Full Text of SB2612 96th General Assembly
SB2612eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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SB2612 Engrossed |
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LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
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| AN ACT concerning local government.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee | 5 |
| Law is amended by changing Section 5-5 and by adding Section | 6 |
| 5-10 as follows:
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| (35 ILCS 645/5-5)
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| Sec. 5-5. Municipal electricity infrastructure maintenance | 9 |
| fee.
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| (a) Any municipality that on the effective date of this Law | 11 |
| had in effect a
franchise agreement with an electricity | 12 |
| deliverer may
impose an infrastructure maintenance fee upon
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| electricity
deliverers, as compensation for granting | 14 |
| electricity deliverers the privilege
of using public rights
of | 15 |
| way, in an amount specified in subsection (b) of this Section. | 16 |
| If more than
one electricity
deliverer is responsible for the | 17 |
| delivery of the same electricity to the same
consumer, the fee
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| related to that electricity shall be imposed upon the | 19 |
| electricity deliverer who
last physically uses
the public way | 20 |
| for delivery of that electricity prior to its consumption.
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| (b) (1) In municipalities with a population greater than | 22 |
| 500,000, the
amount of the
infrastructure maintenance fee | 23 |
| imposed under this Section shall not exceed the
following
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LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
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| maximum rates for kilowatt-hours delivered within the | 2 |
| municipality to each
purchaser:
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| (i) For the first 2,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity | 4 |
| used or consumed in a
month:
0.53 cents per kilowatt-hour;
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| (ii) For the next 48,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity | 6 |
| used or consumed in
a month:
0.35 cents per kilowatt-hour;
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| (iii) For the next 50,000 kilowatt-hours of | 8 |
| electricity used or consumed in
a
month: 0.31 cents per | 9 |
| kilowatt-hour;
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| (iv) For the next 400,000 kilowatt-hours of | 11 |
| electricity used or consumed in
a
month: 0.305 cents per | 12 |
| kilowatt-hour;
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| (v) For the next 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity | 14 |
| used or consumed in
a
month: 0.30 cents per kilowatt-hour;
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| (vi) For the next 2,000,000 kilowatt-hours of | 16 |
| electricity used or consumed
in a
month: 0.28 cents per | 17 |
| kilowatt-hour;
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| (vii) For the next 2,000,000 kilowatt-hours of | 19 |
| electricity used or
consumed in a
month: 0.275 cents per | 20 |
| kilowatt-hour;
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| (viii) For the next 5,000,000 kilowatt-hours of | 22 |
| electricity used or
consumed in a
month: 0.27 cents per | 23 |
| kilowatt-hour;
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| (ix) For the next 10,000,000 kilowatt-hours used or | 25 |
| consumed in a month:
0.265
cents per kilowatt-hour;
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| (x) For all kilowatt-hours of electricity in excess of |
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| 20,000,000
kilowatt-hours used
or consumed in a month: 0.26 | 2 |
| cents per kilowatt-hour.
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| (2) In municipalities with a population of 500,000 or less, | 4 |
| the amount of the
infrastructure
maintenance fee imposed under | 5 |
| this Section shall be imposed based on the
kilowatt-hour
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| categories set forth above and shall be calculated on a monthly | 7 |
| basis for
kilowatt-hours of
electricity delivered to each | 8 |
| purchaser; provided, that if, immediately
prior to imposing an
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| infrastructure maintenance fee, such municipality receives | 10 |
| franchise fees,
permit fees, free
electrical service, or other | 11 |
| forms of compensation pursuant to an existing
franchise | 12 |
| agreement, the
rates established for these kilowatt-hour | 13 |
| categories for such infrastructure
maintenance fee during
the | 14 |
| term of the franchise agreement shall not exceed rates | 15 |
| reasonably
calculated, at the time such
infrastructure | 16 |
| maintenance fee is initially imposed, to generate an amount of
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| revenue equivalent
to the value of the compensation received or | 18 |
| provided under the franchise
agreement.
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| (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection | 20 |
| (b), a fee shall
not be imposed
if and to the extent that | 21 |
| imposition or collection of the fee would violate the
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| Constitution or
statutes of the United States or the statutes | 23 |
| or Constitution of the State of
Illinois.
