Any territory lying adjacent and contiguous to an emergency services district, and not part of another emergency services district and not part of a fire protection district that provides rescue services, may be annexed to the district as provided in this Section.
     Upon petition in writing, describing the territory proposed to be annexed and signed by a majority of the legal voters in that territory and by the owners of more than half of the taxable property in that territory as shown by the last ascertained equalized value of the taxable property in that territory being filed with the trustees of the district, the trustees may annex the territory by a resolution which shall be published at least once in a newspaper having a general circulation in the territory and shall include a notice of (1) the specific number of voters required to sign a petition requesting that the question of the adoption of the resolution be submitted to the electors of the territory, (2) the time in which the petition must be filed, and (3) the date of the prospective referendum. The county clerk of the county in which the territory is situated shall provide a petition form to any individual requesting one. The resolution shall be effective 45 days from the date of publication and is subject to a referendum, if a referendum is requested, before the effective date of the resolution, by the lesser of 1,000 voters or 5% of the voters in the district. The trustees may also order the question of the annexation of the territory to be submitted to the legal voters of the district at a regular election by certifying the question to the proper election officials. Notice of the election shall be given and the election conducted in the manner provided by the general election law. The proposition shall be stated as follows: “Shall the territory (describing it) be annexed to The …. Emergency Services District?” If the majority of all the votes cast on the question is in favor of annexation, the board of trustees shall so certify to the county clerk, and within 10 days of the election the trustees by an order duly entered upon their records shall annex the territory to the district and shall file a map of the annexed territory in the office of the county clerk of the county where the annexed territory is situated. Thereupon the territory shall be deemed annexed to and shall be a part of the emergency services district.