§ 235-15

Special tax for sidewalks, street lighting, or traffic control devices. (a) The township board of a township in a county with a population between 300,000 and 3,000,000 may provide for the construction or installation and repair of sidewalks 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. (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 50% or more in number of the lots, tracts, and parcels of real estate that are to be subject to the tax file written objections with the recording officer of the township, the township board shall proceed no further with the improvement 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.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 88-62; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94.)