(a)The Governing Commission shall maintain the expanded mental health services fund for the purposes of paying the costs of administering the Program and carrying out its duties under this Act, subject to the limitations and procedures set forth in this Act.
(b)The expanded mental health services fund shall be raised by means of an annual tax levied on each property within the territory of the Program. The rate of this tax may be changed from year to year by majority vote of the Governing Commission but in no case shall it exceed the ceiling rate established by the voters in the territory of the Program in the binding referendum to approve the creation of the Expanded Mental Health Services Program. The ceiling rate must be set within the range of .025% to .044% of the equalized assessed
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(a) The Governing Commission shall maintain the expanded mental health services fund for the purposes of paying the costs of administering the Program and carrying out its duties under this Act, subject to the limitations and procedures set forth in this Act. (b) The expanded mental health services fund shall be raised by means of an annual tax levied on each property within the territory of the Program. The rate of this tax may be changed from year to year by majority vote of the Governing Commission but in no case shall it exceed the ceiling rate established by the voters in the territory of the Program in the binding referendum to approve the creation of the Expanded Mental Health Services Program. The ceiling rate must be set within the range of .025% to .044% of the equalized assessed valuation of all properties in the territory of the Program. A higher ceiling rate for a territory may be established within that range only by the voters in a binding referendum from time to time to be held in a manner as set forth in this legislation. The commissioners shall cause the amount to be raised by taxation in each year to be certified to the county clerk in the manner provided by law, and any tax so levied and certified shall be collected and enforced in the same manner and by the same officers as those taxes for the purposes of the county and city within which the territory of the Governing Commission is located. Any such tax, when collected, shall be paid over to the proper officer of the Governing Commission who is authorized to receive and receipt for such tax. The Governing Commission may issue tax anticipation warrants against the taxes to be assessed for a calendar year. (c) The moneys deposited in the expanded mental health services fund shall, as nearly as practicable, be fully and continuously invested or reinvested by the Governing Commission in investment obligations which shall be in such amounts, and shall mature at such times, that the maturity or date of redemption at the option of the holder of such investment obligations shall coincide, as nearly as practicable, with the times at which monies will be required for the purposes of the Program. For the purposes of this Section, "investment obligation" means direct general municipal, state, or federal obligations which at the time are legal investments under the laws of this State and the payment of principal of and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by the governing body issuing them. (d) The fund shall be used solely and exclusively for the purpose of providing expanded mental health services and no more than 15% of the annual levy may be used for reasonable salaries, expenses, bills, and fees incurred in administering the Program. (e) The fund shall be maintained, invested, and expended exclusively by the Governing Commission of the Program for whose purposes it was created. Under no circumstances shall the fund be used by any person or persons, governmental body, or public or private agency or concern other than the Governing Commission of the Program for whose purposes it was created. Under no circumstances shall the fund be commingled with other funds or investments. (f) No commissioner or family member of a commissioner, or employee or family member of an employee, may receive any financial benefit, either directly or indirectly, from the fund. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit payment of expenses to a commissioner in accordance with subsection (g) of Section 15. (g) Annually, the Governing Commission shall prepare for informational purposes in the appropriations process: (1) an annual budget showing the estimated receipts and intended disbursements pursuant to this Act for the fiscal year immediately following the date the budget is submitted, which date must be at least 30 days prior to the start of the fiscal year; and (2) an independent financial audit of the fund and the management of the Program detailing the income received and disbursements made pursuant to this Act during the fiscal year just preceding the date the annual report is submitted, which date must be within 90 days of the close of that fiscal year. These reports shall be made available to the public through any office of the Governing Commission or a public facility such as a local public library located within the territory of the Program. In addition, and in an effort to increase transparency of public programming, the Governing Commission shall effectively create and operate a publicly accessible website, which shall publish results of all audits for a period of no less than six months after the initial disclosure of the results and findings of each audit. (h) Any expanded Mental Health Services Program existing on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly and created before December 31, 2012 by majority voter support on a binding referendum shall be authorized to levy for the 2013 levy year at the minimum tax rate of .025% of the equalized assessed valuation of all properties within its territory.