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| (c) Any electricity deliverer may collect the amount of a | 25 |
| fee imposed under
this
Section from the purchaser using or | 26 |
| consuming the electricity with respect to
which the fee was
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| imposed. The fee may be collected by the electricity deliverer | 2 |
| from the
purchaser as a
separately stated charge on the | 3 |
| purchaser's bills or in any other manner
permitted from time to
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| time by law or by the electricity deliverer's tariffs.
The | 5 |
| electricity deliverer shall be allowed credit for any portion | 6 |
| of the fee
related to deliveries of electricity the charges for | 7 |
| which are written off as
uncollectible, provided, that if such | 8 |
| charges are thereafter collected, the
electricity deliverer | 9 |
| shall be obligated to pay such fee. For purposes of this
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| Section, any partial payment not specifically identified by the | 11 |
| purchaser shall
be deemed to be for the delivery of | 12 |
| electricity. No ordinance imposing the fee
authorized by this | 13 |
| Section with respect to the kilowatt-hours delivered to
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| non-residential customers shall be effective
until October 1, | 15 |
| 1999. For purposes of this
Law, the period of time from the | 16 |
| effective date of this Law through and
including September 30, | 17 |
| 1999 shall be referred to as the "Initial Period."
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| (d) As between the electricity deliverer and the | 19 |
| municipality, the fee
authorized by
this Section shall be | 20 |
| collected, enforced, and administered by the municipality
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| imposing the fee.
Any municipality adopting an ordinance | 22 |
| imposing an infrastructure maintenance
fee under this
Law shall | 23 |
| give written notice to each electricity deliverer subject to | 24 |
| the fee
not less than 60 days
prior to the date the fee is | 25 |
| imposed.
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| (e) A municipality may not impose, under (i) any ordinance |
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| imposing an infrastructure maintenance fee under this Law or | 2 |
| (ii) its franchise agreement with the electricity deliverer, | 3 |
| any penalty with respect to the infrastructure maintenance fees | 4 |
| permitted under this Law, except as that penalty would be | 5 |
| permitted under Sections 50, 55, and 60 of the Local Government | 6 |
| Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act if the word "fee" were | 7 |
| substituted for the word "tax" each time it appears in those | 8 |
| Sections (except where the word tax appears immediately before | 9 |
| the word "administrator"). | 10 |
| (Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 8-1-98.)
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| (35 ILCS 645/5-10 new)
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| Sec. 5-10. Municipal tax review; requests for information. | 13 |
| (a) A municipality may conduct an audit of fees under this | 14 |
| Act to determine the accuracy of the fees paid by an | 15 |
| electricity deliverer.
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| (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a municipality that | 17 |
| has imposed a fee under this Law may, subject to the | 18 |
| limitations and protections stated in Section 16-122 of the | 19 |
| Public Utilities Act, request any information from an | 20 |
| electricity deliverer that the municipality reasonably | 21 |
| requires in order to perform an audit under subsection (a). The | 22 |
| information that may be requested by the municipality includes, | 23 |
| without limitation: | 24 |
| (1) in an electronic format, the database used by the | 25 |
| electricity deliverer to determine the amount due to the |
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| municipality; provided, however, that, if the municipality | 2 |
| has requested customer-specific billing, usage, and load | 3 |
| shape data from an electricity deliverer that is an | 4 |
| electric utility and has not provided the electric utility | 5 |
| with the verifiable authorization required by Section | 6 |
| 16-122 of the Public Utilities Act, then the electric | 7 |
| utility shall remove from the database all | 8 |
| customer-specific billing, usage, and load shape data | 9 |
| before providing it to the municipality; and | 10 |
| (2) in a format used by the public utility in the | 11 |
| ordinary course of its business, summary data, as needed by | 12 |
| the municipality, to determine the unit consumption by | 13 |
| providing the gross kilowatt-hours or other units of | 14 |
| measurement subject to the fee imposed by this Law within | 15 |
| the municipal jurisdiction. | 16 |
| (c) Each electricity deliverer must provide the | 17 |
| information requested under subsection (b) within: | 18 |
| (1) 60 days after the date of the request if the | 19 |
| population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or | 20 |
| less; or | 21 |
| (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the | 22 |
| population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000. | 23 |
| The time in which an electricity deliverer must provide the | 24 |
| information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by | 25 |
