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91_SB0006
LRB9100929PTpk
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Municipal Code by changing
2 Section 8-11-2.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
6 changing Section 8-11-2 as follows:
7 (65 ILCS 5/8-11-2) (from Ch. 24, par. 8-11-2)
8 Sec. 8-11-2. The corporate authorities of any
9 municipality may tax any or all of the following occupations
10 or privileges:
11 1. Persons engaged in the business of transmitting
12 messages by means of electricity or radio magnetic waves,
13 or fiber optics, at a rate not to exceed 5% of the gross
14 receipts from that business originating within the
15 corporate limits of the municipality.
16 2. Persons engaged in the business of distributing,
17 supplying, furnishing, or selling gas for use or
18 consumption within the corporate limits of a municipality
19 of 500,000 or fewer population, and not for resale, at a
20 rate not to exceed 5% of the gross receipts therefrom.
21 2a. Persons engaged in the business of
22 distributing, supplying, furnishing, or selling gas for
23 use or consumption within the corporate limits of a
24 municipality of over 500,000 population, and not for
25 resale, at a rate not to exceed 8% of the gross receipts
26 therefrom. If imposed, this tax shall be paid in monthly
27 payments.
28 3. The privilege of using or consuming electricity
29 acquired in a purchase at retail and used or consumed
30 within the corporate limits of the municipality at rates
31 not to exceed the following maximum rates, calculated on
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1 a monthly basis for each purchaser:
2 (i) For the first 2,000 kilowatt-hours used or
3 consumed in a month; 0.61 cents per kilowatt-hour;
4 (ii) For the next 48,000 kilowatt-hours used or
5 consumed in a month; 0.40 cents per kilowatt-hour;
6 (iii) For the next 50,000 kilowatt-hours used or
7 consumed in a month; 0.36 cents per kilowatt-hour;
8 (iv) For the next 400,000 kilowatt-hours used or
9 consumed in a month; 0.35 cents per kilowatt-hour;
10 (v) For the next 500,000 kilowatt-hours used or
11 consumed in a month; 0.34 cents per kilowatt-hour;
12 (vi) For the next 2,000,000 kilowatt-hours used or
13 consumed in a month; 0.32 cents per kilowatt-hour;
14 (vii) For the next 2,000,000 kilowatt-hours used or
15 consumed in a month; 0.315 cents per kilowatt-hour;
16 (viii) For the next 5,000,000 kilowatt-hours used
17 or consumed in a month; 0.31 cents per kilowatt-hour;
18 (ix) For the next 10,000,000 kilowatt-hours used or
19 consumed in a month; 0.305 cents per kilowatt-hour; and
20 (x) For all electricity used or consumed in excess
21 of 20,000,000 kilowatt-hours in a month, 0.30 cents per
22 kilowatt-hour.
23 If a municipality imposes a tax at rates lower than
24 either the maximum rates specified in this Section or the
25 alternative maximum rates promulgated by the Illinois
26 Commerce Commission, as provided below, the tax rates
27 shall be imposed upon the kilowatt hour categories set
28 forth above with the same proportional relationship as
29 that which exists among such maximum rates.
30 Notwithstanding the foregoing, until December 31, 2008,
31 no municipality shall establish rates that are in excess
32 of rates reasonably calculated to produce revenues that
33 equal the maximum total revenues such municipality could
34 have received under the tax authorized by this
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1 subparagraph in the last full calendar year prior to the
2 effective date of Section 65 of this amendatory Act of
3 1997; provided that this shall not be a limitation on the
4 amount of tax revenues actually collected by such
5 municipality.
