Illinois § 18

§ 18.

Money shall be paid into the Fair and Exposition Fund by the Illinois Racing Board, as provided in Section 28 of the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975. The General Assembly shall from time to time make appropriations payable from such fund to the Department for distribution to county fairs. Such appropriations shall be distributed by the Department to (i) county fairs which are eligible to participate in appropriations made from the Agricultural Premium Fund but which elect instead to participate in appropriations made from the Fair and Exposition Fund and (ii) county fairs that participate in the Agricultural Premium Fund under Section 17 but which receive moneys from the Fair and Exposition Fund under subsection (b) of Section 17. If a county has more than one county fair, such fairs shall jointly elect to participate either in appropriations made from the Agricultural Premium Fund or in appropriations made from the Fair and Exposition Fund. All participating county fairs of the same county shall participate in the same appropriation. Except as otherwise allowed by the Director, a participant, to be eligible to expend moneys appropriated from the Fair and Exposition Fund for the purchase of new or additional land construction or maintenance of buildings, grounds, facilities, infrastructure, or any improvement to the grounds must hold the land on which such fair or exposition is to be conducted as a fee or under a lease of at least 20 years, the terms of which require the lessee to have continuous possession of the land during every day of the lease period, or must be owned by the fair association participating in this disbursement, by an agricultural society, or by a fair and exposition authority. (Source: P.A. 104-2, eff. 6-16-25.)