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At this writing, bills on final passage in the house of origin are being hotly debated. House Speaker Michael Madigan's introduction of House Bill 3760 is one of the most exciting new proposals of the legislative session. The measure would create the Park and Recreational Facility Construction Act, which would provide matching fund grants to park and recreational facilities for capital construction projects. The state's Capital Development Board would determine the local share of funding required for eligibility and would supervise projects. Local parks and recreational facilities would still be responsible for the selection of their own project architects and engineers. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources would determine grant eligibility and prioritize projects according to the following order of criteria: 1. Replacement or reconstruction of facilities destroyed or damaged by flood, tornado, fire, earthquake or other disasters; 2. Replacement or reconstruction of facilities determined to be severe and continuing health or life safety hazards; 3. Alterations necessary to provide accessibility for individuals with disabilities; and 4. Projects designed to address population growth or replace aging facilities. We encourage you to write your legislators both in the House and Senate and ask that they support the passage of House Bill 3760. Open Meetings Act Measures to amend the Open Meetings Act include Senate Bill 226, which provides that a public body that has a Web site that the full-time staff of the public body maintains shall also post on its site a notice and the agenda of any regular meetings of that public entity. Any notice of an annual schedule of meetings shall remain on the site until a new public notice of the schedule of regular meetings is approved. Any notice of a regular meeting that is posted on a public body's site shall remain posted until the regular meeting is concluded. Any agenda of a regular meeting that is posted shall remain posted until the regular meeting is concluded. A failure of a public body to post on its site notice of any meeting or its agenda shall not invalidate any meeting or any actions taken at such a meeting. The measure also requires that as of July 1, 2006 a public body that has a Web site that the full-time staff maintains shall post the minutes of a regular meeting open to the public on the public body's Web site within seven days of the approval of the minutes. Any minutes posted on site shall remain posted for at least 60 days after their initial posting. Senator John Cullerton worked with the Illinois Association of Park Districts, Illinois Municipal League and the Township Association in order to make the bill's provisions more easily adaptable to local governments. At press time, this measure had been placed in the House State Administration Committee. House Bill 1038, introduced by Representative Bob Flider, codifies the existing practice of some units of local governments to meet electronically. Such electronic participation by a member of a board would be limited to situations where there is personal illness or disability, conflict with an employment situation, or a family or other emergency. A member of the public body could not attend more than half of the meetings using electronic means each year unless a physician's certificate was obtained attesting to the member's inability to be physically present. The bill has been held in the House. Senate Bill 1857 amends the Open Meetings Act to provides that a public body's failure to strictly comply with the requirements of the semi-annual review of closed meetings minutes does not make the minutes or verbatim recordings open to the public or available in judicial proceedings (other than those for violations of the Act) if the public body, within 60 days of the discovery of its failure, conducts the review and reports in an open meeting that the need for confidentiality remains or no longer exists. This measure has been referred to House Rules Committee. Criminal Background Checks Senate Bill 355, which permits park districts to do a criminal background check only on individuals who are 17 years of age or older, passed out of the Senate with a vote of 56-0. Representatives Patti Bellock and Renee Kosel sponsor the bill in the House. It has been assigned to the House Executive Committee. 10 Illinois Parks and Recreation www.ILipra.org
Intended User House Bill 2390 provides that a person riding a bicycle is an intended and permitted user of any highway in Illinois except for a highway on which bicycle use has been specifically prohibited by law and the prohibition is indicated by appropriate signage. The measure provides that this new language does not create a liability for any public entity for the failure to remedy any surface condition of a highway that is hazardous to a person riding a bicycle if that surface condition is not hazardous to a passenger car. The measure also provides that, except as expressly provided by law, this new language does not impose an obligation to further improve existing highways or to maintain them to a higher standard for bicyclists. As of press time, the bill narrowly passed the House and has been sent to the Senate. IMRF Pensions Senate Bill 1691 amends the Illinois Municipal (IMRF) Article of the Pension Code to remove language requiring an affirmative resolution from the employer before airport police may become eligible for the sheriff's law enforcement employee formula. The changes made would apply to collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the effective date of this amendatory act, which, if passed, would be July 1, 2006. At press time the bill had been held in the Senate. Tax Caps Several proposals amending the Property Tax Extension Limitation Act (PTEL) are being held in the House Revenue Committee. These include: • House Bill 158, which would have changed the tax cap indicator from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to the Employment Cost Index (EPI). • House Bill 263, which would have exempted from the extension limitation those extensions made for contributions to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. Moving forward is House Bill 1041, sponsored by Representative Jack Franks, which provides that the ballot question concerning increasing or decreasing a rate limit shall include the purpose for the rate change and shall reference the resolution of the taxing district adopting the rate change. It requires that the ballot shall have printed thereon, but not as part of the proposition submitted, an estimate of the approximate amount to be levied upon a residence in the taxing district with a market value of $100,000 under the current rate and under the proposed rate. The measure has been referred to Senate Rules Committee. Property Tax Extension Limitation - Rate Increase Factor House Bill 3602 would amend the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (Tax Caps) in the Property Tax Code to change easure was held on the House calendar for second reading. [ A portion of this article is missing] the procedure for applying a new rate increase or decrease that was approved by a referendum. This bill provides that when a new rate (or a rate increase or decrease) first effective for the current levy year has been approved by referendum, the procedure for adding the rate increase shall be to add the total rate increase approved by the referendum to the total limited rate of all capped funds for the year following the approval. The measure also provides that the rate increase or decrease is determined by subtracting the prior maximum rate for the fund or funds approved by referenda from the newly established maximum rate or rates approved. At press time, the measure was held on the House calendar for second reading. Senate Bill 1682 sets forth procedures that taxing districts must follow when seeking referendum approval after April 5, 2005 to increase (i) the maximum authorized tax rate for any fund for which the taxing district is authorized by statute to levy taxes and which rate is limited by prior referendum or statutory authorization and which rate is authorized by statute to be increased for a limited or unlimited number of years by direct (and not back door) referendum, except for increases that require an equal corresponding tax rate decrease for another fund or (ii) the maximum extended tax rate applicable only to the next taxes to be either levied or extended for any fund notwithstanding the limiting rate that would otherwise be applicable for such taxing district, which maximum extended tax rate applicable to the next taxes shall not exceed the tax rate for such fund. The measure sets forth requirements for the form of ballot propositions and referendum notices, as well as the procedures for setting the new tax rates. It provides that a taxing district is limited to an extension limitation (instead of "extension increase") of 5 percent or the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index during the 12-month calendar year preceding the levy year, whichever is less. At press rime, the measure had passed the Senate.
www.ilparks.org May/June 2005 11 |
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