When I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I took some time out of my day to walk around downtown, visit the library, browse around the Illinois Antique Center, and, in a moment of whimsy, visit the Public Building Commission of Peoria.
The PBC office is located in a well-appointed suite on the 19th floor of the Associated Bank building. I talked to the secretary/accountant (one of two employees of the PBC) who was very kind, took my contact information, and promised to relay my request for information to her boss the next day. Her boss is James Thornton, the Executive Secretary of the PBC, and he called me the next day as promised.
We had a nice chat about the PBC’s relationship to the school district, and he offered to send me a standard letter about the PBC, which I’d like to share with my readers. It may answer some questions (though not all, by any means) that have been asked in the comments section of other posts. It’s titled, “Public Building Commissions: A Means of Attaining Necessary Public Building Construction And/or Maintenance.”
Because of conditions that existed in many counties in the State of Illinois as related to the decrepit conditions of governmental buildings throughout the state, the Legislature of the State of Illinois in 1955, enacted a law known as The Public Building Commission Act.
The reason for the Act was to make possible the construction, acquisition, or enlargement of buildings to be made available for use by governmental agencies with the intent of centralizing the activities of the different branches of governmental and eradicating inefficient buildings no longer adequate to meet the needs of a growing population.
Even though Public Building Commissions have been in existence in the State of Illinois for more than fifty years, there seems to be, in the eyes of the general public, a certain air of mystery and misconception about these municipal corporations which have been created in various counties of Illinois under the provisions of the Public Building Commission Act of 1955, for the designated purpose of providing necessary public buildings in this state.
In general it can be stated that Public Building Commissions perform a dual function:
- They provide financing for building construction and
- Provide the expertise necessary to administer and supervise a construction project; and if desired, administer maintenance and operation after completion of construction.
It should be emphasized, however, that a Public Building Commission has no taxing powers whatsoever. For a Public Building Commission (PBC) to become involved in a construction project, it is necessary that a municipal corporation with taxing powers and within the territorial jurisdiction defined in the Act request the assistance of the PBC in the construction of facilities necessary or desirable for the proper operation and functioning of that particular public body. If the PBC believes the project is feasible, it may agree to assume the responsibilities of the proposed construction. Four things must then occur to initiate the project.
- The PBC must select the site and acquire title to the land on which the improvement is to be constructed.
- The PBC then issues bonds in an amount sufficient to cover the construction costs or as much of the cost as is requested.
- The PBC then leases back the premises to the public body involved, who in turn agrees to pay an annual rental to the PBC in an amount sufficient to pay interest on the bonds; retire bonds, provide adequate reserve funds during the life of the bond issue, and if desired, to maintain and operate the building during the term of the lease.
- The public body that is leasing the building then levies a special tax sufficient to pay annual rentals required throughout the term of the lease. This levy shall be in addition to all other taxes levied by the Lessee Corporation and shall not be included within any statutory limitation of the rate or amount for that public body. After the bonds have been paid off, legal title to the property may then revert back to the public body concerned if it so desires, along with any remaining monetary funds.
The following are some pertinent observations, which may answer some questions that sometime arise concerning Public Buliding Commissions and their function.
- A Public Building Commission on its own cannot engage in any building project. It can only work in conjunction with and at the request of the duly elected representatives of a qualifying municipal corporation. In other words, all provisions of a construction project including land conveyance, lease provisions, and tax levy must be adopted by elected officials.
- Public Building Commissions cannot have outstanding bonds that exceed five (5) percent of the assessed valuation of the county seat.
- Numerous counties in Illinois in addition to Peoria County — Dupage, Kane, Cook, Winnebage, Whiteside, Stephenson, Lee, McLean, St. Clair, Vermilion, and Sangamon, to name a few, have created Public Building Commissions and have used them to construct much needed public facilities in their respective areas. Projects have included courthouses, jails, law enforcement buildings, educational facilities, nursing homes, and recreational facilities. These projects have all been well received and accepted by the public in their respective counties.
