Full Text of SB0082 96th General Assembly
SB0082sam003 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Pamela J. Althoff
Filed: 3/23/2009
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 82
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 82 on page 10, by | 3 |
| replacing line 20 with the following: " the extent otherwise | 4 |
| provided in Section 5-1095.1 of the Counties Code and Sections | 5 |
| 8-11-2.5 and 11-42-11.05 of the "; and
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| on page 11, immediately below line 23, by inserting the | 7 |
| following: | 8 |
| "Section 15. The Counties Code is amended by adding Section | 9 |
| 5-1095.1 as follows: | 10 |
| (55 ILCS 5/5-1095.1 new)
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| Sec. 5-1095.1. County tax review; requests for | 12 |
| information. | 13 |
| (a) If a county has imposed a tax under Section 5-1095, | 14 |
| then the county may conduct an audit of tax receipts collected | 15 |
| from the incumbent cable operator that is subject to the tax or |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| that collects the tax from purchasers on behalf of the county | 2 |
| to determine whether the amount of tax that was paid by the | 3 |
| incumbent cable operator was accurate. | 4 |
| (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a county that has | 5 |
| imposed a tax under this Act may, subject to the limitations | 6 |
| and protections stated in Section 22-501 of the Cable and Video | 7 |
| Customer Protection Law and in the Local Government Taxpayers' | 8 |
| Bill of Rights Act, request any information from the incumbent | 9 |
| cable operator in the format maintained by the incumbent cable | 10 |
| operator in the ordinary course of its business that the county | 11 |
| reasonably requires in order to perform an audit under | 12 |
| subsection (a). The information that may be requested by the | 13 |
| county includes, without limitation: | 14 |
| (1) in an electronic format used by the incumbent cable | 15 |
| operator in the ordinary course of its business, the | 16 |
| database used by the incumbent cable operator to determine | 17 |
| the amount of tax due to the county; and | 18 |
| (2) in a format used by the incumbent cable operator in | 19 |
| the ordinary course of its business, summary data, as | 20 |
| needed by the county, to determine the gross revenues | 21 |
| collected and the associated taxes assessed. | 22 |
| (c) Each incumbent cable operator must provide the | 23 |
| information requested under subsection (b) within: | 24 |
| (1) 60 days after the date of the request if the | 25 |
| population of the requesting county is 500,000 or less; or | 26 |
| (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| population of the requesting county exceeds 500,000. | 2 |
| The time in which an incumbent cable operator must provide | 3 |
| the information requested under subsection (b) may be extended | 4 |
| by an agreement between the county and the incumbent cable | 5 |
| operator. If an incumbent cable operator receives, during a | 6 |
| single month, information requests from more than 2 counties, | 7 |
| or the aggregate population of the requesting counties is | 8 |
| 100,000 customers or more, the incumbent cable operator is | 9 |
| entitled to an additional 30 days to respond to those requests. | 10 |
| The Illinois Department of Revenue may grant the incumbent | 11 |
| cable operator additional extensions to respond. | 12 |
| (d) If an audit by the county or its agents finds an error | 13 |
| by the incumbent cable operator in the amount of taxes paid by | 14 |
| the incumbent cable operator, then the county may notify the | 15 |
| incumbent cable operator of the error. Any such notice must be | 16 |
| made by the county no later than 4 years after the date the tax | 17 |
| required to be paid under this Law was due or any lesser period | 18 |
| of time that may be specified in the county ordinance imposing | 19 |
| the tax. Upon such a notice, the incumbent cable operator must | 20 |
| submit a written response within 60 days after the date the | 21 |
| notice was postmarked stating that it has corrected the error | 22 |
| on a prospective basis or stating the reason that the error is | 23 |
| inapplicable or inaccurate. The county then has 60 days after | 24 |
| the receipt of the incumbent cable operator's response to | 25 |
| review and contest the conclusion of the incumbent cable | 26 |
| operator. If the parties are unable to agree on the disposition |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| of the audit findings within 120 days after the notification of | 2 |
| the error to the incumbent cable operator, then either party | 3 |
| may submit the matter to the Illinois Department of Revenue for | 4 |
| resolution. | 5 |
| (e) No incumbent cable operator is liable for any error in | 6 |
| past collections and payments that was unknown by it prior to | 7 |
| the audit process unless (i) the error was due to gross | 8 |
| negligence by the incumbent cable operator in the collection or | 9 |
| processing of required data and (ii) the county had not failed | 10 |
| to respond in writing on an accurate and timely basis to any | 11 |
| written request of the incumbent cable operator to review and | 12 |