6 Upon the request of the corporate authorities of a
7 municipality, the Illinois Commerce Commission shall,
8 within 90 days after receipt of such request, promulgate
9 alternative rates for each of these kilowatt-hour
10 categories that will reflect, as closely as reasonably
11 practical for that municipality, the distribution of the
12 tax among classes of purchasers as if the tax were based
13 on a uniform percentage of the purchase price of
14 electricity. A municipality that has adopted an
15 ordinance imposing a tax pursuant to subparagraph 3 as it
16 existed prior to the effective date of Section 65 of this
17 amendatory Act of 1997 may, rather than imposing the tax
18 permitted by this amendatory Act of 1997, continue to
19 impose the tax pursuant to that ordinance with respect to
20 gross receipts received from residential customers
21 through July 31, 1999, and with respect to gross receipts
22 from any non-residential customer until the first bill
23 issued to such customer for delivery services in
24 accordance with Section 16-104 of the Public Utilities
25 Act but in no case later than the last bill issued to
26 such customer before December 31, 2000. No ordinance
27 imposing the tax permitted by this amendatory Act of 1997
28 shall be applicable to any non-residential customer until
29 the first bill issued to such customer for delivery
30 services in accordance with Section 16-104 of the Public
31 Utilities Act but in no case later than the last bill
32 issued to such non-residential customer before December
33 31, 2000.
34 4. Persons engaged in the business of distributing,
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1 supplying, furnishing, or selling water for use or
2 consumption within the corporate limits of the
3 municipality, and not for resale, at a rate not to exceed
4 5% of the gross receipts therefrom.
5 None of the taxes authorized by this Section may be
6 imposed with respect to any transaction in interstate
7 commerce or otherwise to the extent to which the business or
8 privilege may not, under the constitution and statutes of the
9 United States, be made the subject of taxation by this State
10 or any political sub-division thereof; nor shall any persons
11 engaged in the business of distributing, supplying,
12 furnishing, selling or transmitting gas, water, or
13 electricity, or engaged in the business of transmitting
14 messages, or using or consuming electricity acquired in a
15 purchase at retail, be subject to taxation under the
16 provisions of this Section for those transactions that are or
17 may become subject to taxation under the provisions of the
18 "Municipal Retailers' Occupation Tax Act" authorized by
19 Section 8-11-1; nor shall any tax authorized by this Section
20 be imposed upon any person engaged in a business or on any
21 privilege unless the tax is imposed in like manner and at the
22 same rate upon all persons engaged in businesses of the same
23 class in the municipality, whether privately or municipally
24 owned or operated, or exercising the same privilege within
25 the municipality.
26 Any of the taxes enumerated in this Section may be in
27 addition to the payment of money, or value of products or
28 services furnished to the municipality by the taxpayer as
29 compensation for the use of its streets, alleys, or other
30 public places, or installation and maintenance therein,
31 thereon or thereunder of poles, wires, pipes or other
32 equipment used in the operation of the taxpayer's business.
33 (a) If the corporate authorities of any home rule
34 municipality have adopted an ordinance that imposed a tax on
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1 public utility customers, between July 1, 1971, and October
2 1, 1981, on the good faith belief that they were exercising
3 authority pursuant to Section 6 of Article VII of the 1970
4 Illinois Constitution, that action of the corporate
5 authorities shall be declared legal and valid,
6 notwithstanding a later decision of a judicial tribunal
7 declaring the ordinance invalid. No municipality shall be
8 required to rebate, refund, or issue credits for any taxes
9 described in this paragraph, and those taxes shall be deemed
10 to have been levied and collected in accordance with the
11 Constitution and laws of this State.
12 (b) In any case in which (i) prior to October 19, 1979,
13 the corporate authorities of any municipality have adopted an
14 ordinance imposing a tax authorized by this Section (or by
15 the predecessor provision of the "Revised Cities and Villages
16 Act") and have explicitly or in practice interpreted gross
17 receipts to include either charges added to customers' bills
18 pursuant to the provision of paragraph (a) of Section 36 of
19 the Public Utilities Act or charges added to customers' bills
20 by taxpayers who are not subject to rate regulation by the
21 Illinois Commerce Commission for the purpose of recovering
22 any of the tax liabilities or other amounts specified in such
23 paragraph (a) of Section 36 of that Act, and (ii) on or after
24 October 19, 1979, a judicial tribunal has construed gross
25 receipts to exclude all or part of those charges, then
26 neither those municipality nor any taxpayer who paid the tax
27 shall be required to rebate, refund, or issue credits for any
28 tax imposed or charge collected from customers pursuant to
29 the municipality's interpretation prior to October 19, 1979.