| an agreement between the municipality and the electricity | 26 |
| deliverer. If an electricity deliverer receives, during a |
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| single month, information requests from more than 2 | 2 |
| municipalities, or the aggregate population of the requesting | 3 |
| municipalities is 100,000 customers or more, the electricity | 4 |
| deliverer is entitled to an additional 30 days to respond to | 5 |
| those requests. | 6 |
| (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an | 7 |
| error by the electricity deliverer in the amount of fees paid | 8 |
| by the electricity deliverer, then the municipality must notify | 9 |
| the electricity deliverer of the error. Any such notice must be | 10 |
| made by the municipality no later than 4 years after the date | 11 |
| the fee required to be paid under this Law was due or any | 12 |
| lesser period of time that may be specified in the municipal | 13 |
| ordinance imposing the fee. Upon such a notice, the electricity | 14 |
| deliverer must submit a written response within 60 days after | 15 |
| the date the notice was postmarked stating that it has | 16 |
| corrected the error or stating the reason that the error is | 17 |
| inapplicable or inaccurate. The municipality then has 60 days | 18 |
| after the receipt of the electricity deliverer's response to | 19 |
| review and contest the conclusion of the electricity deliverer. | 20 |
| If the parties are unable to agree on the disposition of the | 21 |
| audit findings within 120 days after the notification of the | 22 |
| error to the electricity deliverer, then either party may | 23 |
| submit the matter to mediation. Selection of the mediator shall | 24 |
| be by mutual agreement. If the mediation does not produce a | 25 |
| satisfactory result, then either party may pursue the alleged | 26 |
| error in a court of competent jurisdiction. |
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| (e) Electricity deliverers and municipalities are not | 2 |
| liable for any error in past collections and payments that was | 3 |
| unknown to either the electricity deliverer or the municipality | 4 |
| prior to the audit process unless the error was due to gross | 5 |
| negligence in the collection or processing of required data. | 6 |
| If, however, an error in past collections or payments resulted | 7 |
| in a customer, who should not have owed a fee to any | 8 |
| municipality, having paid a fee to a municipality, then the | 9 |
| customer may, to the extent allowed by Section 9-252 of the | 10 |
| Public Utilities Act, recover the fee from the electricity | 11 |
| deliverer, and any amount so paid by the electricity deliverer | 12 |
| may be deducted by that electricity deliverer from any fees or | 13 |
| taxes then or thereafter owed by the electricity deliverer to | 14 |
| that municipality. | 15 |
| (f) All account specific information provided by an | 16 |
| electricity deliverer under this Section may be used only for | 17 |
| the purpose of an audit of fees conducted under this Section | 18 |
| and the enforcement of any related claim. All such information | 19 |
| must be held in strict confidence by the municipality and its | 20 |
| agents and may not be disclosed to the public under the Freedom | 21 |
| of Information Act or under any other similar statutes allowing | 22 |
| for or requiring public disclosure. | 23 |
| Section 10. The Local Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights | 24 |
| Act is amended by changing Sections 10 and 35 as follows:
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| (50 ILCS 45/10)
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| Sec. 10. Application and home rule preemption. The
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| limitations provided by this Act shall take precedence over
any | 4 |
| provision of any tax ordinance imposed by a unit of local
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| government, as defined in this Act, in Illinois , including | 6 |
| without limitation any tax authorized under Section 8-11-2 of | 7 |
| the Illinois Municipal Code .
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| Consistent with the limitations provided by this Act, a | 9 |
| municipality may not impose, under (i) any ordinance imposing a | 10 |
| tax authorized by Section 8-11-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code | 11 |
| or (ii) its franchise agreement with a public utility, any | 12 |
| penalty with respect to a tax authorized by Section 8-11-2 of | 13 |
| the Illinois Municipal Code or with respect to an audit | 14 |
| authorized by Section 8-11-2.5 of the Illinois Municipal Code, | 15 |
| except as specified in Sections 50, 55, and 60 of this Act. For | 16 |
| purposes of this Section, a penalty includes, without | 17 |
| limitation, (i) fines, assessments, forfeitures, fees, or | 18 |
| other similar charges, (ii) liens or encumbrances on property | 19 |
| of a public utility, (iii) a revocation or modification of any | 20 |
| existing license, permit, right, or franchise of a public | 21 |
| utility, and (iv) a refusal to renew or grant any license, | 22 |
| permit, right, or franchise to a public utility except on the | 23 |
| condition that the public utility agrees to any penalty. | 24 |
| This Act is a denial and limitation of home rule powers
and | 25 |
| functions under subsection (g) of Section 6 of Article
VII of | 26 |
| the Illinois Constitution.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-920, eff. 1-1-01.)
