Bill Text: IL HB2853 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Park District Code. Provides that all competitive bids for contracts involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000 (rather than $30,000), or a lower amount if required by board policy, must be sealed by the bidder and must be opened by a member or employee of the park board at a public bid opening at which the contents of the bids must be announced. Amends the Conservation District Act and the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Provides that specified contracts related to supplies, materials, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000 (rather than $30,000), or a lower amount if required by board policy, must be competitively bid. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-06 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB2853 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB2853-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB2853 Introduced , by Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
70 ILCS 410/6 from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7106
70 ILCS 805/8 from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6315
70 ILCS 1205/8-1 from Ch. 105, par. 8-1
Amends the Park District Code. Provides that all competitive bids for contracts involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000 (rather than $30,000), or a lower amount if required by board policy, must be sealed by the bidder and must be opened by a member or employee of the park board at a public bid opening at which the contents of the bids must be announced. Amends the Conservation District Act and the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Provides that specified contracts related to supplies, materials, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000 (rather than $30,000), or a lower amount if required by board policy, must be competitively bid. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Conservation District Act is amended by
changing Section 6 as follows:
(70 ILCS 410/6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7106)
Sec. 6. Officers and employees. As soon as possible after
the initial election or the initial appointments, as the case
may be, the trustees shall organize by selecting from their
members a president, secretary, treasurer, and other officers
as are deemed necessary, who shall hold office for 2 years in
the case of an elected board, or the fiscal year in which
elected in the case of an appointed board, and until their
successors are selected and qualify. Three trustees shall
constitute a quorum of the board for the transaction of
business if the district has 5 trustees. If the district has 7
trustees, 4 trustees shall constitute a quorum of the board
for the transaction of business. The board shall hold regular
monthly meetings. Special meetings may be called by the
president and shall be called on the request of a majority of
members, as may be required.
The board shall provide for the proper and safe keeping of
its permanent records and for the recording of the corporate

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action of the district. It shall keep a proper system of
accounts showing a true and accurate record of its receipts
and disbursements, and it shall cause an annual audit to be
made of its books, records, and accounts.
The records of the district shall be subject to public
inspection at all reasonable hours and under regulations as
the board may prescribe.
The district shall annually make a full and complete
report to the county board of each county within the district
and to the Department of Natural Resources of its transactions
and operations for the preceding year. The report shall
contain a full statement of its receipts, disbursements, and
the program of work for the period covered, and may include
recommendations as may be deemed advisable.
Executive or ministerial duties may be delegated to one or
more trustees or to an authorized officer, employee, agent,
attorney, or other representative of the district.
All officers and employees authorized to receive or retain
the custody of money or to sign vouchers, checks, warrants, or
evidences of indebtedness binding upon the district shall
furnish surety bond for the faithful performance of their
duties and the faithful accounting for all moneys that may
come into their hands in an amount to be fixed and in a form to
be approved by the board.
All contracts for supplies, material, or work involving an
expenditure in excess of $50,000 $30,000, or a lower amount if

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required by board policy, shall be let to the lowest
responsible bidder, after due advertisement, excepting work
requiring personal confidence or necessary supplies under the
control of monopolies, where competitive bidding is
impossible, or as otherwise provided in the Forest Preserve
District and Conservation District Design-Build Authorization
Act. All contracts for supplies, material, or work shall be
signed by the president of the board and by any other officer
as the board in its discretion may designate.
(Source: P.A. 102-460, eff. 6-1-22.)
Section 10. The Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is
amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
(70 ILCS 805/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6315)
Sec. 8. Powers and duties of corporate authority and
officers; contracts; salaries.
(a) The board shall be the corporate authority of such
forest preserve district and shall have power to pass and
enforce all necessary ordinances, rules and regulations for
the management of the property and conduct of the business of
such district. The president of such board shall have power to
appoint such employees as may be necessary. In counties with
population of less than 3,000,000, within 60 days after their
selection the commissioners appointed under the provisions of
Section 3a of this Act shall organize by selecting from their

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members a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and
such other officers as are deemed necessary who shall hold
office for the fiscal year in which elected and until their
successors are selected and qualify. In the one district in
existence on July 1, 1977, that is managed by an appointed
board of commissioners, the incumbent president and the other
officers appointed in the manner as originally prescribed in
this Act shall hold such offices until the completion of their
respective terms or in the case of the officers other than
president until their successors are appointed by said
president, but in all cases not to extend beyond January 1,
1980 and until their successors are selected and qualify.
Thereafter, the officers shall be selected in the manner as
prescribed in this Section except that their first term of
office shall not expire until June 30, 1981 and until their
successors are selected and qualify.
(a-5) An officer selected pursuant to subsection (a) may
be removed, with or without cause, upon a motion adopted by an
affirmative vote of four-fifths of the board of the forest
preserve district. Upon adoption of a motion to remove an
officer: (i) the office becomes vacant and the former
officer's compensation shall be prorated to the date the
motion was approved; (ii) if the officer removed is the
president then the vice president immediately assumes the
duties of the president without president compensation and, if
the officer removed is the vice president, treasurer, or

