Elementary School Dist. 159 v. Schiller

• Decision Date: 20 April 2006
• Docket Number: No. 100947.,100947.
• Parties: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 159 et al., Appellees, v. Robert E. SCHILLER, as Illinois State Superintendent of Education, et al. (Howard G. Ohlhausen, Appellant).
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

849 N.E.2d 349

221 Ill.2d 130

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 159 et al., Appellees, v. Robert E. SCHILLER, as Illinois State Superintendent of Education, et al. (Howard G. Ohlhausen, Appellant).

No. 100947.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

April 20, 2006.

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Thomas F. Geselbracht, Kenneth L. Schmetterer, of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US, L.L.P., Chicago, for appellant.

Stephen H. DiNolfo, Maureen Anichini Lemon, of Ottosen Trevarthen Britz Kelly & Cooper, Ltd., Wheaton, for appellees.

Justice FITZGERALD delivered the judgment of the court:

Pursuant to section 7-2c of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/7-2c (West 1998)), defendant Howard G. Ohlhausen (Ohlhausen) petitioned the State Superintendent of Education to detach his parcel of vacant farmland property from the existing school districts associated with Rich Township and annex it to adjoining school districts associated with the Village of Frankfort. The issue before us is whether Ohlhausen's petitions comply with section 7-2c, and, if so, whether section 7-2c constitutes unconstitutional special legislation in violation of article IV, section 13, of the Illinois Constitution of 1970 (Ill. Const. 1970, art. IV, § 13). The circuit court of Cook County found that the petition did not comply with section 7-2c and additionally found that section 7-2c constituted special legislation. For the reasons which follow, we reverse.

BACKGROUND

Ohlhausen, as successor trustee of the Else S. Emoff Living Trust, owned a parcel of land on the southwest edge of Cook County, Illinois (hereinafter, the property). The record reveals that the property is 140 acres of vacant farmland, and had been located in an unincorporated area in Rich Township, Cook County. It is surrounded on the north, east, and south by similarly vacant farmland properties. The nearest development to the north and east in the towns of Matteson and Richton Park, Illinois, is several miles away. However, the west side of the property is bounded by Harlem Avenue, and immediately across Harlem Avenue is the Village of Frankfort, in Will County. Well-developed residential subdivisions known as Southwick and Prestwick border Harlem Avenue in Frankfort, and thus adjoin the property. A petition for annexation of the property was filed and pending with the Village of Frankfort as of August 17, 1997.

The property is located within Matteson Elementary School District 159 and Rich Township High School District 227. Students residing in Frankfort do not attend the Matteson and Richton Park schools. Instead, Frankfort's public high school students attend Lincoln Way Community High School District 210, while Frankfort's elementary students attend either Frankfort School District 157-C, or another district serving Frankfort children.

The record contains a December 9, 1996, letter which demonstrates Ohlhausen's plans as to the property. In the letter, Ohlhausen states to a representative of District 157-C:

"Central to our planning and the success of the project is that the parcel be annexed to Frankfort 157C School District; whose excellent reputation would help support the sale of the upscale community envisaged for the parcel. [The village Administrator of Frankfort] conveyed support for our project, and expressed his opinions that (a) the property was in the buffer zone between Frankfort and Richton Park, (b) that it was very close to the Frankfort schools, (c) and that it might already be within both the Frankfort Library District and the Frankfort Fire District. We believe the property currently falls within the Richton Park School District, and that the development of such a community so far from their schools, would materially limit its success and set it apart as an `island' community."

Section 7-2c was offered by Senator Petka as an amendment to House Bill 574. According to the May 15, 1997, Senate debates, along with another matter dealing with the annexation of school districts, the bill "provides a mechanism for a small portion of vacant land to be annexed to a neighboring municipality; takes care of a local concern in Will County." 90th Ill. Gen. Assem., Senate Proceedings, May 15, 1997, at 10 (statements of Senator Petka). The bill was to "solve a couple of school district issues * * * also for a school district in Will County." 90th Ill. Gen. Assem., Senate Proceedings, May 16, 1997, at 57-58 (statements of Senator Petka). On May 23, 1997, the legislature passed House Bill 574 as Public Act 90-459, which became effective on August 17, 1997.

