discharged from such fire department, the said board of trustees shall order and direct that said person shall be paid a monthly pension equal to one-half the amount of salary attached to the rank which he may have held in said fire department at the date of his retirement or discharge; and the said board upon the recommendation of the fire marshal or the chief officer of any fire department, provided for in this Act shall have the power to assign members of the fire department retired. or drawing pensions under this Act, to the performance of light duties in such fire department in case of extraordinary emergencies. After the decease of such member, his widow, minor child or children, under sixteen years of age, his dependent parent or parents, if any surviving him, shall be entitled to the pension provided for in this Act, but nothing in this or any other section of this Act shall warrant the payment of any annuity to any widow of a deceased member of such fire department after she shall have remarried.

§ II. TO WHOM ACT APPLIES.] This Act shall apply to all persons who are now or shall hereafter become members of such fire departments and to all persons who are now beneficiaries of the firemen's pension fund and all such persons shall be eligible to the benefits secured by this Act.

§ 12. TREASURER OF BOARD-CUSTODIAN OF FUND-BOOKS AND ACCOUNTS BONDS.] The treasurer of the board shall be custodian of said pension fund and shall secure and safely keep the same, subject to the control and direction of the board; and shall keep his books and accounts concerning said fund in such a manner as may be prescribed by the board; and the said books and accounts shall always be subject to the inspection of the board or any member thereof. The treasurer shall within ten days after his election or appointment, execute a bond to the city, village or incorporated town, with good and sufficient securities, in such penal sum as the board shall direct, to be approved by the board, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, and that he will safely keep and well and truly account for all moneys and property which may come into his hands as such treasurer; and that on the expiration of his term of office he will surrender and deliver over to his successor all unexpended moneys and all property which may have come to [into] his hands as treasurer of such fund. Such bond shall be filed in the office of the clerk of such city, village or incorporated town, and in case of a breach of the same. or the conditions thereof, suit may be brought on the same in the name of such city, village or incorporated town, for the use of said board, or of any person or persons injured by such breach.

13. DUTY OF MAYOR, OR ETC., TO DRAW WARRANTS.] It shall be the duty of the mayor, or the president of the board of trustees and clerk, or the comptroller, if there be one, and the officer or officers of such city, village or incorporated town who are or may be authorized by law to draw warrants upon the treasurer of such city, village or incorporated town, upon request made in writing by said board, to draw warrants upon the treasurer of such city, village or incorporated town, payable to the treasurer of said board for all funds in the hands of the

treasurer of such city, village or incorporated town belonging to said pension fund.

8 14. MONEY PAID ONLY UPON WARRANTS SIGNED, ETC.-INTEREST FROM FUND.] All moneys ordered to be paid from said pension fund to any person or persons shall be paid by the treasurer of said board only upon warrants signed by the president of the board and countersigned by the secretary thereof; and no warrant shall be drawn except by order of the board duly entered in the records of the proceedings of the board. In case the said pension fund or any part thereof shall, by order of said board or otherwise, be deposited in any bank, or loaned, all interest or money which may be paid or agreed to be paid on account of any such loan or deposit, shall belong to and constitute a part of said fund: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as authorizing said treasurer to loan or deposit said fund or any part thereof, unless so authorized by the board.

$15. REPORT OF BOARD OF CONDITIONS OF FUND.] The board of trustees shall make report to the council of said city, village or incorporated town, of the condition of said pension fund on the first day of January in each and every year.

§ 16. FUND NOT SUBJECT TO LEVY EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER ORDER OF DISTRIBUTION, ETC.] No portion of said pension fund shall, either before or after its order of distribution by said board to such disabled members of said fire department, or to the widow or guardian of such minor child or children, or to the dependent parent or parents, or a deceased or retired member of such department, be held, seized, taken, subject to, or detained or levied on by virtue of any attachment, execution, injunction, writ, interlocutory or other order or decree, or any process or proceeding whatever issued out of or by any court of this State for the payment or satisfaction in whole or in part of any debt, damages, claim, demand or judgment against any such member, or his said widow or the guardian of said minor child or children dependent parent or parents, of any deceased member; but the said fund. shall be sacredly held, kept, secured and distributed for the purposes of pensioning the persons named in this Act, and for no other purpose whatever.

§ 17. REPEAL.] All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed.

APPROVED June 1, 1907.