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secretary, then the president shall select an interim
appointee who shall serve until the next regularly scheduled
forest preserve district board meeting; and (iii) a new
officer shall be selected at the next regularly scheduled
forest preserve district board meeting. An officer removed
under this Section maintains his or her status as a member of
the forest preserve district board.
(b) In any county, city, village, incorporated town or
sanitary district where the corporate authorities act as the
governing body of a forest preserve district, the person
exercising the powers of the president of the board shall have
power to appoint a secretary and an assistant secretary and
treasurer and an assistant treasurer and such other officers
and such employees as may be necessary. The assistant
secretary and assistant treasurer shall perform the duties of
the secretary and treasurer, respectively in case of death of
such officers or when such officers are unable to perform the
duties of their respective offices. All contracts for
supplies, material or work involving an expenditure in excess
of $50,000 $30,000, or a lower amount if required by board
policy, shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, after
advertising at least once in one or more newspapers of general
circulation within the district, excepting work requiring
personal confidence or necessary supplies under the control of
monopolies, where competitive bidding is impossible, or as
otherwise provided in the Forest Preserve District and

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Conservation District Design-Build Authorization Act.
Contracts for supplies, material or work involving an
expenditure of $50,000 $30,000, or a lower amount if required
by board policy, or less may be let without advertising for
bids, but whenever practicable, at least 3 competitive bids
shall be obtained before letting such contract. All contracts
for supplies, material or work shall be signed by the
president of the board of commissioners or by any such other
officer as the board in its discretion may designate.
(c) The president of any board of commissioners appointed
under the provisions of Section 3a of this Act shall receive a
salary not to exceed the sum of $2500 per annum and the salary
of other members of the board so appointed shall not exceed
$1500 per annum. Salaries of the commissioners, officers and
employees shall be fixed by ordinance.
(d) Whenever a forest preserve district owns any personal
property that, in the opinion of three-fifths of the members
of the board of commissioners, is no longer necessary, useful
to, or for the best interests of the forest preserve district,
then three-fifths of the members of the board, at any regular
meeting or any special meeting called for that purpose by an
ordinance or resolution that includes a general description of
the personal property, may authorize the conveyance or sale of
that personal property in any manner that they may designate,
with or without advertising the sale.
(Source: P.A. 101-544, eff. 8-23-19; 102-460, eff. 6-1-22.)

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Section 15. The Park District Code is amended by changing
Section 8-1 as follows:
(70 ILCS 1205/8-1) (from Ch. 105, par. 8-1)
Sec. 8-1. General corporate powers. Every park district
shall, from the time of its organization, be a body corporate
and politic by the name set forth in the petition for its
organization, the specific name set forth in this Code, or the
name it may adopt under Section 8-9 and shall have and exercise
the following powers:
(a) To adopt a corporate seal and alter the same at
pleasure; to sue and be sued; and to contract in
furtherance of any of its corporate purposes.
(b)(1) To acquire by gift, legacy, grant or purchase,
or by condemnation in the manner provided for the exercise
of the power of eminent domain under the Eminent Domain
Act, any and all real estate, or rights therein necessary
for building, laying out, extending, adorning and
maintaining any such parks, boulevards and driveways, or
for effecting any of the powers or purposes granted under
this Code as its board may deem proper, whether such lands
be located within or without such district; but no park
district, except as provided in paragraph (2) of this
subsection, shall have any power of condemnation in the
manner provided for the exercise of the power of eminent

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domain under the Eminent Domain Act or otherwise as to any
real estate, lands, riparian rights or estate, or other
property situated outside of such district, but shall only
have power to acquire the same by gift, legacy, grant or
purchase, and such district shall have the same control of
and power over lands so acquired without the district as
over parks, boulevards and driveways within such district.
(2) In addition to the powers granted in paragraph (1)
of subsection (b), a park district located in more than
one county, the majority of its territory located in a
county over 450,000 in population and none of its
territory located in a county over 1,000,000 in
population, shall have condemnation power in the manner
provided for the exercise of the power of eminent domain
under the Eminent Domain Act or as otherwise granted by
law as to any and all real estate situated up to one mile
outside of such district which is not within the
boundaries of another park district.
(c) To acquire by gift, legacy or purchase any
personal property necessary for its corporate purposes
provided that all contracts for supplies, materials or
work involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000
$30,000, or a lower amount if required by board policy,
shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder after due
advertisement. No district shall be required to accept a
bid that does not meet the district's established