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| (50 ILCS 45/35)
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| Sec. 35. Audit procedures. Taxpayers have the right
to be | 4 |
| treated by officers, employees, and agents of the local
tax | 5 |
| administrator with courtesy, fairness, uniformity,
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| consistency, and common sense. This Section applies to any | 7 |
| audit of a tax imposed by a unit of local government, except to | 8 |
| the extent otherwise provided in Section 8-11-2.5 of the | 9 |
| Illinois Municipal Code. Taxpayers must be notified in
writing | 10 |
| by the local jurisdiction of a proposed audit of the taxpayer's | 11 |
| books and
records clearly identifying who will be conducting | 12 |
| the audit. For audits being conducted by third-party providers, | 13 |
| the local jurisdiction must provide written authorization for | 14 |
| the third-party provider to review the books and records of the | 15 |
| taxpayer. No contact may be made by the third-party provider | 16 |
| until the local-jurisdiction authorization is received by the | 17 |
| taxpayer . The notice of audit must specify the tax and time
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| period to be audited and must detail the minimum
documentation | 19 |
| or books and records to be made available to
the auditor. | 20 |
| Audits must be held only during reasonable
times of the day | 21 |
| and, unless impracticable, at times agreed
to by the taxpayer. | 22 |
| The auditor must sign a confidentiality agreement upon request | 23 |
| by the taxpayer, and the taxpayer may require that an audit be | 24 |
| conducted at the taxpayer's place of books and records. Upon | 25 |
| the completion of the audit, the local jurisdiction must issue |
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| an audit closure report to the taxpayer with the results of the | 2 |
| audit. An auditor who determines that there has
been an | 3 |
| overpayment of tax during the course of the audit is
obligated | 4 |
| to identify the overpayment to the taxpayer so that
the | 5 |
| taxpayer can take the necessary steps to recover the
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| overpayment. If the overpayment is the result of the | 7 |
| application
of some or all of the taxpayer's tax payment to an | 8 |
| incorrect
local government entity, the auditor must notify the | 9 |
| correct
local government entity of the taxpayer's application | 10 |
| error.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-920, eff. 1-1-01.)
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| Section 15. The Counties Code is amended by adding Section | 13 |
| 5-1095.1 as follows: | 14 |
| (55 ILCS 5/5-1095.1 new)
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| Sec. 5-1095.1. County franchise fee review; requests for | 16 |
| information. | 17 |
| (a) If pursuant to its franchise agreement with a community | 18 |
| antenna television system (CATV) operator, a county imposes a | 19 |
| franchise fee authorized by 47 U.S.C. 542, then the county may | 20 |
| conduct an audit of that CATV operator's gross revenues derived | 21 |
| from the provision of video services to subscribers within the | 22 |
| franchise area to determine whether the amount of franchise | 23 |
| fees paid by that CATV operator to the county was accurate. | 24 |
| (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a county that has |
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LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
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| imposed a franchise fee authorized by 47 U.S.C. 542 may, | 2 |
| subject to the limitations and protections stated in the Local | 3 |
| Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, request information | 4 |
| from the CATV operator in the format maintained by the CATV | 5 |
| operator in the ordinary course of its business that the county | 6 |
| reasonably requires in order to perform an audit under | 7 |
| subsection (a). The information that may be requested by the | 8 |
| county shall be limited to the following: | 9 |
| (1) in an electronic format used by the CATV operator | 10 |
| in the ordinary course of its business, the database used | 11 |
| by the CATV operator to determine the amount of the | 12 |
| franchise fee due to the county; and | 13 |
| (2) in a format used by the CATV operator in the | 14 |
| ordinary course of its business, summary data, as needed by | 15 |
| the county, to determine the CATV operator's gross revenues | 16 |
| derived from the provision of video services to subscribers | 17 |
| within the CATV operator's franchise area. | 18 |
| (c) The CATV operator must provide the information | 19 |
| requested under subsection (b) within: | 20 |
| (1) 60 days after the receipt of the request if the | 21 |
| population of the requesting county is 500,000 or less; or | 22 |
| (2) 90 days after the receipt of the request if the | 23 |
| population of the requesting county exceeds 500,000. | 24 |