Some additional items that the Public Building Commission requires:
- They approve or select the site and hold the title for the length of the bonds.
- The PBC selects the architect.
- They bid and approve all construction documents.
- They will approve and pay all construction payments.
- PBC will approve all change orders.
- PBC will sell the required bonds and make all payments for the sale from the bonds. The PBC will hire the bond Counsel and company to sell bonds.
- PBC will establish all payment schedules.
The Peoria Public Building Commission has currently spent over ninety-five million dollars building public facilities in the Peoria area.
In addition to this info, I was also sent a complete list of properties held by the PBC that are being leased by District 150:
- Richwoods High School
- Lincoln Middle School
- Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Education Center
- Blaine Sumner School
- Sterling School
- Washington School
- Tyng School
- White School
- Loucks School
- Von Steuben School
- Columbia School
- Thomas Jefferson School
Obviously several of these schools are older than the PBC itself; several of the older schools had additions built and modifications done that were financed through the PBC. The last nine schools I listed are the ones that will be paid in full within the next few months (I don’t have an exact date on that).
Once those are paid off, District 150 will not be able to ask for that money in their property tax levy anymore. That means the property tax rate for District 150 will go down, and that means you will pay less in taxes….
…that is, unless the state legislature decides to override the Governor’s veto on SB2477. If that bill is made law in its original form, District 150 will have another five years to get money from the PBC without having to get the voters’ permission via referendum. And believe you me, the school district can spend a lot of your money in five years.
Very good overview of this commission and its role. Question – who pays for the staff of the Public Building Commission? While only two individuals and a small office – perhaps one savings for the public would be the elimination of the PBC.
CJ: Great overview and research! 🙂
PeoProud — it’s my understanding that the staff is compensated out of the proceeds from the leases it has with the various municipal corporations. Since the cost of the lease is passed on to the taxpayer, we ultimately pay for their services.
CJ,
Do you know who the Commissioners are for the Peoria PBC?
Yes. The volunteer city commission known as the Public Building Commission of Peoria is comprised of the following members:
In addition, there are two
full-timestaff people, as mentioned in my original post. The commission was established “as per Illinois Compiled Statutes, Public Building Commission Act (7/5/55); City Resolution 57-434, dated June 11, 1957.”Kind of interesting that the amendment sponsored by Shadid would “undo” an amendment in 1994 that created the 3,000,000 population threshhold. He’s trying to cause the statute to revert to its pre-1994 status. I don’t know who sponsored the 1994 amendment.
I understand the PBC has not been very active for several years. I wonder if we still need the dedicated staff and office, or whether the City or County administration could provide the support needed at a lower cost.
SA: I believe HB2132 passed on Apr 23, 1993 in the IL House — 98 YEAS, 9 NAYS, 2 PRESENT. Rep. Deering was the House Sponsor.
Interesting to note — a portion of the transcript reads:
Rep. Skinner: “Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of this Bill. It’s obvious that we in the State Legislature have decided that school referendums ought to be required in order to build schools. Schools and junior colleges should not be able to make end runs around the voters by going to a county building commission.”
Rep. Leitch: Did not support this bill. …. “We have not abused this privilege. It has not been a profligate spending of taxpayer money, and for those of you who are concerned about education, I would urge you to reject this bad Bill.”
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/profligate
profligate =
1. utterly and shamelessly immoral or dissipated; thoroughly dissolute.
2. recklessly prodigal or extravagant.
Some taxpayers would debate the term profligate when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars without taxpayer input.
HB2132 passed the IL Senate on May 17, 1993 (Ayes 45, Nays 4, 4 voting present). (As previously reported, Sen. Shadid voted in support of this bill in 1993).
It was sad for the taxpayers of Cook County because there were negotiations that exempted HB2132 from applying to Cook County.
One correction to my earlier comment — there are not two full-time employees at the PBC. There’s one full-time and one part-time. So, they have a pretty minimal staff.