1. (a) Each governing commission and program created by referendum under this Act shall maintain a security fund for the purposes of paying the costs of administering the program and carrying out its duties under this Act, subject to the limitations and procedures set forth in this Act.
2. (b) The security fund shall be raised by means of an annual tax levied on all property within the territory of the program. The rate of this tax may be changed from year to year by majority vote of the governing commission but in no case shall it exceed a rate of 0.41% of the equalized assessed valuation of all property in the territory of the program, or the maximum tax rate approved by the voters of the territory. The commissioners shall cause the amount to be raised by taxation in each year to be certified to the county clerk in the manner provided by law, and any tax so levied and certified shall be collected and enforced in the same manner and by the same officers as those taxes for the purposes of the county and city within which the territory of the commission is located. Any such tax, when collected, shall be paid over to the proper officer of the commission who is authorized to receive and receipt for such tax. The governing commission may issue tax anticipation warrants against the taxes to be assessed for the calendar year in which the program is created and for the first full calendar year after the creation of the program.
3. (c) Wherever the question of increasing the annual tax levy on all property within the territory is initiated by a petition signed by not less than 10% of the total number of registered voters of each precinct in the territory, the registered voters of which are eligible to sign the petition, it shall be the duty of the election authority having jurisdiction over the municipality to submit the question of increasing the annual tax on all property within the territory to the electors of each precinct within the territory at the regular election specified in the petition initiating the question. A petition initiating a question described in this Section shall be filed with the election authority having jurisdiction over the municipality. The petition shall be filed and objections thereto shall be made in the manner provided in the general election law. A petition initiating a question described in this Section shall specify the election at which the question is to be submitted. The referendum or such question shall be held in accordance with general election law. The question, and the petition initiating the question, shall include the maximum rate at which the neighborhood security patrol program shall be able to levy a property tax.
4. (d) The moneys deposited in the security fund shall, as nearly as practicable, be fully and continuously invested or reinvested by the governing commission in investment obligations which shall be in such amounts, and shall mature at such times, that the maturity or date of redemption at the option of the holder of such investment obligations shall coincide, as nearly as practicable, with the times at which moneys will be required for the purposes of the program. As used in this Section, "investment obligation" means direct general municipal, State, or federal obligations which at the time are legal investments under the laws of this State and the payment of principal of and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by the governing body issuing them.
5. (e) The security fund shall be used solely and exclusively for the purposes of the program and for reasonable salaries, expenses, bills, and fees incurred in administering the program, and shall be used for no other purpose.
6. (f) The security fund shall be maintained, invested, and expended exclusively by the governing commission of the program for whose purposes it was created. Under no circumstance shall the security fund be used by any person or persons, governmental body, or public or private agency or concern other than the governing commission of the program for whose purposes it was created. Under no circumstances shall the security fund be commingled with other funds or investments.

7. (g) No commissioner or family member of a commissioner may receive any financial benefit, either directly or indirectly, from the security fund. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit payment of expenses to a commissioner in accordance with Section 15.

   As used in this subsection, "family member" means a spouse, child, stepchild, parent, brother, or sister of a commissioner or a child, stepchild, parent, brother, or sister of a commissioner's spouse.

8. (h) An independent audit of the security fund and the management of the program shall be conducted annually and made available to the public through any office of the governing commission or a public facility such as a local public library located within the territory of the program.

(Source: P.A. 88-439.)