| The time in which a CATV operator must provide the | 25 |
| information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by | 26 |
| an agreement between the county and the CATV operator. |
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| (d) If an audit by the county or its agents finds an error | 2 |
| by the CATV operator in the amount of the franchise fees paid | 3 |
| by the CATV operator to the county, then the county may notify | 4 |
| the CATV operator of the error. Any such notice must be given | 5 |
| to the CATV operator by the county within 90 days after the | 6 |
| county discovers the error, and no later than 4 years after the | 7 |
| date the franchise fee was due. Upon such a notice, the CATV | 8 |
| operator must submit a written response within 60 days after | 9 |
| receipt of the notice stating that the CATV operator has | 10 |
| corrected the error on a prospective basis or stating the | 11 |
| reason that the error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The county | 12 |
| then has 60 days after the receipt of the CATV operator's | 13 |
| response to review and contest the conclusion of the CATV | 14 |
| operator. No legal proceeding to collect a deficiency based | 15 |
| upon an alleged error shall be commenced unless within 180 days | 16 |
| after the county's notification of the error to the CATV | 17 |
| operator the parties are unable to agree on the disposition of | 18 |
| the audit findings. | 19 |
| (e) No CATV operator is liable for any error in past | 20 |
| franchise fee payments that was unknown by the CATV operator | 21 |
| prior to the audit process unless (i) the error was due to | 22 |
| gross negligence on the part of the CATV operator in the | 23 |
| collection or processing of required data and (ii) the county | 24 |
| had not failed to respond in writing in a timely manner to any | 25 |
| written request of the CATV operator to review and correct | 26 |
| information used by the CATV operator to calculate the |
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| appropriate franchise fees if a diligent review of such | 2 |
| information by the county reasonably could have been expected | 3 |
| to discover such error. | 4 |
| (f) All account specific information provided by a CATV | 5 |
| operator under this Section may be used only for the purpose of | 6 |
| an audit conducted under this Section and the enforcement of | 7 |
| any franchise fee delinquent claim. All such information must | 8 |
| be held in strict confidence by the county and its agents and | 9 |
| may not be disclosed to the public under the Freedom of | 10 |
| Information Act or under any other similar statutes allowing | 11 |
| for or requiring public disclosure. | 12 |
| (g) For the purposes of this Section, "CATV operator" means | 13 |
| a person or entity that provides video services under a | 14 |
| franchise agreement with a county pursuant to Section 5-1095 of | 15 |
| the Counties Code and a holder authorized under Section 21-401 | 16 |
| of the Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007 as consistent | 17 |
| with Section 21-901 of that Law. | 18 |
| (h) This Section applies to any cable franchise agreement | 19 |
| between a CATV operator and a county in effect on or after the | 20 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General | 21 |
| Assembly, but only if the operator files a written declaration | 22 |
| with the county that the operator elects to have this Section | 23 |
| apply. | 24 |
| (i) This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule | 25 |
| powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of | 26 |
| Article VII of the Illinois Constitution. |
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LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
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| Section 20. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by | 2 |
| adding Sections 8-11-2.5 and 11-42-11.05 as follows: | 3 |
| (65 ILCS 5/8-11-2.5 new)
| 4 |
| Sec. 8-11-2.5. Municipal tax review; requests for | 5 |
| information. | 6 |
| (a) If a municipality has imposed a tax under Section | 7 |
| 8-11-2, then the municipality may conduct an audit of tax | 8 |
| receipts collected from the public utility that is subject to | 9 |
| the tax
or that collects the tax from purchasers on behalf of | 10 |
| the municipality to determine whether the amount of tax that | 11 |
| was paid by the public utility 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 16-122 of the | 15 |
| Public Utilities Act and in the Local Government Taxpayers' | 16 |
| Bill of Rights Act, request any information from a utility in | 17 |
| the format maintained by the public utility in the ordinary | 18 |
| course of its business that the municipality reasonably | 19 |
| requires in order to perform an audit under subsection (a). The | 20 |
| information that may be requested by the municipality includes, | 21 |
| without limitation: | 22 |
| (1) in an electronic format used by the public utility | 23 |
| in the ordinary course of its business, the database used | 24 |
