Full Text of SB0082 96th General Assembly
SB0082sam004 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Pamela J. Althoff
Filed: 3/25/2009
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 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 and franchise fee review; | 12 |
| requests for information. | 13 |
| (a) If a county has imposed a tax or franchisee fee under | 14 |
| Section 5-1095, then the county may conduct an audit of tax | 15 |
| receipts or franchise fees collected from the incumbent cable |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| operator that is subject to the tax or franchise fee or that | 2 |
| collects the tax or franchise fee from purchasers on behalf of | 3 |
| the county to determine whether the amount of tax or franchise | 4 |
| fee that was paid by the incumbent cable operator was accurate. | 5 |
| (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a county that has | 6 |
| imposed a tax or franchise fee under this Act may, subject to | 7 |
| the limitations and protections stated in Section 22-501 of the | 8 |
| Cable and Video Customer Protection Law and in the Local | 9 |
| Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, request any | 10 |
| information from the incumbent cable operator in the format | 11 |
| maintained by the incumbent cable operator in the ordinary | 12 |
| course of its business that the county reasonably requires in | 13 |
| order to perform an audit under subsection (a). The information | 14 |
| that may be requested by the county includes, without | 15 |
| limitation: | 16 |
| (1) in an electronic format used by the incumbent cable | 17 |
| operator in the ordinary course of its business, the | 18 |
| database used by the incumbent cable operator to determine | 19 |
| the amount of tax or franchise fee due to the county; and | 20 |
| (2) in a format used by the incumbent cable operator in | 21 |
| the ordinary course of its business, summary data, as | 22 |
| needed by the county, to determine the gross revenues | 23 |
| collected and the associated taxes or franchise fees | 24 |
| assessed. | 25 |
| (c) Each incumbent cable operator must provide the | 26 |
| information requested under subsection (b) within: |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| (1) 60 days after the date of the request if the | 2 |
| population of the requesting county is 500,000 or less; or | 3 |
| (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the | 4 |
| population of the requesting county exceeds 500,000. | 5 |
| The time in which an incumbent cable operator must provide | 6 |
| the information requested under subsection (b) may be extended | 7 |
| by an agreement between the county and the incumbent cable | 8 |
| operator. If an incumbent cable operator receives, during a | 9 |
| single month, information requests from more than 2 counties, | 10 |
| or the aggregate population of the requesting counties is | 11 |
| 100,000 customers or more, the incumbent cable operator is | 12 |
| entitled to an additional 30 days to respond to those requests. | 13 |
| The Illinois Department of Revenue may grant the incumbent | 14 |
| cable operator additional extensions to respond. | 15 |
| (d) If an audit by the county or its agents finds an error | 16 |
| by the incumbent cable operator in the amount of taxes or | 17 |
| franchise fees paid by the incumbent cable operator, then the | 18 |
| county may notify the incumbent cable operator of the error. | 19 |
| Any such notice must be made by the county no later than 4 | 20 |
| years after the date the tax or franchise fee required to be | 21 |
| paid under this Law was due or any lesser period of time that | 22 |
| may be specified in the county ordinance imposing the tax or | 23 |
| franchise fee. Upon such a notice, the incumbent cable operator | 24 |
| must submit a written response within 60 days after the date | 25 |
| the notice was postmarked stating that it has corrected the | 26 |
| error on a prospective basis or stating the reason that the |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The county then has 60 | 2 |
| days after the receipt of the incumbent cable operator's | 3 |
| response to review and contest the conclusion of the incumbent | 4 |
| cable operator. If the parties are unable to agree on the | 5 |
| disposition of the audit findings within 120 days after the | 6 |
| notification of the error to the incumbent cable operator, then | 7 |
| either party may submit the matter to the Illinois Department | 8 |
| of Revenue for resolution. | 9 |
| (e) No incumbent cable operator is liable for any error in | 10 |
| past collections and payments that was unknown by it prior to | 11 |
| the audit process unless (i) the error was due to gross | 12 |
| negligence by the incumbent cable operator in the collection or | 13 |
| processing of required data and (ii) the county had not failed | 14 |
| to respond in writing on an accurate and timely basis to any | 15 |
| written request of the incumbent cable operator to review and | 16 |
| correct information used by the incumbent cable operator to | 17 |
| collect the county's tax or franchise fee if a diligent review | 18 |
| of such information by the county reasonably could have been | 19 |
| expected to discover such error. If, however, an error in past | 20 |
