Day Ten: The New Year Countdown – The Equal Pay Act

Day Ten: The New Year Countdown – The Equal Pay Act

  Monday, December 23, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Public Act 103-0539 made several changes to the Equal Pay Act. Starting on January 1, 2025, all employers (including units of local government) with 15 or more employees must include a pay scale for all positions and job postings. Employers who create external job postings must also share information on vacant positions internally, including for promotional opportunities, within 14 days of the public posting.

The Act also provides that all employers, regardless of the number of employees, must disclose the pay scale and available benefits to all applicants before the applicant makes a request for the information.

Finally, in addition to current record keeping requirements, employers must document the pay scale and benefits for all positions.

Employers may be subject to fines of up to $500 for the first offense if they are found in violation of this new statutory requirement.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Nine: The New Year Countdown – Permit Fees for Disabled Veterans

Day Nine: The New Year Countdown – Permit Fees for Disabled Veterans

  Friday, December 20, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Public Act 103-0621 amends the Counties Code, Township Code, and the Municipal Code. The Act provides that veterans with a disability will not be charged for building permit fees for improvements required to accommodate their disability. A veteran or their caregiver must provide proof of veteran status and attest to the fact that the improvements to the veteran’s residence are for disability accommodations. 

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Eight: The New Year Countdown – Conservation and Education Program

Day Eight: The New Year Countdown – Conservation and Education Program

  Thursday, December 19, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Today, we are covering the Illinois Youth & Young Adult Conservation and Education Act that was passed by the General Assembly to provide education and employment opportunities for youth and young adults between the ages of 15-25.

The Act provides for creation of the Youth & Young Adult Conservation Pilot Program (Program). The Program will provide grants to units of local government to provide conservation education, job training programs, and internship opportunities with the Department of Natural Resources.

The curriculum of this program will be aimed at the development and maintenance of natural resources, environmental stewardship and civic responsibility, and improving the public land in Illinois.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Seven: The New Year Countdown – Police Officer Disability

Day Seven: The New Year Countdown – Police Officer Disability

  Wednesday, December 18, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Public Act 103-0929 amends the Illinois Municipal Code to expressly state that a physical or mental disability that constitutes the basis of an application for benefits may not be used as a cause, either in whole or in part, for a municipality to discharge a police officer. The Act also provides that the chief of police must order an immediate reinstatement into service when an officer provides a receipt of certification that the officer is no longer disabled.  

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Six: The New Year Countdown – First Responder Insurance

Day Six: The New Year Countdown – First Responder Insurance

  Tuesday, December 17, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025. Today, we will be covering two Acts passed by the General Assembly that made amendments to the Municipal Code, State Employees Group Insurance Act, and Counties Code.

Public Act 103-0818 requires insurance coverage for joint mental health therapy services for police and fire officers in Illinois. In order to be covered, the mental health therapy services must be provided by a licensed physician, therapist, psychologist, or social worker. Municipalities, including home-rule municipalities, must provide insurance coverage for these type of services to members of municipal police and fire departments and their spouses or partners residing with them if they are a self-insurer for health insurance. Similarly, counties that are self-insurers for health insurance must provide insurance coverage for members of the sheriff's office and any spouse or partner of the member who resides with the member, and fire protection districts that are self-insurers for health insurance must provide similar insurance coverage for members of the fire district and their spouses or partners residing with them.

Public Act 103-1011 makes similar amendments and requires coverage for mental health counseling services for first responders starting on June 1, 2025. The term “first responders” includes all police and corrections officers, deputy sheriffs, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, medical dispatchers, public safety telecommunicators, and mental health professionals dispatched in response to emergency services. Municipalities, including home-rule municipalities, must provide insurance coverage for these services if they are a self-insurer.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Five: The New Year Countdown – Illinois Department of Transportation Studies

Day Five: The New Year Countdown – Illinois Department of Transportation Studies

  Monday, December 16, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Public Act103-0694 provides that the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) must provide traffic and environmental studies or surveys to units of local government on request. The Act also provides that any study performed by IDOT may be substituted for a study required by construction projects affecting a state right-of-way.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Four: The New Year Countdown – Pesticide Notices

Day Four: The New Year Countdown – Pesticide Notices

  Friday, December 13, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Today, we are covering Public Act 103-0976 which regulates the use of pesticides in municipalities. This Act provides that municipalities and government actors must provide 24-hours of notice to the public before applying a pesticide on a public right-of-way. The notice must include intended location, name of the product, the reason for application, any special instructions on the product label, and contact information for the Department of Agriculture. A violation of this act may result in fines up to $1,000. The notice must be written and is sufficient if posted in newsletters, websites, calendars, or other correspondence published by the government entity. Posting on a bulletin board is not sufficient.

The Act also provides that a municipality is exempt from these notice requirements if the pesticide application is in response to diseases in mosquito populations or a natural disaster recovery effort.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Three: The New Year Countdown – Battery Charged Fences

Day Three: The New Year Countdown – Battery Charged Fences

  Thursday, December 12, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Public Act 103-0796 (Act) restricts local control over land use regulations governing battery-charged fences. Staring January 1, 2025, municipalities, townships, and counties may not require a permit or other approval for the installation or maintenance of a battery-charged fence if the fence is on non-residential property and the electric charge produced by the fence is below the requirements set by the International Electrotechnical Commission.