| by the public utility to determine the amount of tax due to |
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LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
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| the municipality; provided, however, that, if the | 2 |
| municipality has requested customer-specific billing, | 3 |
| usage, and load shape data from a public utility that is an | 4 |
| electric utility and has not provided the electric utility | 5 |
| with the verifiable authorization required by Section | 6 |
| 16-122 of the Public Utilities Act, then the electric | 7 |
| utility shall remove from the database all | 8 |
| customer-specific billing, usage, and load shape data | 9 |
| before providing it to the municipality; and | 10 |
| (2) in a format used by the public utility in the | 11 |
| ordinary course of its business, summary data, as needed by | 12 |
| the municipality, to determine the unit consumption of | 13 |
| utility services by providing the gross therms, kilowatts, | 14 |
| minutes, or other units of measurement being taxed within | 15 |
| the municipal jurisdiction and the gross revenues | 16 |
| collected and the associated taxes assessed. | 17 |
| (c) Each public utility must provide the information | 18 |
| requested under subsection (b) within: | 19 |
| (1) 60 days after the date of the request if the | 20 |
| population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or | 21 |
| less; or | 22 |
| (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the | 23 |
| population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000. | 24 |
| The time in which a public utility must provide the | 25 |
| information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by | 26 |
| an agreement between the municipality and the public utility. |
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LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
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| If a public utility receives, during a single month, | 2 |
| information requests from more than 2 municipalities, or the | 3 |
| aggregate population of the requesting municipalities is | 4 |
| 100,000 customers or more, the public utility is entitled to an | 5 |
| additional 30 days to respond to those requests. | 6 |
| (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an | 7 |
| error by the public utility in the amount of taxes paid by the | 8 |
| public utility, then the municipality may notify the public | 9 |
| utility of the error. Any such notice must made by the | 10 |
| municipality no later than 4 years after the date the tax | 11 |
| required to be paid under this Law was due or any lesser period | 12 |
| of time that may be specified in the municipal ordinance | 13 |
| imposing the tax. Upon such a notice, the public utility must | 14 |
| submit a written response within 60 days after the date the | 15 |
| notice was postmarked stating that it has corrected the error | 16 |
| on a prospective basis or stating the reason that the error is | 17 |
| inapplicable or inaccurate. The municipality then has 60 days | 18 |
| after the receipt of the public utility's response to review | 19 |
| and contest the conclusion of the public utility. If the | 20 |
| parties are unable to agree on the disposition of the audit | 21 |
| findings within 120 days after the notification of the error to | 22 |
| the public utility, then either party may submit the matter to | 23 |
| mediation. Selection of the mediator shall be by mutual | 24 |
| agreement. If the mediation does not produce a satisfactory | 25 |
| result, then either party may pursue the alleged error in a | 26 |
| court of competent jurisdiction. |
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SB2612 Engrossed |
- 18 - |
LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
|
| 1 |
| (e) No public utility is liable for any error in past | 2 |
| collections and payments that was unknown by it prior to the | 3 |
| audit process unless (i) the error was due to gross negligence | 4 |
| by the public utility in the collection or processing of | 5 |
| required data and (ii) the municipality had not failed to | 6 |
| respond in writing on an accurate and timely basis to any | 7 |
| written request of the public utility to review and correct | 8 |
| information used by the public utility to collect the | 9 |
| municipality's tax if a diligent review of such information by | 10 |
| the municipality reasonably could have been expected to | 11 |
| discover such error. If, however, an error in past collections | 12 |
| or payments resulted in a customer, who should not have owed a | 13 |
| tax to any municipality, having paid a tax to a municipality, | 14 |
| then the customer may, to the extent allowed by Section 9-252 | 15 |
| of the Public Utilities Act, recover the tax from the public | 16 |
| utility, and any amount so paid by the public utility may be | 17 |
| deducted by that public utility from any taxes then or | 18 |
| thereafter owed by the public utility to that municipality. | 19 |
