Title
Ordinance Authorizing the Dissolution of the Slocum Lake Drainage District.
Staff Summary
• On August 13, 2024, the Lake County Board passed an Ordinance proposing dissolution of the Slocum Lake Drainage District.
• Per State Statute 55 ILCS 5/5-44025, this ordinance initiated the dissolution process and required that the District complete an audit detailing claims, receipts, inventory of property, and debts.
• The Lake County Finance Department has completed the audit and submitted a memo detailing the financial review.
• The Slocum Lake Drainage District Commissioners passed a resolution to support the dissolution as proposed by Lake County at their meeting held on September 21, 2024.
• This ordinance sets forth final steps in the formal dissolution of the District and provides details related to how the remaining funds should be used and distributed amongst the district area’s municipalities.
Body
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the Slocum Lake Drainage District (“District”) is a Drainage District covering parts of the Villages of Lake Barrington, Port Barrington, Wauconda, and unincorporated Lake County; and
WHEREAS, the District derives its revenue from a $14 annual maintenance assessment placed upon the tax bills of properties within the District’s boundaries, with the total tax generating around $10,500; and
WHEREAS, other than its annual tax revenue, the District, which is made up of three trustees appointed by the County Board, possesses no known interests in property, whether real or personal, other than the tax proceeds in a bank account, some corporate records, one laptop, and an interest in easement rights shown on Document # 159844 on file with the Lake County Recorder; and
WHEREAS, the County has determined that the functions of the District can be as or more efficiently performed either by the municipalities or township within the District, either independently or in cooperation with each other and the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, such that the continuing existence of the District is no longer desirable; and
WHEREAS, under 55 ILCS 5/5-44025, the Lake County Board, by ordinance, proposed the dissolution of the District on August 13, 2024, and published notice of the ordinance on September 23, 2024, in the Chicago Tribune/Lake County News Sun, which is a newspaper of general circulation. The ordinance was also published through the County’s website: <https://www.lakecountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/77435/2024-08-13-Proposing-Ordinance-for-Slocum-Lake-DD-Dissolution>; and
WHEREAS, an audit detailing all claims against the District, all receipts of the District, the inventory of all real and personal property owned by the District or under its control or management, and any debts owed by the District was performed by the County and reported to the Finance and Administration Committee of the County Board and is part of the packet of information accompanying this Ordinance’s presentation to the full County Board.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED, that the Board of the County of Lake authorizes the dissolution of the Slocum Lake Drainage District, subject to the Counties Code of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, specifically 55 ILCS 5/5-44025, titled “Dissolution of units of local government.”
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that costs inherent in operating the District are those associated with the administrative overhead of operating the District, including legal and insurance costs, plus the work performed by County staff, including the staff of the County Clerk and Treasurer, to levy for taxes each year. Dissolving the District will eliminate these costs. Additional cost savings may be achieved by bulk purchasing the services the District previously maintained with other municipal or governmental entities, or eliminating them altogether. The residents of the District will no longer have an assessment for the District on their property tax bills. Each of these savings or efficiencies provides the basis for dissolving the District.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that the County shall publish a notice containing this ordinance and including the following information: (1) the specific number of voters required to sign a petition requesting that the question of dissolution be submitted to referendum; (2) the time when such petition must be filed; (3) the date of the prospective referendum; and (4) the statement of the cost savings and the purpose or basis for the dissolution as set forth in the authorizing ordinance.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that if no petition is filed with the County’s election authority (the County Clerk) within 30 days of the notice referenced above being published, or if a valid petition is filed and a referendum held through which the voters authorize the County Board to dissolve the District, then the County Board Chair shall petition in the circuit court that a trustee-in-dissolution be appointed for the District, with the purpose of winding up the affairs of the District under the provisions of the Local Government Reduction and Efficiency Act, 55 ILCS 5/5-44005 et seq.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that the trustee-in-dissolution, when appointed, shall ensure that any interests in real property are transferred, work to abolish the District’s assessment, and distribute its remaining funds based on a percentage consistent with the geographic distribution of the District by jurisdiction, as follows-
Unincorporated: 53.35%
Village of Lake Barrington: 25.4%
Village of Port Barrington: 18.97%
Village of Wauconda: 2.28%
-unless a municipality listed above agrees that the funds be transferred to the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission. Funds shall be distributed as reimbursements to the above-named entities for activities consistent with those that the District formerly performed in the District’s former territory or, if not claimed by the entities above within one year after dissolution, to the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission for use in the District’s former territory.
DATED at Waukegan, Illinois, on November 12, 2024.