30 This paragraph reflects a legislative finding that it would
31 be contrary to the public interest to require a municipality
32 or its taxpayers to refund taxes or charges attributable to
33 the municipality's more inclusive interpretation of gross
34 receipts prior to October 19, 1979, and is not intended to
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1 prescribe or limit judicial construction of this Section. The
2 legislative finding set forth in this subsection does not
3 apply to taxes imposed after the effective date of this
4 amendatory Act of 1995.
5 (c) The tax authorized by subparagraph 3 shall be
6 collected from the purchaser by the person maintaining a
7 place of business in this State who delivers the electricity
8 to the purchaser. This tax shall constitute a debt of the
9 purchaser to the person who delivers the electricity to the
10 purchaser and if unpaid, is recoverable in the same manner as
11 the original charge for delivering the electricity. Any tax
12 required to be collected pursuant to an ordinance authorized
13 by subparagraph 3 and any such tax collected by a person
14 delivering electricity shall constitute a debt owed to the
15 municipality by such person delivering the electricity,
16 provided, that the person delivering electricity shall be
17 allowed credit for such tax related to deliveries of
18 electricity the charges for which are written off as
19 uncollectible, and provided further, that if such charges are
20 thereafter collected, the delivering supplier shall be
21 obligated to remit such tax. For purposes of this subsection
22 (c), any partial payment not specifically identified by the
23 purchaser shall be deemed to be for the delivery of
24 electricity. Persons delivering electricity shall collect the
25 tax from the purchaser by adding such tax to the gross charge
26 for delivering the electricity, in the manner prescribed by
27 the municipality. Persons delivering electricity shall also
28 be authorized to add to such gross charge an amount equal to
29 3% of the tax to reimburse the person delivering electricity
30 for the expenses incurred in keeping records, billing
31 customers, preparing and filing returns, remitting the tax
32 and supplying data to the municipality upon request. If the
33 person delivering electricity fails to collect the tax from
34 the purchaser, then the purchaser shall be required to pay
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1 the tax directly to the municipality in the manner prescribed
2 by the municipality. Persons delivering electricity who file
3 returns pursuant to this paragraph (c) shall, at the time of
4 filing such return, pay the municipality the amount of the
5 tax collected pursuant to subparagraph 3.
6 (c-5) A municipality may, by ordinance, allow a
7 purchaser for non-residential electric use (i) to elect to
8 register with the municipality as a self-assessing purchaser
9 and (ii) to pay the tax imposed by subparagraph 3 directly to
10 the municipality rather than paying the tax to the
11 purchaser's delivering supplier. The maximum rate of tax for
12 a self-assessing purchaser may not exceed 5% of the purchase
13 price of the electricity as calculated on a monthly basis for
14 each purchaser. The municipality shall establish by
15 ordinance the requirements for (i) election, registration,
16 and termination of a self-assessing purchaser and (ii) direct
17 return and payment of the taxes by a self-assessing
18 purchaser.
19 (d) For the purpose of the taxes enumerated in this
20 Section:
21 "Gross receipts" means the consideration received for the
22 transmission of messages, the consideration received for
23 distributing, supplying, furnishing or selling gas for use or
24 consumption and not for resale, and the consideration
25 received for distributing, supplying, furnishing or selling
26 water for use or consumption and not for resale, and for all
27 services rendered in connection therewith valued in money,
28 whether received in money or otherwise, including cash,
29 credit, services and property of every kind and material and
30 for all services rendered therewith, and shall be determined
31 without any deduction on account of the cost of transmitting
32 such messages, without any deduction on account of the cost
33 of the service, product or commodity supplied, the cost of
34 materials used, labor or service cost, or any other expenses
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1 whatsoever. "Gross receipts" shall not include that portion
2 of the consideration received for distributing, supplying,
3 furnishing, or selling gas or water to, or for the
4 transmission of messages for, business enterprises described
5 in paragraph (e) of this Section to the extent and during the
6 period in which the exemption authorized by paragraph (e) is
7 in effect or for school districts or units of local
8 government described in paragraph (f) during the period in
9 which the exemption authorized in paragraph (f) is in effect.