Accordingly, the Act provides, in pertinent part:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, any contiguous portion of an elementary school district may be detached from that district and annexed to an adjoining elementary school district, and any contiguous portion of a high school district may be detached from that district and annexed to an adjoining high school district, upon a petition or petitions filed under this Section, when all of the following conditions are met with respect to each petition so filed:

(1) The portion of the district to be so detached and annexed to an adjoining elementary or high school district consists of not more than 160 acres of vacant land that is located in an unincorporated area of a county of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants and, on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, is contiguous to one municipality that is (i) wholly outside the elementary or high school district from which the vacant land is to be detached and (ii) located entirely within the territorial boundaries of the adjoining elementary or high school district to which the vacant land is to be annexed.

(2) The equalized assessed valuation of the taxable property located in the portion of the district that is to be so detached and annexed to the adjoining elementary or high school district constitutes less than 1% of the equalized assessed valuation of the taxable property of the district from which it is to be detached.

(3) The portion of the district to be so detached and annexed to the adjoining elementary or high school district is annexed to the contiguous municipality pursuant to a petition for annexation filed and pending with the annexing municipality upon the effective date of this amendatory Act." 105 ILCS 5/7-2c (West 1998).

The property was annexed to the Village of Frankfort on December 15, 1997. Thereafter, on June 2, 1998, Ohlhausen petitioned the State Superintendent of Education, pursuant to section 7-2c, to detach the property from the Cook County elementary and high school districts, and to annex the property to the adjacent Will County school districts. Ohlhausen filed two petitions: one for the elementary school districts, and one for the high school districts.

The Superintendent, through his hearing officer, convened an administrative hearing on the Ohlhausen petitions on September 10, 1998. Much of the evidence relating to the specific requirements of section 7-2c was stipulated.

As to section 7-2c(1) of the Act, the evidence demonstrated that the property is vacant and less than 160 acres. On August 17, 1997, the effective date of the Act, the property was located in an unincorporated area in a county of 2 million or more inhabitants. On the date the petition was filed, June 2, 1998, the property had been incorporated into the Village of Frankfort. The property was contiguous to a municipality (Frankfort) located entirely outside the school districts from which it was to be detached. The Village of Frankfort was entirely within the high school district to which it was to be annexed, namely, high school district 210. Frankfort, however, is not entirely within elementary school district 157-C.

As to section 7-2c(2) of the Act, the evidence demonstrated that the equalized assessed valuation of the property was less than 1% of the equalized assessed valuation of the taxable property of Districts 159 and 227. District 159's financial loss if the property were transferred to the Frankfort school districts would be less than .02% of its tax base, while District 227's loss would be less than .0074% of its tax base.

As to section 7-2c(3) of the Act, the evidence demonstrated that the property was annexed to Frankfort, a municipality contiguous to the property, pursuant to an annexation petition filed and pending on the effective date of the Act.

The hearing officer found that there was "no question" that Ohlhausen complied with "each and every criteria" established under the Act. He rejected District 159 and District 227's argument that section 7-2c(1) required that the property be in "unincorporated" territory on the date the school petition was filed with the Superintendent. He also rejected their argument that Frankfort must be located entirely within both Lincoln-Way High School District 210 and Elementary School District 157-C as a misreading of section 7-2(c)(1)(ii). Moreover, the hearing officer found, applying the "community of interest standard" for annexation and detachment cases (see Board of Education of Golf School No. 67 v. Regional Board of School Trustees, 89 Ill.2d 392, 60 Ill.Dec. 443, 433 N.E.2d 240 (1982)), that the property's "future is tied" to Frankfort. He observed that the subject property is "physically isolated from any developed section of the Village of Richton Park. The only developed land near the Subject Property is the Prestwick and Southwick subdivisions in the Village of Frankfort." He observed that "all municipal services for the site will be provided by the Village of Frankfort," and also library service was already provided by Frankfort prior to the annexation. He found that the Village of Frankfort, District 157-C and District 210 are the "natural community for any possible future inhabitants of the Subject Property." Accordingly, the hearing officer recommended that the Superintendent grant Ohlhausen's petitions.

The hearing officer...