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specifications, terms of delivery, quality, and
serviceability requirements. Contracts which, by their
nature, are not adapted to award by competitive bidding,
such as contracts for the services of individuals
possessing a high degree of professional skill where the
ability or fitness of the individual plays an important
part, contracts for the printing of finance committee
reports and departmental reports, contracts for the
printing or engraving of bonds, tax warrants and other
evidences of indebtedness, contracts for utility services
such as water, light, heat, telephone or telegraph,
contracts for fuel (such as diesel, gasoline, oil,
aviation, or propane), lubricants, or other petroleum
products, contracts for the use, purchase, delivery,
movement, or installation of data processing equipment,
software, or services and telecommunications and
interconnect equipment, software, or services, contracts
for duplicating machines and supplies, contracts for goods
or services procured from another governmental agency,
purchases of equipment previously owned by some entity
other than the district itself, and contracts for the
purchase of magazines, books, periodicals, pamphlets and
reports are not subject to competitive bidding. Contracts
for emergency expenditures are also exempt from
competitive bidding when the emergency expenditure is
approved by 3/4 of the members of the board.

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All competitive bids for contracts involving an
expenditure in excess of $50,000 $30,000, or a lower
amount if required by board policy, must be sealed by the
bidder and must be opened by a member or employee of the
park board at a public bid opening at which the contents of
the bids must be announced. Each bidder must receive at
least 3 days notice of the time and place of the bid
opening.
For purposes of this subsection, "due advertisement"
includes, but is not limited to, at least one public
notice at least 10 days before the bid date in a newspaper
published in the district or, if no newspaper is published
in the district, in a newspaper of general circulation in
the area of the district.
(d) To pass all necessary ordinances, rules and
regulations for the proper management and conduct of the
business of the board and district and to establish by
ordinance all needful rules and regulations for the
government and protection of parks, boulevards and
driveways and other property under its jurisdiction, and
to effect the objects for which such districts are formed.
(e) To prescribe such fines and penalties for the
violation of ordinances as it shall deem proper not
exceeding $1,000 for any one offense, which fines and
penalties may be recovered by an action in the name of such
district in the circuit court for the county in which such

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violation occurred. The park district may also seek in the
action, in addition to or instead of fines and penalties,
an order that the offender be required to make restitution
for damage resulting from violations, and the court shall
grant such relief where appropriate. The procedure in such
actions shall be the same as that provided by law for like
actions for the violation of ordinances in cities
organized under the general laws of this State, and
offenders may be imprisoned for non-payment of fines and
costs in the same manner as in such cities. All fines when
collected shall be paid into the treasury of such
district.
(f) To manage and control all officers and property of
such districts and to provide for joint ownership with one
or more cities, villages or incorporated towns of real and
personal property used for park purposes by one or more
park districts. In case of joint ownership, the terms of
the agreement shall be fair, just and equitable to all
parties and shall be set forth in a written agreement
entered into by the corporate authorities of each
participating district, city, village or incorporated
town.
(g) To secure grants and loans, or either, from the
United States Government, or any agency or agencies
thereof, for financing the acquisition or purchase of any
and all real estate, or rights therein, or for effecting

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any of the powers or purposes granted under this Code as
its Board may deem proper.
(h) To establish fees for the use of facilities and
recreational programs of the districts and to derive
revenue from non-resident fees from their operations. Fees
charged non-residents of such district need not be the
same as fees charged to residents of the district.
Charging fees or deriving revenue from the facilities and
recreational programs shall not affect the right to assert
or utilize any defense or immunity, common law or
statutory, available to the districts or their employees.
(i) To make contracts for a term exceeding one year,
but not to exceed 3 years, notwithstanding any provision
of this Code to the contrary, relating to: (1) the
employment of a park director, superintendent,
administrator, engineer, health officer, land planner,
finance director, attorney, police chief, or other officer
who requires technical training or knowledge; (2) the
employment of outside professional consultants such as
engineers, doctors, land planners, auditors, attorneys, or
other professional consultants who require technical
training or knowledge; (3) the provision of data
processing equipment and services; and (4) the purchase of
energy from a utility or an alternative retail electric
supplier. With respect to any contract made under this
subsection (i), the corporate authorities shall include in

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the annual appropriation ordinance for each fiscal year an
appropriation of a sum of money sufficient to pay the
amount which, by the terms of the contract, is to become
due and payable during that fiscal year.
(j) To enter into licensing or management agreements
with not-for-profit corporations organized under the laws
of this State to operate park district facilities if the
corporation covenants to use the facilities to provide
public park or recreational programs for youth.
(Source: P.A. 101-304, eff. 8-9-19; 102-999, eff. 5-27-22.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.