Today, State Representative Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa) unanimously passed his first piece of legislation through the Illinois House of Representatives. House Bill 3369 allows the Village of Lindenhurst to consolidate the Lindenhurst Sanitary District into the village, subsequently dissolving the unnecessary extra taxing district.
When the bill passed in committee, also unanimously, Weber said, “One of the reasons property taxes are so high in Illinois is because of the inefficiency caused by having so many extra taxing bodies we don’t need. This is exactly the situation with the Lindenhurst Sanitary District. The sanitary district already contracts with the village to operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant, so there is no need to have the extra cost and bureaucracy of having a separate taxing district.”
Under current state law, the Lindenhurst Sanitary District must exist as a separate taxing district with its own appointed board. However, since the sanitary district is almost entirely within in the Village of Lindenhurst and the village is already contracted to maintain and operate the wastewater systems, there is no real need to keep the two separate. The sanitary district board even holds its meetings at the village hall. To allow for the consolidation of the sanitary district into the village, House Bill 3369 amends the state Sanitary District Act to allow the village to pass an ordinance to dissolve the sanitary board and assume its authority to administer wastewater operations for the area.
“I want to thank Mayor Marturano, the village and the members of the sanitary board for working with me to bring this legislation forward,” said Weber. “I look forward to the bill receiving the same unanimous support in the Senate that it did here in the House.” As noted, House Bill 3369 passed the House with a unanimous vote of 109 to 0, having previously passed the House Cities and Villages Committee by a unanimous vote of 12 to 0. The legislation now heads to the State Senate for similar consideration, where it will be carried by State Senator Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry). For more information about the legislation, Click Here.