Additionally, any battery-charged fence must have visible warning signs placed every 30-feet.

This Act contains an express preemption of home rule powers. A home rule municipality may not regulate battery-charged fences in a manner that is inconsistent with the Act.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day Two: The New Year Countdown – Statewide Building and Residential Code

Day Two: The New Year Countdown – Statewide Building and Residential Code

  Wednesday, December 11, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025.

Back in May, we reported on changes made by Public Act 103-0510 to the Capital Development Board Act and the Illinois Residential Building Code Act. The new law requires certain building code standards to be adopted to create a statewide building code.

Effective January 1, 2025, the new laws will prohibit any person from occupying a “newly constructed commercial building” or a “substantially improved commercial building” in any “non-building code jurisdiction” until the property owner has contracted with a qualified inspector to inspect the building.

Also effective January 1, 2025, the law requires any municipal or county building code to regulate the structural design of new buildings, rehabilitation work in existing buildings, and residential buildings in a manner at least as stringent as the applicable baseline code applicable to those buildings. This section also expressly preempts home rule municipalities.

 Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Day One: The New Year Countdown – Bikeway Act

Day One: The New Year Countdown – Bikeway Act

  Tuesday, December 10, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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This year, Municipal Minute will be counting down to the New Year with updates on legislation that will be effective starting on January 1, 2025. Up first, we have the Bikeway Act!

The Bikeway Act provides that municipalities and counties can prepare a bicycle transportation plan to create safe and effective bikeways. Although not required to create a plan, the Act imposes some requirements for municipalities and counties that choose to do so.

If a municipality or county elects to create a bicycle transportation plan, it must include the following:

1. The estimated number of existing bicycle commuters in the plan area and the estimated increase in the number of commuters resulting from the implementation of the plan;
2. A map and description of existing and proposed land use and settlement patterns, bikeways, and bicycle parking and storing facilities;
3. A map and description of existing and proposed bicycle transport and parking facilities for connections with use of other transportation modes, including public transit and parking lots;
4. A description of bicycle safety and education programs conducted in the area including with the plan;
5. A description of community involvement with the development of the plan, including letters of support;
6. A description of how the transportation plan is consistent with other local or regional transportation plans;
7. A description of the projects proposed in the plan and their priorities; and
8. A description of past expenditures for bicycle facilities and any future financial needs.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

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Court Rejected Former Employee's Retaliatory Discharge and Whistleblower Claims

Court Rejected Former Employee's Retaliatory Discharge and Whistleblower Claims

  Monday, December 09, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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In Maxson v. City of Chenoa, an Illinois Appellate Court rejected whistleblower and retaliation claims brought by a former city employee against the City after his position was terminated.

On January 8, 2018, the city council voted to terminate a superintendent’s position in connection with a water main break on Grant Street. The city council based its decision on its position that the employee had ignored the situation and disregarded his duties. The former employee appealed his termination and was given the opportunity to have a hearing before the city council and call witnesses on his behalf. Following the hearing, the city council upheld the termination by a vote of 4 to 1.

The former employee then filed this lawsuit alleging violations the Whistleblower Act and retaliatory discharge. He claimed he became aware of unethical or illegal acts committed by the City's mayor involving use of public funds. The trial court held that the former employee did not offer sufficient facts to support his allegations of unethical acts and did not raise any complaints with any governmental or law enforcement agency, and the former employee appealed.

To establish a claim under the State of Illinois' Whistleblower Act, an employee must show: an adverse employment action by their employer that was in retaliation for the employee’s disclosure to a government or law enforcement agency of a suspected violation of law. A recent federal district court opinion also provides that an employee must show that the employer was aware of the employee’s disclosures of their illegal conduct to an enforcement agency.

On appeal, the Illinois Appellate Court held that the former employee's claim failed because he could not prove that the city council (1) knew of his disclosures of his whistleblowing, and (3) that he was fired because of it. Further, there was no evidence in this case that the mayor had any hand in the former employee's termination. Finally, the Court determined that the former employee failed to show evidence of a causal relationship between his activities—his reports of, or complaints about alleged unethical or illegal activities—and his discharge from employment, a necessary element of his common-law retaliatory discharge claim.

Post Authored by Alexis Carter & Julie Tappendorf

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Quorum Forum Podcast Ep. 89 - New Year, New Legislation, and Recent Decisions

Quorum Forum Podcast Ep. 89 - New Year, New Legislation, and Recent Decisions

  Thursday, December 05, 2024    Julie Tappendorf

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Ancel Glink's Podcast, Quorum Forum, has released a new episode: Quorum Forum 89: New Year, New Legislation, and Recent Decisions. 

In this episode, the holiday season is here, and the Quorum Forum podcast team is ready to celebrate! To ring in the New Year, we will be reviewing case law and legislation that our local government listeners should be aware of as we head into 2025. 

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