| correct information used by the incumbent cable operator to | 13 |
| collect the county's tax if a diligent review of such | 14 |
| information by the county reasonably could have been expected | 15 |
| to discover such error. If, however, an error in past | 16 |
| collections or payments resulted in a customer who should not | 17 |
| have owed a tax to any county, having paid a tax to a county, | 18 |
| then the customer may recover the tax from the incumbent cable | 19 |
| operator, and any amount so paid by the incumbent cable | 20 |
| operator may be deducted by that incumbent cable operator from | 21 |
| any taxes then or thereafter owed by the incumbent cable | 22 |
| operator to that county. | 23 |
| (f) All account specific information provided by an | 24 |
| incumbent cable operator under this Section may be used only | 25 |
| for the purpose of an audit of taxes conducted under this | 26 |
| Section and the enforcement of any related tax claim. All such |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| information must be held in strict confidence by the county and | 2 |
| its agents and may not be disclosed to the public under the | 3 |
| Freedom of Information Act or under any other similar statutes | 4 |
| allowing for or requiring public disclosure. | 5 |
| (g) An incumbent cable operator that collects less than | 6 |
| $1,000 annually in taxes under this Act is exempt from the | 7 |
| provisions of subsections (a) through (e) of this Section. | 8 |
| (h) The Department of Revenue shall adopt any rules that | 9 |
| are required to effectively enforce this Section. The | 10 |
| Department of Revenue has the exclusive jurisdiction to resolve | 11 |
| any disputes arising under this Section, subject to review by | 12 |
| the courts under the Administrative Review Law. | 13 |
| (i) Any incumbent cable operator that fails to comply with | 14 |
| the provisions of subsection (c) or (d) of this Section shall | 15 |
| pay for all costs of enforcement by the Illinois Department of | 16 |
| Revenue, including reasonable legal fees. | 17 |
| (j) For the purposes of this Section, "incumbent cable | 18 |
| operator" means a person or entity that provided cable services | 19 |
| or video services in a particular area under a franchise | 20 |
| agreement with a unit of local government pursuant to Section | 21 |
| 11-42-11 of the Illinois Municipal Code or Section 5-1095 of | 22 |
| the Counties Code on January 1, 2007. "; and | 23 |
| on page 11, by replacing lines 24 and 25 with the following: | 24 |
| "Section 20. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by | 25 |
| adding Sections 8-11-2.5 and 11-42-11.05 as follows:"; and |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| on page 16, immediately above line 10, by inserting the | 2 |
| following: | 3 |
| "(65 ILCS 5/11-42-11.05 new) | 4 |
| Sec. 11-42-11.05. Municipal tax review; requests for | 5 |
| information. | 6 |
| (a) If a municipality has imposed a tax under Section | 7 |
| 11-42-11, then the municipality may conduct an audit of tax | 8 |
| receipts collected from the incumbent cable operator that is | 9 |
| subject to the tax or that collects the tax from purchasers on | 10 |
| behalf of the municipality to determine whether the amount of | 11 |
| tax that was paid by the incumbent cable operator was accurate. | 12 |
| (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a municipality that | 13 |
| has imposed a tax under this Act may, subject to the | 14 |
| limitations and protections stated in Section 22-501 of the | 15 |
| Cable and Video Customer Protection Law and in the Local | 16 |
| Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, request any | 17 |
| information from the incumbent cable operator in the format | 18 |
| maintained by the incumbent cable operator in the ordinary | 19 |
| course of its business that the municipality reasonably | 20 |
| requires in order to perform an audit under subsection (a). The | 21 |
| information that may be requested by the municipality includes, | 22 |
| without limitation: | 23 |
| (1) in an electronic format used by the incumbent cable | 24 |
| operator in the ordinary course of its business, the |
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09600SB0082sam003 |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| 1 |
| database used by the incumbent cable operator to determine | 2 |
| the amount of tax due to the municipality; and | 3 |
| (2) in a format used by the incumbent cable operator in | 4 |
| the ordinary course of its business, summary data, as | 5 |
| needed by the municipality, to determine the gross revenues | 6 |
| collected and the associated taxes assessed. | 7 |
| (c) Each incumbent cable operator must provide the | 8 |
| information requested under subsection (b) within: | 9 |
| (1) 60 days after the date of the request if the | 10 |
| population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or | 11 |
| less; or | 12 |
| (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the | 13 |
| population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000. | 14 |
| The time in which an incumbent cable operator must provide | 15 |
| the information requested under subsection (b) may be extended | 16 |
