11 that levy attributable to the cost of conducting an election 12 required by the Election Code ("election costs"), estimated 13 to be necessary to be raised by taxation for that year upon 14 the taxable property in its taxing district. 15 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.20 new) 16 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 17 Sec. 18-101.20. Restriction on extension. Until the 18 taxing district has complied with the notice and hearing 19 provisions of this Division 2.1, no taxing district shall 20 levy an amount of ad valorem tax that is more than the 21 amount, exclusive of election costs, that has been extended 22 or is estimated will be extended, plus any amount abated by 23 the taxing district before extension, upon the final 24 aggregate levy of the preceding year. 25 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.25 new) 26 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 27 Sec. 18-101.25. Intent to adopt an aggregate levy; 28 hearing required. Upon making the estimate as provided in 29 Section 18-101.15, the corporate authority shall hold a 30 hearing on its intent to adopt an aggregate levy. Except as 31 otherwise provided in this Section, hearings shall be held SB376 Engrossed -4- LRB9103085PTpk 1 according to the following schedule. 2 (1) First Monday in December: Park districts and 3 municipalities. 4 (2) First Tuesday in December: Townships, road 5 districts, and all school districts except high school 6 districts. 7 (3) First Wednesday in December: High school 8 districts and libraries. 9 (4) First Thursday in December: Counties and forest 10 preserve districts. 11 (5) First Friday in December: All other taxing 12 districts. 13 All hearings shall be open to the public. The corporate 14 authority of the taxing district shall explain the reasons 15 for the levy and any proposed increase and shall permit 16 persons desiring to be heard an opportunity to present 17 testimony within such reasonable time limits as it shall 18 determine. The hearing shall not coincide with the hearing 19 on the proposed budget. The corporate authority may, 20 however, conduct any other business of the taxing district on 21 the same day. Failure of a taxing district to convene or 22 complete a public hearing on the day prescribed in this 23 Section due to good cause unrelated to inadvertence, 24 including, but not limited to, physical perils such as 25 natural disasters or acts of God, shall not constitute a 26 failure to hold a public hearing under this Division 2.1. In 27 this event, a taxing district may either hold a separate 28 public hearing on its proposed tax levy, or place the hearing 29 on its proposed tax levy on the agenda of the taxing 30 district's next scheduled meeting. In either case, a taxing 31 district shall give notice of the hearing pursuant to 32 Sections 2.02, 2.03, and 2.04 of the Open Meetings Act. 33 Any taxing district with a fiscal year beginning on 34 December 1, for which the hearing day requirement of this SB376 Engrossed -5- LRB9103085PTpk 1 Section would conflict with the adoption of its tax levy and 2 annual appropriation ordinance, may hold a public hearing on 3 its proposed tax levy prior to and instead of the day 4 prescribed in this Section. This public hearing shall be 5 restricted to the proposed tax levy, and no other business of 6 the taxing district shall be discussed or transacted. Notice 7 of the hearing shall be given as provided in Section 8 18-101.35 of this Division 2.1. 9 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.30 new) 10 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 11 Sec. 18-101.30. Notice; place of publication. If the 12 taxing district is located entirely in one county, the notice 13 shall be published in an English language newspaper of 14 general circulation published in the taxing district, or if 15 there is no such newspaper, in an English language newspaper 16 of general circulation published in the county and having 17 circulation in the taxing district. If the taxing district is 18 located primarily in one county but extends into smaller 19 portions of adjoining counties, the notice shall be published 20 in a newspaper of general circulation published in the taxing 21 district, or if there is no such newspaper, in a newspaper of 22 general circulation published in each county in which any 23 part of the district is located. If the taxing district 24 includes all or a large portion of 2 or more counties, the 25 notice shall be published in a newspaper of general 26 circulation published in each county in which any part of the 27 district is located. 28 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.35 new) 29 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 30 Sec. 18-101.35. Time and form of notice. The notice 31 shall appear not more than 14 days nor less than 7 days 32 before the date of the public hearing. The notice shall be no SB376 Engrossed -6- LRB9103085PTpk 1 less than one-eighth page in size, and the smallest type used 2 shall be 12 point and shall be enclosed in a black border no 3 less than one-quarter inch wide. The notice shall not be 4 placed in that portion of the newspaper where legal notices 5 and classified advertisements appear. The notice shall be 6 published in the following form: 7 Notice of Proposed Property Tax Levy for ... (commonly 8 known name of taxing district). 9 I. A public hearing to approve a proposed property tax 10 levy for ... (legal name of the taxing district)... for ... 11 (year) ... will be held on ... (date) ... at ... (time) ... 12 at ... (location). 13 Any person desiring to appear at the public hearing and 14 present testimony to the taxing district may contact ... 15 (name, title, address and telephone number of an appropriate 16 official). 17 II. The corporate and special purpose property taxes 18 extended or abated for ... (preceding year) ... were ... 