| collections or payments resulted in a customer who should not | 21 |
| have owed a tax or franchise fee to any county, having paid a | 22 |
| tax or franchise fee to a county, then the customer may recover | 23 |
| the tax or franchise fee from the incumbent cable operator, and | 24 |
| any amount so paid by the incumbent cable operator may be | 25 |
| deducted by that incumbent cable operator from any taxes or | 26 |
| franchise fees then or thereafter owed by the incumbent cable |
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| operator to that county. | 2 |
| (f) All account specific information provided by an | 3 |
| incumbent cable operator under this Section may be used only | 4 |
| for the purpose of an audit of taxes or franchise fees | 5 |
| conducted under this Section and the enforcement of any related | 6 |
| tax or franchise fee claim. All such information must be held | 7 |
| in strict confidence by the county and its agents and may not | 8 |
| be disclosed to the public under the Freedom of Information Act | 9 |
| or under any other similar statutes allowing for or requiring | 10 |
| public disclosure. | 11 |
| (g) An incumbent cable operator that collects less than | 12 |
| $1,000 annually in taxes and franchise fees under this Act is | 13 |
| exempt from the provisions of subsections (a) through (e) of | 14 |
| this Section. | 15 |
| (h) The Department of Revenue shall adopt any rules that | 16 |
| are required to effectively enforce this Section. The | 17 |
| Department of Revenue has the exclusive jurisdiction to resolve | 18 |
| any disputes arising under this Section, subject to review by | 19 |
| the courts under the Administrative Review Law. | 20 |
| (i) Any incumbent cable operator that fails to comply with | 21 |
| the provisions of subsection (c) or (d) of this Section shall | 22 |
| pay for all costs of enforcement by the Illinois Department of | 23 |
| Revenue, including reasonable legal fees. | 24 |
| (j) For the purposes of this Section, "incumbent cable | 25 |
| operator" means a person or entity that provided cable services | 26 |
| or video services in a particular area under a franchise |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| agreement with a unit of local government pursuant to Section | 2 |
| 11-42-11 of the Illinois Municipal Code or Section 5-1095 of | 3 |
| the Counties Code on January 1, 2007. "; and | 4 |
| on page 11, by replacing lines 24 and 25 with the following: | 5 |
| "Section 20. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by | 6 |
| adding Sections 8-11-2.5 and 11-42-11.05 as follows:"; and | 7 |
| on page 16, immediately above line 10, by inserting the | 8 |
| following: | 9 |
| "(65 ILCS 5/11-42-11.05 new) | 10 |
| Sec. 11-42-11.05. Municipal tax and franchise fee review; | 11 |
| requests for information. | 12 |
| (a) If a municipality has imposed a tax or franchise fee | 13 |
| under Section 11-42-11, then the municipality may conduct an | 14 |
| audit of tax or franchise fee receipts collected from the | 15 |
| incumbent cable operator that is subject to the tax or | 16 |
| franchise fee or that collects the tax or franchise fee from | 17 |
| purchasers on behalf of the municipality to determine whether | 18 |
| the amount of tax or franchise fee that was paid by the | 19 |
| incumbent cable operator was accurate. | 20 |
| (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a municipality that | 21 |
| has imposed a tax or franchise fee under this Act may, subject | 22 |
| to the limitations and protections stated in Section 22-501 of | 23 |
| the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law and in the Local |
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09600SB0082sam004 |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, request any | 2 |
| information from the incumbent cable operator in the format | 3 |
| maintained by the incumbent cable operator in the ordinary | 4 |
| course of its business that the municipality reasonably | 5 |
| requires in order to perform an audit under subsection (a). The | 6 |
| information that may be requested by the municipality includes, | 7 |
| without limitation: | 8 |
| (1) in an electronic format used by the incumbent cable | 9 |
| operator in the ordinary course of its business, the | 10 |
| database used by the incumbent cable operator to determine | 11 |
| the amount of tax or franchise fee due to the municipality; | 12 |
| and | 13 |
| (2) in a format used by the incumbent cable operator in | 14 |
| the ordinary course of its business, summary data, as | 15 |
| needed by the municipality, to determine the gross revenues | 16 |
| collected and the associated taxes or franchise fees | 17 |
| assessed. | 18 |
| (c) Each incumbent cable operator must provide the | 19 |
| information requested under subsection (b) within: | 20 |
| (1) 60 days after the date of the request if the | 21 |
| population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or | 22 |
| less; or | 23 |
| (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the | 24 |
| population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000. | 25 |
| The time in which an incumbent cable operator must provide | 26 |
| the information requested under subsection (b) may be extended |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| by an agreement between the municipality and the incumbent | 2 |
