Public Act 100-0945
 
SB3464 EnrolledLRB100 20847 AWJ 36341 b

    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section
5-1095.1 as follows:
 
    (55 ILCS 5/5-1095.1)
    Sec. 5-1095.1. County franchise fee or service provider fee
review; requests for information.
    (a) If pursuant to its franchise agreement with a community
antenna television system (CATV) operator, a county imposes a
franchise fee authorized by 47 U.S.C. 542 or if a community
antenna television system (CATV) operator providing cable or
video service in that county is required to pay the service
provider fees imposed by the Cable and Video Competition Law of
2007, then the county may conduct an audit of that CATV
operator's franchise fees or service provider fees derived from
the provision of cable and video services to subscribers within
the franchise area to determine whether the amount of franchise
fees or service provider fees paid by that CATV operator to the
county was accurate. Any audit conducted under this subsection
(a) shall determine, for a period of not more than 4 years
after the date the franchise fees or service provider fees were
due, any overpayment or underpayment to the county by the CATV
operator, and the amount due to the county or CATV operator is
limited to the net difference.
    (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a county or its agent
that is authorized to perform an audit as set forth in
subsection (a) may, subject to the limitations and protections
stated in the Local Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act,
request information from the CATV operator in the format
maintained by the CATV operator in the ordinary course of its
business that the county reasonably requires in order to
perform an audit under subsection (a). The information that may
be requested by the county includes without limitation the
following:
        (1) in an electronic format used by the CATV operator
    in the ordinary course of its business, the database used
    by the CATV operator to determine the amount of the
    franchise fee or service provider fee due to the county;
    and
        (2) in a format used by the CATV operator in the
    ordinary course of its business, summary data, as needed by
    the county, to determine the CATV operator's franchise fees
    or service provider fees derived from the provision of
    cable and video services to subscribers within the CATV
    operator's franchise area.
    (c) The CATV operator must provide the information
requested under subsection (b) within:
        (1) 60 days after the receipt of the request if the
    population of the requesting county is 500,000 or less; or
        (2) 90 days after the receipt of the request if the
    population of the requesting county exceeds 500,000.
    The time in which a CATV operator must provide the
information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by
written agreement between the county or its agent and the CATV
operator.
    (c-5) The county or its agent must provide an initial
report of its audit findings to the CATV operator no later than
90 days after the information set forth in subsection (b) of
this Section has been provided by the CATV operator. This
90-day timeline may be extended one time by written agreement
between the county or its agent and the CATV operator. However,
in no event shall an extension of time exceed 90 days. This
initial report of audit findings shall detail the basis of its
findings and provide, but not be limited to, the following
information: (i) any overpayments of franchise fees or service
provider fees, (ii) any underpayments of franchise fees or
service provider fees, (iii) the complete list of all addresses
within the corporate limits of the county for which the audit
is being conducted, (iv) all county addresses that should be
included in the CATV operator's database and attributable to
that county for determination of franchise fees or service
provider fees, and (v) (iv) addresses that should not be
included in the CATV operator's database and addresses that are
not attributable to that county for determination of franchise
fees or service provider fees. Generally accepted auditing
standards shall be utilized by the county and its agents in its
review of information provided by the CATV operator.
    (c-10) In the event that the county or its agent does not
provide the initial report of the audit findings to the CATV
operator with the timeframes set forth in subsection (c-5) of
this Section, then the audit shall be deemed completed and to
have conclusively found that there was no overpayment or
underpayment by the CATV operator for the audit period.
Further, the county may not thereafter commence or conduct any
such audit for the same audit period or for any part of that
same audit period during the 24 months prior to the county or
its agents requesting the information set forth in subsection
(b) of this Section.
    (d) If an audit by the county or its agents finds an error
by the CATV operator in the amount of the franchise fees or
service provider fees paid by the CATV operator to the county,
then the county shall notify the CATV operator of the error.
