Tax for maintaining public nonsectarian hospitals. Each county board, subject to the provisions of Section 5-7002, has power to levy a tax of not to exceed .25%, or the rate limit in effect on July 1, 1967, whichever is greater, of the value, as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue, annually on all taxable property of the county, for the purpose of maintaining public nonsectarian hospitals located in the county. Such tax shall be levied and collected in like manner as the general taxes of the county, and shall, when collected, be paid into the “Hospital Fund”, which fund is hereby created. Such tax shall be in addition to all other taxes which the county is now, or hereafter may be, authorized to levy on the aggregate valuation of the property within the county and shall not be included in any tax limitation of rate upon which taxes are required to be extended but shall be excluded therefrom and in addition thereto. The foregoing limitations upon tax rates, insofar as they are applicable to counties of less than 1,000,000 population, may be increased or decreased under the referendum provisions of the General Revenue Law of Illinois.
     For the purposes of this Division the words, “public nonsectarian hospital”, shall be construed to include community hospitals operated on a non-profit basis, which are required by the terms of any contract to receive and care for acutely ill patients up to 25 per cent of the service rendered by such hospital expressed in terms of patient-days, regardless of whether the hospital receives compensation from such patients for the services rendered.