West Central Reporter

An Illinois watchdog group recently wrote that the city of Carlinville has not proven it has the authority to form a nonprofit water company.

“We have always voiced our opinion that the answer is 'NO' – there is no authority for the city to participate in this manner,” a recent article by Edgar County Watchdogs said.

The city of Carlinville has been working with Jersey County Rural Water Co. and Fosterburg Water District to form a nonprofit water corporation that the city would then contract with. Edgar County Watchdogs has previously written that the city doesn’t have the authority to do so.

City of Carlinville claims Article VII section 10 gives them authority to form water commission. | By Adam Moss

The question of Carlinville’s authority was on the agenda for the city’s Dec. 4 meeting, but the city was “tap-dancing around the issue of statutory authority," Edgar County Watchdogs wrote.

According to the group, Carlinville has cited Article VII, Section 10 of the Illinois Constitution which states, “Units of local government and school districts may contract or otherwise associate among themselves, with the State, with other states and their units of local government and school districts, and with the United States” for intergovernmental activities.

“It is not possible to enter into an 'Intergovernmental Agreement' with a non-governmental entity,” Edgar County Watchdogs wrote. The Jersey County Rural Water Company is a private business, not a government agency.

Carlinville also cited the opinion from Village of Sherman v. Village of Williamson, which said the court recognized Article VII, Section 10 gave the two villages in the case the ability to create a water commission, according to the group. Edgar County Watchdogs pointed out that no private corporations were involved in this case.

The article suggests other solutions, saying it could “form a multi-county water commission, operate under an intergovernmental agreement, form a new water district encompassing the desired territory [or] form a Municipal Joint Action Water Agency.”

“We believe the driving force behind this entire 'regional water nonprofit concept' is the Jersey County Rural Water Company – they cannot participate in any of the above plans of action,” the Edgar County Watchdogs wrote.