Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) An
Application will be considered received when delivered to the office of the
Director at 620 East Adams Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701 during the
period for submission of applications in a program year.
b) The Director, or the Director's designee,
shall issue a receipt to the Applicant acknowledging delivery of the
Application including the date the Application was received.
c) Applications shall be made available for
public inspection during regular business hours at the principal office of the
Authority and the Department's office at 620 East Adams Street, Springfield,
Illinois.
d) Initial Review
1) The Director, or the Director's designee,
shall notify the Applicant by August 15, or the first business day thereafter
that, after an initial review, the Application and attached exhibits are
complete on their face. This notice is not in any way an acknowledgement by the
Director as to the adequacy or acceptability of the substance of the
Application.
2) In the event the
Director, or the Director's designee, determines that the Application and its
attached exhibits are not complete on their face, and in accordance with the
format prescribed by the Department and this Part, the Director, or the
Director's designee, shall notify the Applicant by August 15, or the first
business day thereafter of such fact along with a list of such
deficiencies.
3) Should the
Director, or the Director's designee, send a notice of deficiency as required
in subsection (d)(2), the Applicant shall have fourteen (14) days from the date
of such notice to cure such deficiency. The Application shall be considered
null and void and returned to the Applicant if
A) the Applicant fails to supply additional
material to cure the deficiency; or
B) the Applicant submits additional material
to the Director which in the opinion of the Director does not cure the
deficiency.
4) If the
deficiency as noted in the list pursuant to subsection (d)(2) is cured, the
Director shall notify the Applicant that the Application and attached exhibits
are complete on their face in the form and manner provided for in subsection
(d)(1).
e) Substantive
Review
1) Within sixty (60) days from the
date of notification issued pursuant to subsection (d)(1) or (4), the Director
shall have conducted the initial review of the application and notify the
Applicant of any substantive deficiencies contained in the Application and/or
questions needed to clarify information provided in the Application.
Substantive deficiencies means the absence of documentation, information or
reports required in the application or the failure to complete such
materials.
2) The Applicant shall
have thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of notice of substantive
deficiencies issued pursuant to the provision of subsection (e)(1) to cure such
substantive deficiencies through the submission of additional material and/or
respond to Department questions.
3)
Following the period for submission of additional material to cure the
substantive deficiencies and/or answer Department questions, the Director shall
notify the Applicant that a public hearing will be held concerning the
application.
f) The
Department shall hold one or more public hearings on the applications of
Authorities which have been notified under subsection (e)(3). Applications may
be grouped for hearings by geographic area. Notice of such hearings shall be
placed in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of each applicant not
more than ten (10) days but at least five (5) days prior to hearing.
g) The applications will be reviewed and
competitively ranked. Ranking will be based upon the following criteria:
1) the application is in the prescribed
format accompanied by an economic feasibility report, an economic impact
report, master building plan and design, documented evidence that the Authority
was created pursuant to law, a financial plan, and the required local share of
total project costs;
2) the
application proposes a facility which accommodates a documented community need.
Such documentation should include evidence that the proposed facility does not
duplicate existing facilities;
3)
the application shows evidence of community support;
4) the application proposes a facility which
will provide primary and secondary economic benefits in the area of the
Authority as projected in the economic impact report, including such things as
job creation, private investments and other benefits; and
5) the application proposes a facility the
operational expenses of which are met by the Authority or through other means
available to the Authority.
h) Applications will be funded in order of
highest rank. However, if the amount available for certification in a given
year is insufficient to fund a higher ranked application, the Director shall
select the next highest ranked project for which funds are
sufficient.
i) Following the public
hearing and the application review, the Director shall deny all or a portion of
an application if, in the judgment of the Director, the substantive
deficiencies contained in the list provided pursuant to subsection (e)(1) have
not been cured, the applicant has failed to show that the project's economic
feasibility report, master building plan and design, financial plan, or
economic impact report satisfies the requirements of Section
500.20.
j) The Director shall prepare and distribute
to all Applicants a list of applications selected and the amount approved, and
a list of applications denied and the amount denied. Applicants whose requests
have been denied shall be provided with the reason for denial in
writing.
k) The Director shall
certify those applications selected if funding is available in the Civic Center
Bond Fund to fund the selected projects or, if funds are not available for the
selected projects, to fund the next highest ranked project for which funds are
available or after he has sought and received a written certification from the
Illinois Bureau of the Budget that the revenues for the last completed fiscal
year paid into the MEAOB Fund equal or exceed 175% of the annual debt service
required with respect to Civic Center Bonds for previously certified
applications and the application(s) under consideration; and, if the Director
determines that the sale of Civic Center Bonds for the application(s) under
consideration would not, when added to the amount of principal issued and
outstanding, exceed the sum of one-hundred million dollars ($100,000,000); and,
if the Director determines that the Department will issue Civic Center Bonds
based on, but not limited to, such factors as current interest rates, revenue
flow in the MEAOB fund.
l) If at
any time during the application process, the Department determines that no
funding will be available for any projects during a program year, the
Department shall return all applications to the Applicants without completing
the review process for that program year. Applications returned under this
subsection shall be considered denied for that program year.
m) Applications not certified in one year may
be updated, e.g., to reflect changes in market conditions, community need and
support, financial position and resubmitted in another program year.
n)
1) An
Applicant may request that the Director reconsider any adverse decision made by
the Director pursuant to subsection (i) above.
2) The Applicant must file a petition with
the Department for reconsideration within ten (10) days from the date of the
notice to the Applicant of such adverse decision.
3) The petition required by subsection (n)(2)
shall contain at a minimum:
A) substantive
evidence, except that evidence that was not included in the Application,
Amended Application, response to Department request for clarification, or
Public Hearing shall not be considered;
B) arguments of fact as to why the Director's
decision should be modified; and
C)
arguments of law as to why the Director's decision should be
modified.
4) The
Director shall render a decision based on the petition with all deliberate
speed.
5) A petition for review
shall stay the effect of subsections (h), (i), (j) and (k) as they pertain to
the selection and funding of applications for that program year.
6) An adverse decision as to a petition
submitted pursuant to this Section shall be considered a final administrative
decision.