Any such notice must be given to the CATV operator by the
county or its agent within 90 days after the county or its
agent discovers the error, and no later than 4 years after the
date the franchise fee or service provider fee was due. Upon
such a notice, the CATV operator must submit a written response
within 60 days after receipt of the notice stating that the
CATV operator has corrected the error on a prospective basis or
stating the reason that the error is inapplicable or
inaccurate. The county or its agent then has 60 days after the
receipt of the CATV operator's response to review and contest
the conclusion of the CATV operator. No legal proceeding to
collect a deficiency or overpayment based upon an alleged error
shall be commenced unless within 180 days after the county's
notification of the error to the CATV operator the parties are
unable to agree on the disposition of the audit findings.
    Any legal proceeding to collect a deficiency as set forth
in this subsection (d) shall be filed in the appropriate
circuit court.
    (e) No CATV operator is liable for any error in past
franchise fee or service provider fee payments that was unknown
by the CATV operator prior to the audit process unless (i) the
error was due to negligence on the part of the CATV operator in
the collection or processing of required data and (ii) the
county had not failed to respond in writing in a timely manner
to any written request of the CATV operator to review and
correct information used by the CATV operator to calculate the
appropriate franchise fees or service provider fees if a
diligent review of such information by the county reasonably
could have been expected to discover such error.
    (f) All account specific information provided by a CATV
operator under this Section may be used only for the purpose of
an audit conducted under this Section and the enforcement of
any franchise fee or service provider fee delinquent claim. All
such information must be held in strict confidence by the
county and its agents and may not be disclosed to the public
under the Freedom of Information Act or under any other similar
statutes allowing for or requiring public disclosure.
    (f-5) All contracts by and between a county and a third
party for the purposes of conducting an audit as contemplated
in this Code shall be disclosed to the public under the Freedom
of Information Act or under similar statutes allowing for or
requiring public disclosure.
    (g) For the purposes of this Section, "CATV operator" means
a person or entity that provides cable and video services under
a franchise agreement with a county pursuant to Section 5-1095
of the Counties Code and a holder authorized under Section
21-401 of the Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007 as
consistent with Section 21-901 of that Law.
    (h) This Section does not apply to any action that was
commenced, to any complaint that was filed, or to any audit
that was commenced before the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 96th General Assembly. This Section also does not
apply to any franchise agreement that was entered into before
the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General
Assembly unless the franchise agreement contains audit
provisions but no specifics regarding audit procedures.
    (h-5) The audit procedures set forth in this Section shall
be the exclusive audit procedures for: (i) any franchise
agreement entered into, amended, or renewed on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General
Assembly; and (ii) any franchise fee or service provider fee
audit of a CATV operator commenced on or after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly.
    (i) The provisions of this Section shall not be construed
as diminishing or replacing any civil remedy available to a
county, taxpayer, or tax collector.
    (j) If a contingent fee is paid to an auditor, then the
payment must be based upon the net difference of the complete
audit.
    (k) A Within 90 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, a county shall
provide to each any CATV operator an updated a complete list of
addresses within the corporate limits of the county and shall
annually update the list. In addition, the county shall provide
a CATV operator the updated address list within 90 days after
the date of a written request by the CATV operator.
    As a prerequisite to performing an audit of a CATV
operator's franchise fees or service provider fees derived from
the provision of cable and video services to subscribers within
the franchise area, a county shall provide to a CATV operator
the complete list of addresses within the corporate limits of
the county for each calendar year subject to the audit. If an
address is not included in the list or if no list is provided,
the CATV operator shall be held harmless for any franchise fee
underpayments, including penalty and interest, from situsing
errors if it used a reasonable methodology to assign the
address or addresses to a county.
    An address list provided by a county to a CATV operator
shall be maintained as confidential by the CATV operator and
shall only be used by the CATV operator for the purposes of
determining the situs of any franchise fee or service provider
fee. Any situs issues identified by a CATV operator as a result
of the provision of an address list by a county to the CATV
operator shall first be confirmed in writing to the county by
the CATV operator prior to the CATV operator making any situs
change that may result in a change of allocation of a franchise
fee or service provider fee to the county.
    (l) This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule
powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of
Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 6-29-15.)
