Illinois courts have held that this statute (or its predecessor) requires the passage of an ordinance "looking toward the improvement." See e.g. People v. Village of Millstadt, 254 Ill. App. 39 (1929); People v. City of Champaign, 164 Ill. App. 289 (1911). But other Illinois courts have stressed that the determination of what constitutes a local improvement is within the discretion of the corporate authorities.