The county board members shall be appointed by the chairman of the county board. Municipal members from each county board district or other represented area shall be appointed by a majority vote of the mayors of those municipalities which have the greatest percentage of their respective populations residing in such county board district or other represented area. All municipal and county board representatives shall be entitled to a vote; the other members shall be nonvoting members, unless authorized to vote by the unanimous consent of the municipal and county board representatives. A municipality that is located in more than one county may choose, at the time of formation of the stormwater management planning committee and based on watershed boundaries, to participate in the stormwater management planning program of either or both of the counties. Subcommittees of the stormwater management planning committee may be established to serve a portion of the county or a particular drainage basin that has similar stormwater management needs. The stormwater management planning committee shall adopt by-laws, by a majority vote of the county and municipal members, to govern the functions of the committee and its subcommittees. Officers of the committee shall include a chair and vice chair, one of whom shall be a county representative and one a municipal representative.
The principal duties of the committee shall be to develop a stormwater management plan for presentation to and approval by the county board, and to direct the plan's implementation and revision. The committee may retain engineering, legal and financial advisors and inspection personnel. The committee shall meet at least quarterly and shall hold at least one public meeting during the preparation of the plan and prior to its submittal to the county board. The committee may make grants to: (1) units of local government; (2) not-for-profit organizations; and (3) landowners. In order for a municipality located partially or wholly within a mapped floodplain to receive grant moneys, the municipality must be a member in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Flood Insurance Program. A municipality receiving grant moneys must have adopted an ordinance requiring actions consistent with the stormwater management plan. Use of the grant moneys must be consistent with the stormwater management plan.
The county board may enact the proposed plan by ordinance. If the proposals for modification of the plan made by an affected municipality having a stormwater management plan are not included in the proposed county plan, and the municipality affected by the plan opposes adoption of the county plan by resolution of its corporate authorities, approval of the county plan shall require an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the county board members present and voting. If the county board wishes to amend the county plan, it shall submit in writing specific proposals to the stormwater management planning committee. If the proposals are not approved by the committee, or are opposed by resolution of the corporate authorities of an affected municipality having a municipal stormwater management plan, amendment of the plan shall require an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the county board members present and voting.
Any revenues generated as a result of ownership or operation of facilities or land acquired with the tax funds collected pursuant to this subsection (h) shall be held in a separate fund and be used either to abate such property tax or for implementing this Section.
However, unless at least part of the county has been declared after July 1, 1986 by presidential proclamation to be a disaster area as a result of flooding, the tax authorized by this subsection (h) shall not be levied until the question of its adoption, either for a specified period or indefinitely, has been submitted to the electors thereof and approved by a majority of those voting on the question. This question may be submitted at any election held in the county after the adoption of a resolution by the county board providing for the submission of the question to the electors of the county. The county board shall certify the resolution and proposition to the proper election officials, who shall submit the proposition at an election in accordance with the general election law. If a majority of the votes cast on the question is in favor of the levy of the tax, it may thereafter be levied in the county for the specified period or indefinitely, as provided in the proposition. The question shall be put in substantially the following form:
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Shall an annual tax be levied for stormwater management purposes | YES |
(for a period of not more than | |
...... years) at a rate not exceeding | ------------------ |
..... % of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property of | NO |
........ County? |
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However, any active drainage district implementing a plan that is consistent with and at least as stringent as the county stormwater management plan may petition the stormwater management planning committee for exception from dissolution. Upon filing of the petition, the committee shall set a date for hearing not less than 2 weeks, nor more than 4 weeks, from the filing thereof, and the committee shall give at least one week's notice of the hearing in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the district, and in addition shall cause a copy of the notice to be personally served upon each of the trustees of the district. At the hearing, the committee shall hear the district's petition and allow the district trustees and any interested parties an opportunity to present oral and written evidence. The committee shall render its decision upon the petition for exception from dissolution based upon the best interests of the residents of the district. In the event that the exception is not allowed, the district may file a petition within 30 days of the decision with the circuit court. In that case, the notice and hearing requirements for the court shall be the same as herein provided for the committee. The court shall likewise render its decision of whether to dissolve the district based upon the best interests of residents of the district.
The dissolution of any drainage district shall not affect the obligation of any bonds issued or contracts entered into by the district nor invalidate the levy, extension or collection of any taxes or special assessments upon the property in the former drainage district. All property and obligations of the former drainage district shall be assumed and managed by the county, and the debts of the former drainage district shall be discharged as soon as practicable.
If a drainage district lies only partly within a county that adopts a county stormwater management plan, the county may petition the circuit court to disconnect from the drainage district that portion of the district that lies within that county. The property of the drainage district within the disconnected area shall be assumed and managed by the county. The county shall also assume a portion of the drainage district's debt at the time of disconnection, based on the portion of the value of the taxable property of the drainage district which is located within the area being disconnected.
The operations of any drainage district that continues to exist in a county that has adopted a stormwater management plan in accordance with this Section shall be in accordance with the adopted plan.
"Urban flooding" means the flooding of public and private land in urban communities that results from stormwater or snowmelt runoff overwhelming the existing drainage infrastructure, unrelated to the overflow of any river or lake, whether or not that land is located in or near a floodplain.
"Urbanized areas" means a statistical geographic entity consisting of a densely settled core created from census tracts or blocks and contiguous qualifying territory that together have a minimum population of at least 50,000 persons and has been delineated as an urbanized area by the United States Census Bureau after the most recent decennial census.
55 ILCS 5/5-1062