 
    Section 10. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
changing Section 11-42-11.05 as follows:
 
    (65 ILCS 5/11-42-11.05)
    Sec. 11-42-11.05. Municipal franchise fee or service
provider fee review; requests for information.
    (a) If pursuant to its franchise agreement with a community
antenna television system (CATV) operator, a municipality
imposes a franchise fee authorized by 47 U.S.C. 542 or if a
community antenna television system (CATV) operator providing
cable or video service in that municipality is required to pay
the service provider fees imposed by the Cable and Video
Competition Law of 2007, then the municipality may conduct an
audit of that CATV operator's franchise fees or service
provider fees derived from the provision of cable and video
services to subscribers within the franchise area to determine
whether the amount of franchise fees or service provider fees
paid by that CATV operator to the municipality was accurate.
Any audit conducted under this subsection (a) shall determine,
for a period of not more than 4 years after the date the
franchise fees or service provider fees were due, any
overpayment or underpayment to the municipality by the CATV
operator, and the amount due to the municipality or CATV
operator is limited to the net difference.
    (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a municipality or its
agent that is authorized to perform an audit as set forth in
subsection (a) of this Section may, subject to the limitations
and protections stated in the Local Government Taxpayers' Bill
of Rights Act, request information from the CATV operator in
the format maintained by the CATV operator in the ordinary
course of its business that the municipality reasonably
requires in order to perform an audit under subsection (a). The
information that may be requested by the municipality includes
without limitation the following:
        (1) in an electronic format used by the CATV operator
    in the ordinary course of its business, the database used
    by the CATV operator to determine the amount of the
    franchise fee or service provider fee due to the
    municipality; and
        (2) in a format used by the CATV operator in the
    ordinary course of its business, summary data, as needed by
    the municipality, to determine the CATV operator's
    franchise fees or service provider fees derived from the
    provision of cable and video services to subscribers within
    the CATV operator's franchise area.
    (c) The CATV operator must provide the information
requested under subsection (b) within:
        (1) 60 days after the receipt of the request if the
    population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or
    less; or
        (2) 90 days after the receipt of the request if the
    population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000.
    The time in which a CATV operator must provide the
information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by
written agreement between the municipality or its agent and the
CATV operator.
    (c-5) The municipality or its agent must provide an initial
report of its audit findings to the CATV operator no later than
90 days after the information set forth in subsection (b) of
this Section has been provided by the CATV operator. This
90-day timeline may be extended one time by written agreement
between the municipality or its agents and the CATV operator.
However, in no event shall an extension of time exceed 90 days.
This initial report of audit findings shall detail the basis of
its findings and provide, but not be limited to, the following
information: (i) any overpayments of franchise fees or service
provider fees, (ii) any underpayments of franchise fees or
service provider fees, (iii) the complete list of all addresses
within the corporate limits of the municipality for which the
audit is being conducted, (iv) all municipal addresses that
should be included in the CATV operator's database and
attributable to that municipality for determination of
franchise fees or service provider fees, and (v) (iv) addresses
that should not be included in the CATV operator's database and
addresses that are not attributable to that municipality for
determination of franchise fees or service provider fees.
Generally accepted auditing standards shall be utilized by the
municipality and its agents in its review of information
provided by the CATV operator.
    (c-10) In the event that the municipality or its agent does
not provide the initial report of the audit findings to the
CATV operator with the timeframes set forth in subsection (c-5)
of this Section, then the audit shall be deemed completed and
to have conclusively found that there was no overpayment or
underpayment by the CATV operator for the audit period.
Further, the municipality may not thereafter commence or
conduct any such audit for the same audit period or for any
part of that same audit period during the 24 months prior to
the municipality or its agents requesting the information set
forth in subsection (b) of this Section.
    (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an
error by the CATV operator in the amount of the franchise fees
or service provider fees paid by the CATV operator to the
municipality, then the municipality shall notify the CATV
operator of the error. Any such notice must be given to the
CATV operator by the municipality or its agent within 90 days
after the municipality or its agent discovers the error, and no
later than 4 years after the date the franchise fee or service
provider fee was due. Upon such a notice, the CATV operator
must submit a written response within 60 days after receipt of
the notice stating that the CATV operator has corrected the
error on a prospective basis or stating the reason that the
error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The municipality or its
agent then has 60 days after the receipt of the CATV operator's
response to review and contest the conclusion of the CATV
operator. No legal proceeding to collect a deficiency or
overpayment based upon an alleged error shall be commenced
unless within 180 days after the municipality's notification of
the error to the CATV operator the parties are unable to agree
on the disposition of the audit findings.