| by an agreement between the municipality and the incumbent | 17 |
| cable operator. If an incumbent cable operator receives, during | 18 |
| a single month, information requests from more than 2 | 19 |
| municipalities, or the aggregate population of the requesting | 20 |
| municipalities is 100,000 customers or more, the incumbent | 21 |
| cable operator is entitled to an additional 30 days to respond | 22 |
| to those requests. The Illinois Department of Revenue may grant | 23 |
| the incumbent cable operator additional extensions to respond. | 24 |
| (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an | 25 |
| error by the incumbent cable operator in the amount of taxes | 26 |
| paid by the incumbent cable operator, then the municipality may |
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09600SB0082sam003 |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| notify the incumbent cable operator of the error. Any such | 2 |
| notice must be made by the municipality no later than 4 years | 3 |
| after the date the tax required to be paid under this Law was | 4 |
| due or any lesser period of time that may be specified in the | 5 |
| municipal ordinance imposing the tax. Upon such a notice, the | 6 |
| incumbent cable operator must submit a written response within | 7 |
| 60 days after the date the notice was postmarked stating that | 8 |
| it has corrected the error on a prospective basis or stating | 9 |
| the reason that the error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The | 10 |
| municipality then has 60 days after the receipt of the | 11 |
| incumbent cable operator's response to review and contest the | 12 |
| conclusion of the incumbent cable operator. If the parties are | 13 |
| unable to agree on the disposition of the audit findings within | 14 |
| 120 days after the notification of the error to the incumbent | 15 |
| cable operator, then either party may submit the matter to the | 16 |
| Illinois Department of Revenue for resolution. | 17 |
| (e) No incumbent cable operator is liable for any error in | 18 |
| past collections and payments that was unknown by it prior to | 19 |
| the audit process unless (i) the error was due to gross | 20 |
| negligence by the incumbent cable operator in the collection or | 21 |
| processing of required data and (ii) the municipality had not | 22 |
| failed to respond in writing on an accurate and timely basis to | 23 |
| any written request of the incumbent cable operator to review | 24 |
| and correct information used by the incumbent cable operator to | 25 |
| collect the municipality's tax if a diligent review of such | 26 |
| information by the municipality reasonably could have been |
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09600SB0082sam003 |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| expected to discover such error. If, however, an error in past | 2 |
| collections or payments resulted in a customer who should not | 3 |
| have owed a tax to any municipality, having paid a tax to a | 4 |
| municipality, then the customer may recover the tax from the | 5 |
| incumbent cable operator, and any amount so paid by the | 6 |
| incumbent cable operator may be deducted by that incumbent | 7 |
| cable operator from any taxes then or thereafter owed by the | 8 |
| incumbent cable operator to that municipality. | 9 |
| (f) All account specific information provided by an | 10 |
| incumbent cable operator under this Section may be used only | 11 |
| for the purpose of an audit of taxes conducted under this | 12 |
| Section and the enforcement of any related tax claim. All such | 13 |
| information must be held in strict confidence by the | 14 |
| municipality and its agents and may not be disclosed to the | 15 |
| public under the Freedom of Information Act or under any other | 16 |
| similar statutes allowing for or requiring public disclosure. | 17 |
| (g) An incumbent cable operator that collects less than | 18 |
| $1,000 annually in taxes under this Act is exempt from the | 19 |
| provisions of subsections (a) through (e) of this Section. | 20 |
| (h) The Department of Revenue shall adopt any rules that | 21 |
| are required to effectively enforce this Section. The | 22 |
| Department of Revenue has the exclusive jurisdiction to resolve | 23 |
| any disputes arising under this Section, subject to review by | 24 |
| the courts under the Administrative Review Law. | 25 |
| (i) Any incumbent cable operator that fails to comply with | 26 |
| the provisions of subsection (c) or (d) of this Section shall |
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09600SB0082sam003 |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24144 a |
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| 1 |
| pay for all costs of enforcement by the Illinois Department of | 2 |
| Revenue, including reasonable legal fees. | 3 |
| (j) For the purposes of this Section, "incumbent cable | 4 |
| operator" means a person or entity that provided cable services | 5 |
| or video services in a particular area under a franchise | 6 |
| agreement with a unit of local government pursuant to Section | 7 |
| 11-42-11 of the Illinois Municipal Code or Section 5-1095 of | 8 |
| the Counties Code on January 1, 2007. ".
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