AN ACT to amend an Act entitled "An Act concerning local improvements," approved June 14, 1897, in force July 1, 1897, as heretofore amended, by adding thereto a new section to be known as section 97a. SECTION I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That an Act entitled "An Act concerning local improvements," approved June 14, 1897, in force July 1, 1897, as heretofore amended, be and the same is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to be known as section 97a. Said section to read as follows:

§ 97a. Any city, village or incorporated town or other corporate authorities to which the provisions of this Act shall apply may, if it or they shall see fit, join with any other city or cities, village or villages, incorporated town or towns or other corporate authorities, (lying within the same county) to which the provisions of this Act shall apply, in the making of any local improvement or improvements hereunder, and all the terms and provisions of this Act shall govern each of the cities, villages, incorporated towns, or other corporate authorities, so joining except where the same are hereinafter modified as follows. to-wit:

The first resolution of the board of local improvements of each of the cities, villages, incorporated towns or other corporate authorities so joining shall recite the advisability of making the proposed improvement with the city or cities, village or villages, incorporated town or towns, or other corporate authorities whose coöperation is desired, and the notice for public hearing, the ordinance, and the petition for the confirmation of the assessment shall, on the part of each of the cities, villages, incorporated towns or other corporate authorities so joining. make reference thereto: Provided, however, that only so much of said proposed improvement as lies within each of said municipalities shall be described in said resolution: Provided, also, that whenever a remonstrance petition as provided in section eight (8) of this Act is filed by the owners of a majority of the property fronting that portion of said improvement which lies within any one of said petitioning municipalities, said remonstrance shall stay said joint proceeding one year from said date.

Upon the coming into court of the petitions the court shall first ascertain if there is any substantial variance between the ordinances of

the cities, villages, incorporated towns or other corporate authorities so joining, and if such substantial variance shall be found no further proceedings shall be had thereon until time shall have been granted for amendments to such ordinance or ordinances: Provided, however, that in case amendments are necessary, no further resolution, public hearing or preliminary proceedings leading up to the same shall be required.

When the court shall be satisfied that the ordinances are alike in substance it shall enter an order consolidating said petitions and in said order shall designate and appoint one of said petitioning municipalities thenceforth to conduct all proceedings therein in the name of the municipality so designated, and all the provisions of this Act now applicable to municipalities of the class so designated shall govern the proceedings for the levy and confirmation of the assessment for said improvement. The commissioner or commissioners so appointed by the court in special assessment or condemnation proceedings are hereby expressly authorized and empowered to file one assessment roll and report and to levy said assessment upon all lands within the limits of said petitioning municipalities to the extent that the same may be benefited by said improvement.

The proportion of the cost of said improvement, if any, which shall be of benefit to the public shall be assessed between the petitioning municipalities in such amounts as shall to the court appear to be just and equitable. Neither of the petitioning municipalities shall dismiss its petition except by agreement with its co-petitioner or co-petitioners, or upon such terms as to costs as may be fixed by the court: Provided, however, that the cost of making and collecting the assessment for that part of the improvement lying within the respective municipalities shall be paid out of the general funds or levied upon the lands of each of the petitioning municipalities in the manner now provided by law.

The board of local improvement of the municipality so designated by the court shall have charge and control of all matters relating to the letting of contracts, accepting or rejecting bids, awarding and executing contracts, completing unfinished work, execution, superintendence and inspection of work, and the issuing of bonds and vouchers, the report of the cost of the work, crediting the excess upon assessments, rebates, and the final hearing as to whether the improvement conforms substantially to the requirements of the ordinances therefor, and of all matters necessary to the construction of said improvement.

Each petitioning municipality shall have charge and control of the collection of the assessments levied upon the land lying within its jurisdiction, and the treasurer of each of said municipalities or such other office as may be authorized by law to collect the same shall pay over the moneys so collected to the municipality so designated and appointed by the court and said municipality shall pay such moneys to the parties entitled thereto: Provided, however, that nothing in this section contained shall be construed to prevent any city, village, incorporated town, or other corporate authorities from proceeding independently in the making of any improvement, or portion thereof,

which might be made jointly as aforesaid: Provided, that where a proposed improvement lies wholly within one municipality the proportional cost may be paid out of the funds of any other municipality which may be benefited thereby, where such municipality has by previous agreement under the terms and conditions of this Act entered into said improvement, either by special assessment, special tax or by general taxation.

AN ACT to amend an Act entitled, "An Act concerning local improvements," approved June 14, 1897, in force July 1, 1897, as heretofore amended, by adding thereto six new sections to be known as section 15a, section 33a, section 61a, section 77a, section 89a and section 89b. SECTION I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That an Act entitled, "An Act concerning local improvements," approved June 14, 1897, in force July 1, 1897, as heretofore amended, be, and the same is hereby amended by adding thereto six new sections, to be known as "section 15a," "section 33a," "section 61a," "section 77a," "section 89a," and "section 89b." Said sections to read as follows:

§ 15a. Whenever any local improvement provided to be made by any ordinance therefor passed by virtue of the Act, to which this Act is an amendment, shall consist of a system of waterworks or a bridge or viaduct, any portion of the cost of which is to be defrayed by special assessment, it shall be lawful to provide by the ordinance for the same or by ordinance passed at any time before the confirmation of the assessment roll, that the aggregate amount assessed and each individual assessment, and also the assessment against the municipality for public benefits and on account of property owned by it, may be divided into not exceeding thirty (30) installments in the manner provided in section 42 of said Act to which this Act is an amendment, as near as may be.

833a. Whenever any ordinance shall be passed for the making of a local improvement consisting of a water works system, or a bridge or viaduct, the estimated cost of which shall not be less than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) (any portion of which is to be defrayed by special assessment), and the assessment therefor shall have been