    Any legal proceeding to collect a deficiency as set forth
in this subsection (d) shall be filed in the appropriate
circuit court.
    (e) No CATV operator is liable for any error in past
franchise fee or service provider fee payments that was unknown
by the CATV operator prior to the audit process unless (i) the
error was due to negligence on the part of the CATV operator in
the collection or processing of required data and (ii) the
municipality had not failed to respond in writing in a timely
manner to any written request of the CATV operator to review
and correct information used by the CATV operator to calculate
the appropriate franchise fees or service provider fees if a
diligent review of such information by the municipality
reasonably could have been expected to discover such error.
    (f) All account specific information provided by a CATV
operator under this Section may be used only for the purpose of
an audit conducted under this Section and the enforcement of
any franchise fee or service provider fee delinquent claim. All
such information must be held in strict confidence by the
municipality and its agents and may not be disclosed to the
public under the Freedom of Information Act or under any other
similar statutes allowing for or requiring public disclosure.
    (f-5) All contracts by and between a municipality and a
third party for the purposes of conducting an audit as
contemplated in this Article shall be disclosed to the public
under the Freedom of Information Act or under similar statutes
allowing for or requiring public disclosure.
    (g) For the purposes of this Section, "CATV operator" means
a person or entity that provides cable and video services under
a franchise agreement with a municipality pursuant to Section
11-42-11 of the Municipal Code and a holder authorized under
Section 21-401 of the Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007
as consistent with Section 21-901 of that Law.
    (h) This Section does not apply to any action that was
commenced, to any complaint that was filed, or to any audit
that was commenced before the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 96th General Assembly. This Section also does not
apply to any franchise agreement that was entered into before
the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General
Assembly unless the franchise agreement contains audit
provisions but no specifics regarding audit procedures.
    (h-5) The audit procedures set forth in this Section shall
be the exclusive audit procedures for: (i) any franchise
agreement entered into, amended, or renewed on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General
Assembly; and (ii) any franchise fee or service provider fee
audit of a CATV operator commenced on or after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly.
    (i) The provisions of this Section shall not be construed
as diminishing or replacing any civil remedy available to a
municipality, taxpayer, or tax collector.
    (j) If a contingent fee is paid to an auditor, then the
payment must be based upon the net difference of the complete
audit.
    (k) A Within 90 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, a municipality
shall provide to each any CATV operator an updated a complete
list of addresses within the corporate limits of the
municipality and shall annually update the list. In addition,
the municipality shall provide a CATV operator the updated
address list within 90 days after the date of a written request
by the CATV operator.
    As a prerequisite to performing an audit of a CATV
operator's franchise fees or service provider fees derived from
the provision of cable and video services to subscribers within
the franchise area, a municipality shall provide to a CATV
operator the complete list of addresses within the corporate
limits of the municipality for each calendar year subject to
the audit. If an address is not included in the list or if no
list is provided, the CATV operator shall be held harmless for
any franchise fee underpayments, including penalty and
interest, from situsing errors if it used a reasonable
methodology to assign the address or addresses to a
municipality.
    An address list provided by a municipality to a CATV
operator shall be maintained as confidential by the CATV
operator and shall only be used by the CATV operator for the
purposes of determining the situs of any franchise fee or
service provider fee. Any situs issues identified by a CATV
provider as a result of the provision of an address list by a
municipality to the CATV operator shall first be confirmed in
writing to the municipality by the CATV operator prior to the
CATV operator making any situs change that may result in a
change of allocation of a franchise fee or service provider fee
to the municipality.
    (l) This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule
powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of
Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
    (m) This Section does not apply to any municipality having
a population of more than 1,000,000.
(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 6-29-15.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.