Public Act 90-0438 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0438
SB21 Enrolled LRB9000091KRpk
AN ACT to amend the Township Code by changing Section
125-5 and adding Section 235-16.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Township Code is amended by changing
Section 125-5 and adding Section 235-16 as follows:
(60 ILCS 1/125-5)
Sec. 125-5. Power to issue park bonds; park size.
(a) For the purpose of promoting the health and welfare
of its citizens, a township may issue bonds for the purpose
of procuring and improving lands to be set apart and forever
held as one or more public parks to be kept and maintained
for the free use of the public.
(b) No park shall exceed 25 10 acres in extent.
(Source: Laws 1915, p. 722; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/235-16 new)
Sec. 235-16. Special tax for sidewalks, street lighting,
street repairs, or traffic control devices; counties of
3,000,000 or more.
(a) The township board of a township in a county with a
population of more than 3,000,000 may provide for the
construction or installation and repair of sidewalks or
repair of streets, including improvements for flood control,
or street lighting or traffic control devices in the township
along or upon any roads and may provide for the payment of
the whole or any part of the cost of the construction,
installation, or repair by special taxation of the lots,
blocks, tracts, or parcels of land touching upon the road
near or on which a sidewalk or device is ordered or otherwise
benefiting from the improvement, except that the property is
not subject to the tax if it is located within a city,
village, or incorporated town. This special taxation may be
by levying the whole or any part of the cost upon each of the
lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of land touching upon the
road or otherwise benefiting from the improvement, pro rata,
according to their respective values. The values of the
lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of land shall be determined
by the last preceding assessment under the Property Tax Code.
(b) Before a special tax may be levied under this
Section, the township board shall by resolution set a day and
hour for a public hearing upon the proposed improvement for
which the tax is to be levied. The hearing shall be held not
less than 10 days after the resolution proposing the
improvement is adopted. Notice of the time and place of the
public hearing shall be sent by mail directed to the person
who paid the general taxes for the last preceding year on
each lot, tract, and parcel of real estate that is to be
subject to the tax not less than 5 days before the date set
for the public hearing. The notice, in addition to the time,
date, and place of the public hearing, shall contain a
general description of the proposed improvement including the
estimated cost of the improvement. The notice shall also
inform each person of the requirement that 51% or more of the
owners of lots, tracts, and parcels of real estate that would
be subject to the tax must sign a petition authorizing the
township board to proceed with the improvement.
(c) At the time and place fixed for the public hearing,
the township board shall meet and hear anyone desiring to be
heard upon the subject of the proposed improvement. If any
person objects to the proposed improvement or any of the
elements of it, the corporate authorities may adopt a new
resolution abandoning the proposed scheme or adhering to it
or changing, altering, or modifying the extent, nature, kind,
or character of the proposed scheme as it considers most
desirable.
(d) If the owners of 51% or more in number of the lots,
tracts, and parcels of real estate that are to be subject to
the tax file a petition with the town clerk agreeing with the
improvement, then the township board shall proceed with the
improvement. If a petition is not filed or contains an
insufficient number of signatures, the township board shall
proceed no further and the same improvement shall not again
be initiated for a period of one year.
(e) The township board shall proceed to prepare a
special tax list against those lots, blocks, tracts, or
parcels of land subject to the special tax, ascertaining by
computation the amount of special taxes and the annual
installments of those taxes to be charged against each of
those lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of land on account of
the installation, construction, or repair according to the
rule fixed for the levy of that special tax by the township
board.
(f) The special tax list shall be filed in the office of
a specified officer or board, and this officer or board shall
thereupon issue warrants directed to the township collector
(or to the officer designated in the ordinance) for the
collection of the amount of special tax so ascertained and
appearing from the special tax list to be due from the
respective lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of land. The
aggregate amount of each special tax shall be divided into 5
annual installments of equal amounts.
(g) The township collector (or the officer designated to
collect the tax) shall file a copy of the ordinance and the
special tax list with the recorder of the county in which the
township is situated. Upon that filing, the special tax
becomes a lien upon each lot, block, tract, or parcel subject
to the special tax until all installments have been paid with
respect to the lot, block, tract, or parcel.
(h) The first installment shall be due and payable on
the second day of January next after the date of the first
voucher issued on account of the work done, the second
installment one year thereafter, and so on annually until all
installments are paid. The specified officer or board shall
file in the office of the township collector (or the officer
designated to collect the tax) a certificate, signed by the
officer or secretary of the board preparing the tax list, of
the date of the first voucher and of the amount of the
voucher within 30 days after the issuance of the voucher.
(i) All the installments shall bear interest as provided
in the ordinance until paid, at a rate of not to exceed 6%
annually. Interest on assessments shall begin to run from
the date of the first voucher issued on account of work done.
(j) In all cases, the township collector (or the officer
designated to collect the tax), whenever payment is made of
any installment, shall collect all interest that is due up to
the date of that payment, whether the payment is made at or
after maturity. Any person may at any time pay the whole
assessment against any lot, block, tract, or parcel of land,
or any installment thereof, with interest as provided in this
Section up to the date of payment. The township collector
(or the officer designated to collect the tax) shall proceed
to collect the warrants by mailing a written notice to the
address of the party who last paid the general taxes on the
respective lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of land in the
list that the tax list is in his possession for collection.
All money collected shall be immediately paid over by that
officer to the township.
(k) The township collector (or the officer designated to
collect the tax) shall maintain as a permanent public record
a list containing at least the following information:
(1) A description of all lots, blocks, tracts, and
parcels subject to the special tax.
(2) The amount of the special tax assessed against
each lot, block, tract, and parcel.
(3) The installments that have been received by the
collecting officer.
(l) Upon failure to collect the special tax as provided
in this Section, the township collector (or the officer
designated to collect the tax), on or before the first day of
August in each year, shall make a written report of this
special tax to the officer of the county authorized by law to
apply for judgment against and sell lands for taxes due.
This report shall also contain an enumeration of (i) all the
lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of land upon which the
special tax remains unpaid, (ii) the names of the respective
owners of those lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels so far as
the names are known to the collecting officer, (iii) the
amount due and unpaid upon each lot, block, tract, or parcel,
and (iv) a copy of the resolution or ordinance ordering the
installation, construction, or repair. This report shall be
accompanied by the oath of the officer that the list is a
correct return of the lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of
land on which the special tax levied by authority of the
township for the cost or partial cost, as the case may be, of
the sidewalk or device specified in that ordinance remains
due and unpaid and that the amounts stated as due and unpaid
have not been collected either in whole or in part. This
report, when made as required in this subsection, is prima
facie evidence that all the forms and requirements of the law
in relation to making that return have been complied with and
that the special tax, as mentioned in the report, is due and
unpaid.
(m) When the specified officer of the county receives
the report, he or she shall at once proceed to obtain
judgment against the lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels of land
enumerated in the report for the special tax remaining due
and unpaid in the same manner as provided by law for
obtaining judgment against land for taxes due and unpaid
under the Property Tax Code and in the same manner shall
proceed to sell the lots, blocks, tracts, or parcels for the
special tax due and unpaid. In obtaining this judgment and
making this sale, the specified officer shall be subject to
applicable provisions of the Property Tax Code. The Property
Tax Code shall also apply to the execution of certificates of
sales and deeds and to the force and effect of these sales
and deeds. All other laws in relation to the enforcement and
collection of taxes and redemption from tax sales shall apply
to proceedings to collect the special tax.