10 "Gross receipts" shall not include amounts paid by
11 telecommunications retailers under the Telecommunications
12 Municipal Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Act.
13 For utility bills issued on or after May 1, 1996, but
14 before May 1, 1997, and for receipts from those utility
15 bills, "gross receipts" does not include one-third of (i)
16 amounts added to customers' bills under Section 9-222 of the
17 Public Utilities Act, or (ii) amounts added to customers'
18 bills by taxpayers who are not subject to rate regulation by
19 the Illinois Commerce Commission for the purpose of
20 recovering any of the tax liabilities described in Section
21 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act. For utility bills issued
22 on or after May 1, 1997, but before May 1, 1998, and for
23 receipts from those utility bills, "gross receipts" does not
24 include two-thirds of (i) amounts added to customers' bills
25 under Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii)
26 amount added to customers' bills by taxpayers who are not
27 subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce
28 Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax
29 liabilities described in Section 9-222 of the Public
30 Utilities Act. For utility bills issued on or after May 1,
31 1998, and for receipts from those utility bills, "gross
32 receipts" does not include (i) amounts added to customers'
33 bills under Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act, or
34 (ii) amounts added to customers' bills by taxpayers who are
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1 not subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce
2 Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax
3 liabilities described in Section 9-222 of the Public
4 Utilities Act.
5 For purposes of this Section "gross receipts" shall not
6 include (i) amounts added to customers' bills under Section
7 9-221 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) charges added to
8 customers' bills to recover the surcharge imposed under the
9 Emergency Telephone System Act. This paragraph is not
10 intended to nor does it make any change in the meaning of
11 "gross receipts" for the purposes of this Section, but is
12 intended to remove possible ambiguities, thereby confirming
13 the existing meaning of "gross receipts" prior to the
14 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995.
15 The words "transmitting messages", in addition to the
16 usual and popular meaning of person to person communication,
17 shall include the furnishing, for a consideration, of
18 services or facilities (whether owned or leased), or both, to
19 persons in connection with the transmission of messages where
20 those persons do not, in turn, receive any consideration in
21 connection therewith, but shall not include such furnishing
22 of services or facilities to persons for the transmission of
23 messages to the extent that any such services or facilities
24 for the transmission of messages are furnished for a
25 consideration, by those persons to other persons, for the
26 transmission of messages.
27 "Person" as used in this Section means any natural
28 individual, firm, trust, estate, partnership, association,
29 joint stock company, joint adventure, corporation, limited
30 liability company, municipal corporation, the State or any of
31 its political subdivisions, any State university created by
32 statute, or a receiver, trustee, guardian or other
33 representative appointed by order of any court.
34 "Person maintaining a place of business in this State"
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1 shall mean any person having or maintaining within this
2 State, directly or by a subsidiary or other affiliate, an
3 office, generation facility, distribution facility,
4 transmission facility, sales office or other place of
5 business, or any employee, agent, or other representative
6 operating within this State under the authority of the person
7 or its subsidiary or other affiliate, irrespective of whether
8 such place of business or agent or other representative is
9 located in this State permanently or temporarily, or whether
10 such person, subsidiary or other affiliate is licensed or
11 qualified to do business in this State.
12 "Public utility" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in
13 Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act and shall include
14 telecommunications carriers as defined in Section 13-202 of
15 that Act and alternative retail electric suppliers as defined
16 in Section 16-102 of that Act.
17 "Purchase at retail" shall mean any acquisition of
18 electricity by a purchaser for purposes of use or
19 consumption, and not for resale, but shall not include the
20 use of electricity by a public utility directly in the
21 generation, production, transmission, delivery or sale of
22 electricity.
23 "Purchaser" shall mean any person who uses or consumes,
24 within the corporate limits of the municipality, electricity
25 acquired in a purchase at retail.