19 (dollar amount of the final aggregate levy as extended, plus 20 the amount abated by the taxing district prior to extension). 21 The proposed corporate and special purpose property taxes 22 to be levied for ... (current year) ... are ... (dollar 23 amount of the proposed aggregate levy). This represents a ... 24 (percentage increase or decrease) ... over the previous year. 25 III. The property taxes extended for debt service and 26 public building commission leases for ... (preceding year) 27 ... were ... (dollar amount). 28 The estimated property taxes to be levied for debt 29 service and public building commission leases for ... 30 (current year) ... are ... (dollar amount). This represents a 31 ... (percentage increase or decrease) ... over the previous 32 year. 33 IV. The total property taxes extended or abated for ... 34 (preceding year) ... were ... (dollar amount). SB376 Engrossed -7- LRB9103085PTpk 1 The estimated total property taxes to be levied for ... 2 (current year) ... are ... (dollar amount). This represents 3 a ... (percentage increase or decrease) ... over the previous 4 year. Any notice which includes any information not specified 5 and required by this Article shall be an invalid notice. 6 All hearings shall be open to the public. The corporate 7 authority of the taxing district must explain the reasons for 8 the proposed levy and shall permit persons desiring to be 9 heard an opportunity to present testimony within reasonable 10 time limits as the authority determines. 11 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.40 new) 12 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 13 Sec. 18-101.40. Notice if adopted levy exceeds proposed 14 levy. If the final aggregate tax levy resolution or 15 ordinance adopted is in excess of the amount of the proposed 16 levy stated in the notice published under Section 18-101.35, 17 the corporate authority shall give public notice of its 18 action within 15 days of the adoption of the levy in the 19 following form: 20 Notice of Adopted Property Tax Increase for ... (commonly 21 known name of taxing district). 22 I. The corporate and special purpose property taxes 23 extended or abated for ... (preceding year) ... were ... 24 (dollar amount of the final aggregate levy as extended). 25 The adopted corporate and special purpose property taxes 26 to be levied for ... (current year) ... are ... (dollar 27 amount of the proposed aggregate levy). 28 This represents a ... (percentage increase or decrease) 29 ... over the previous year. 30 II. The property taxes extended for debt service and 31 public building commission leases for ... (preceding year) 32 ... were ... (dollar amount). 33 The estimated property taxes to be levied for debt SB376 Engrossed -8- LRB9103085PTpk 1 service and public building commission leases for ... 2 (current year) ... are ... (dollar amount). This represents a 3 ... (percentage increase or decrease) ... over the previous 4 year. 5 III. The total property taxes extended or abated for ... 6 (preceding year) ... were ... (dollar amount). 7 The estimated total property taxes to be levied for ... 8 (current year) ... are ... (dollar amount). This represents 9 a ...(percentage increase or decrease) ... over the previous 10 year. 11 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.45 new) 12 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 13 Sec. 18-101.45. Limitation on extension of county clerk. 14 The tax levy resolution or ordinance approved in the manner 15 provided for in this Division 2.1 shall be filed with the 16 county clerk in the manner and at the time otherwise provided 17 by law. No amount upon the final aggregate levy of the 18 preceding year shall be extended unless the tax levy 19 ordinance or resolution is accompanied by a certification by 20 the presiding officer of the corporate authority certifying 21 compliance with or inapplicability of the provisions of this 22 Division 2.1. 23 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.50 new) 24 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 25 Sec. 18-101.50. Effect of Division 2.1. Nothing 26 contained in this Division 2.1 shall serve to extend or 27 authorize any tax rate in excess of the maximum permitted by 28 law nor prevent the reduction of any tax rate. 29 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.55 new) 30 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 31 Sec. 18-101.55. Defective publication. A levy of a SB376 Engrossed -9- LRB9103085PTpk 1 taxing district shall not be invalidated for failure to 2 comply with the provisions of this Division 2.1 if the 3 failure is attributable to the newspaper's failure to 4 reproduce the information in the notice accurately or to 5 publish the notice as directed by the taxing district. 6 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.60 new) 7 (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2003) 8 Sec. 18-101.60. Extension prohibition. A county clerk 9 shall not extend a tax levy imposed by a taxing district, 10 other than a home rule unit, based on a rate that exceeds the 11 rate authorized by statute or referendum for that taxing 12 district. If a taxing district is in violation of Section 13 18-101.45, the county clerk shall not extend the final 14 aggregate levy in an amount more than the aggregate levy 15 extended for the preceding year. 16 (35 ILCS 200/18-101.65 new) 17 Sec. 101.65. Repeal. This Division 2.1 is repealed 18 January 1, 2003. 19 Section 900. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding 20 Section 8.23 as follows: 21 (30 ILCS 805/8.23 new) 22 Sec. 8.23. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 23 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required 24 for the implementation of any mandate created by this 25 amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly. 26 Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect on 27 January 1, 2000.