| cable operator. If an incumbent cable operator receives, during | 3 |
| a single month, information requests from more than 2 | 4 |
| municipalities, or the aggregate population of the requesting | 5 |
| municipalities is 100,000 customers or more, the incumbent | 6 |
| cable operator is entitled to an additional 30 days to respond | 7 |
| to those requests. The Illinois Department of Revenue may grant | 8 |
| the incumbent cable operator additional extensions to respond. | 9 |
| (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an | 10 |
| error by the incumbent cable operator in the amount of taxes or | 11 |
| franchise fees paid by the incumbent cable operator, then the | 12 |
| municipality may notify the incumbent cable operator of the | 13 |
| error. Any such notice must be made by the municipality no | 14 |
| later than 4 years after the date the tax or franchise fee | 15 |
| required to be paid under this Law was due or any lesser period | 16 |
| of time that may be specified in the municipal ordinance | 17 |
| imposing the tax or franchise fee. Upon such a notice, the | 18 |
| incumbent cable operator must submit a written response within | 19 |
| 60 days after the date the notice was postmarked stating that | 20 |
| it has corrected the error on a prospective basis or stating | 21 |
| the reason that the error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The | 22 |
| municipality then has 60 days after the receipt of the | 23 |
| incumbent cable operator's response to review and contest the | 24 |
| conclusion of the incumbent cable operator. If the parties are | 25 |
| unable to agree on the disposition of the audit findings within | 26 |
| 120 days after the notification of the error to the incumbent |
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09600SB0082sam004 |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| cable operator, then either party may submit the matter to the | 2 |
| Illinois Department of Revenue for resolution. | 3 |
| (e) No incumbent cable operator is liable for any error in | 4 |
| past collections and payments that was unknown by it prior to | 5 |
| the audit process unless (i) the error was due to gross | 6 |
| negligence by the incumbent cable operator in the collection or | 7 |
| processing of required data and (ii) the municipality had not | 8 |
| failed to respond in writing on an accurate and timely basis to | 9 |
| any written request of the incumbent cable operator to review | 10 |
| and correct information used by the incumbent cable operator to | 11 |
| collect the municipality's tax or franchise fee if a diligent | 12 |
| review of such information by the municipality reasonably could | 13 |
| have been expected to discover such error. If, however, an | 14 |
| error in past collections or payments resulted in a customer | 15 |
| who should not have owed a tax or franchise fee to any | 16 |
| municipality, having paid a tax or franchise fee to a | 17 |
| municipality, then the customer may recover the tax or | 18 |
| franchise fee from the incumbent cable operator, and any amount | 19 |
| so paid by the incumbent cable operator may be deducted by that | 20 |
| incumbent cable operator from any taxes or franchise fees then | 21 |
| or thereafter owed by the incumbent cable operator to that | 22 |
| municipality. | 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 or franchise fees | 26 |
| conducted under this Section and the enforcement of any related |
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09600SB0082sam004 |
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LRB096 03320 RLJ 24297 a |
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| tax or franchise fee claim. All such information must be held | 2 |
| in strict confidence by the municipality and its agents and may | 3 |
| not be disclosed to the public under the Freedom of Information | 4 |
| Act or under any other similar statutes allowing for or | 5 |
| requiring public disclosure. | 6 |
| (g) An incumbent cable operator that collects less than | 7 |
| $1,000 annually in taxes and franchise fees under this Act is | 8 |
| exempt from the provisions of subsections (a) through (e) of | 9 |
| this Section. | 10 |
| (h) The Department of Revenue shall adopt any rules that | 11 |
| are required to effectively enforce this Section. The | 12 |
| Department of Revenue has the exclusive jurisdiction to resolve | 13 |
| any disputes arising under this Section, subject to review by | 14 |
| the courts under the Administrative Review Law. | 15 |
| (i) Any incumbent cable operator that fails to comply with | 16 |
| the provisions of subsection (c) or (d) of this Section shall | 17 |
| pay for all costs of enforcement by the Illinois Department of | 18 |
| Revenue, including reasonable legal fees. | 19 |
| (j) For the purposes of this Section, "incumbent cable | 20 |
| operator" means a person or entity that provided cable services | 21 |
| or video services in a particular area under a franchise | 22 |
| agreement with a unit of local government pursuant to Section | 23 |
| 11-42-11 of the Illinois Municipal Code or Section 5-1095 of | 24 |
| the Counties Code on January 1, 2007. ".
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