26 In the case of persons engaged in the business of
27 transmitting messages through the use of mobile equipment,
28 such as cellular phones and paging systems, the gross
29 receipts from the business shall be deemed to originate
30 within the corporate limits of a municipality only if the
31 address to which the bills for the service are sent is within
32 those corporate limits. If, however, that address is not
33 located within a municipality that imposes a tax under this
34 Section, then (i) if the party responsible for the bill is
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1 not an individual, the gross receipts from the business shall
2 be deemed to originate within the corporate limits of the
3 municipality where that party's principal place of business
4 in Illinois is located, and (ii) if the party responsible for
5 the bill is an individual, the gross receipts from the
6 business shall be deemed to originate within the corporate
7 limits of the municipality where that party's principal
8 residence in Illinois is located.
9 (e) Any municipality that imposes taxes upon public
10 utilities or upon the privilege of using or consuming
11 electricity pursuant to this Section whose territory includes
12 any part of an enterprise zone or federally designated
13 Foreign Trade Zone or Sub-Zone may, by a majority vote of its
14 corporate authorities, exempt from those taxes for a period
15 not exceeding 20 years any specified percentage of gross
16 receipts of public utilities received from, or electricity
17 used or consumed by, business enterprises that:
18 (1) either (i) make investments that cause the
19 creation of a minimum of 200 full-time equivalent jobs in
20 Illinois, (ii) make investments of at least $175,000,000
21 that cause the creation of a minimum of 150 full-time
22 equivalent jobs in Illinois, or (iii) make investments
23 that cause the retention of a minimum of 1,000 full-time
24 jobs in Illinois; and
25 (2) are either (i) located in an Enterprise Zone
26 established pursuant to the Illinois Enterprise Zone Act
27 or (ii) Department of Commerce and Community Affairs
28 designated High Impact Businesses located in a federally
29 designated Foreign Trade Zone or Sub-Zone; and
30 (3) are certified by the Department of Commerce and
31 Community Affairs as complying with the requirements
32 specified in clauses (1) and (2) of this paragraph (e).
33 Upon adoption of the ordinance authorizing the exemption,
34 the municipal clerk shall transmit a copy of that ordinance
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1 to the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. The
2 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs shall determine
3 whether the business enterprises located in the municipality
4 meet the criteria prescribed in this paragraph. If the
5 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs determines that
6 the business enterprises meet the criteria, it shall grant
7 certification. The Department of Commerce and Community
8 Affairs shall act upon certification requests within 30 days
9 after receipt of the ordinance.
10 Upon certification of the business enterprise by the
11 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, the Department
12 of Commerce and Community Affairs shall notify the Department
13 of Revenue of the certification. The Department of Revenue
14 shall notify the public utilities of the exemption status of
15 the gross receipts received from, and the electricity used or
16 consumed by, the certified business enterprises. Such
17 exemption status shall be effective within 3 months after
18 certification.
19 (f) A municipality that imposes taxes upon public
20 utilities or upon the privilege of using or consuming
21 electricity under this Section and whose territory includes
22 part of another unit of local government or a school district
23 may by ordinance exempt the other unit of local government or
24 school district from those taxes.
25 (g) The amendment of this Section by Public Act 84-127
26 shall take precedence over any other amendment of this
27 Section by any other amendatory Act passed by the 84th
28 General Assembly before the effective date of Public Act
29 84-127.
30 (h) In any case in which, before July 1, 1992, a person
31 engaged in the business of transmitting messages through the
32 use of mobile equipment, such as cellular phones and paging
33 systems, has determined the municipality within which the
34 gross receipts from the business originated by reference to
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1 the location of its transmitting or switching equipment, then
2 (i) neither the municipality to which tax was paid on that
3 basis nor the taxpayer that paid tax on that basis shall be
4 required to rebate, refund, or issue credits for any such tax
5 or charge collected from customers to reimburse the taxpayer
6 for the tax and (ii) no municipality to which tax would have
7 been paid with respect to those gross receipts if the
8 provisions of this amendatory Act of 1991 had been in effect
9 before July 1, 1992, shall have any claim against the
10 taxpayer for any amount of the tax.
11 (Source: P.A. 89-325, eff. 1-1-96; 90-16, eff. 6-16-97;
12 90-561, eff. 8-1-98; 90-562, eff. 12-16-97; 90-655, eff.
13 7-30-98.)
14 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
15 becoming law.
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