| (f) All account specific information provided by a public | 20 |
| utility under this Section may be used only for the purpose of | 21 |
| an audit of taxes conducted under this Section and the | 22 |
| enforcement of any related tax claim. All such information must | 23 |
| be held in strict confidence by the municipality
and its agents | 24 |
| and may not be disclosed to the public under the Freedom of | 25 |
| Information Act or under any other similar statutes allowing | 26 |
| for or requiring public disclosure. |
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SB2612 Engrossed |
- 19 - |
LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
|
| 1 |
| (65 ILCS 5/11-42-11.05 new)
| 2 |
| Sec. 11-42-11.05. Municipal franchise fee review; requests | 3 |
| for information. | 4 |
| (a) If pursuant to its franchise agreement with a community | 5 |
| antenna television system (CATV) operator, a municipality | 6 |
| imposes a franchise fee authorized by 47 U.S.C. 542, then the | 7 |
| municipality may conduct an audit of that CATV operator's gross | 8 |
| revenues derived from the provision of video services to | 9 |
| subscribers within the franchise area to determine whether the | 10 |
| amount of franchise fees paid by that CATV operator to the | 11 |
| municipality was accurate. | 12 |
| (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a municipality that | 13 |
| has imposed a franchise fee authorized by 47 U.S.C. 542 may, | 14 |
| subject to the limitations and protections stated in the Local | 15 |
| Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, request information | 16 |
| from the CATV operator in the format maintained by the CATV | 17 |
| operator in the ordinary course of its business that the | 18 |
| municipality reasonably requires in order to perform an audit | 19 |
| under subsection (a). The information that may be requested by | 20 |
| the municipality shall be limited to the following: | 21 |
| (1) in an electronic format used by the CATV operator | 22 |
| in the ordinary course of its business, the database used | 23 |
| by the CATV operator to determine the amount of the | 24 |
| franchise fee due to the municipality; and | 25 |
| (2) in a format used by the CATV operator in the |
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|
|
SB2612 Engrossed |
- 20 - |
LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
|
| 1 |
| ordinary course of its business, summary data, as needed by | 2 |
| the municipality, to determine the CATV operator's gross | 3 |
| revenues derived from the provision of video services to | 4 |
| subscribers within the CATV operator's franchise area. | 5 |
| (c) The CATV operator must provide the information | 6 |
| requested under subsection (b) within: | 7 |
| (1) 60 days after the receipt of the request if the | 8 |
| population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or | 9 |
| less; or | 10 |
| (2) 90 days after the receipt of the request if the | 11 |
| population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000. | 12 |
| The time in which a CATV operator must provide the | 13 |
| information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by | 14 |
| an agreement between the municipality and the CATV operator. | 15 |
| (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an | 16 |
| error by the CATV operator in the amount of the franchise fees | 17 |
| paid by the CATV operator to the municipality, then the | 18 |
| municipality may notify the CATV operator of the error. Any | 19 |
| such notice must be given to the CATV operator by the | 20 |
| municipality within 90 days after the municipality discovers | 21 |
| the error, and no later than 4 years after the date the | 22 |
| franchise fee was due. Upon such a notice, the CATV operator | 23 |
| must submit a written response within 60 days after receipt of | 24 |
| the notice stating that the CATV operator has corrected the | 25 |
| error on a prospective basis or stating the reason that the | 26 |
| error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The municipality then has |
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SB2612 Engrossed |
- 21 - |
LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
|
| 1 |
| 60 days after the receipt of the CATV operator's response to | 2 |
| review and contest the conclusion of the CATV operator. No | 3 |
| legal proceeding to collect a deficiency based upon an alleged | 4 |
| error shall be commenced unless within 180 days after the | 5 |
| municipality's notification of the error to the CATV operator | 6 |
| the parties are unable to agree on the disposition of the audit | 7 |
| findings. | 8 |
| (e) No CATV operator is liable for any error in past | 9 |
| franchise fee payments that was unknown by the CATV operator | 10 |
| prior to the audit process unless (i) the error was due to | 11 |
| gross negligence on the part of the CATV operator in the | 12 |
| collection or processing of required data and (ii) the | 13 |
| municipality had not failed to respond in writing in a timely | 14 |
| manner to any written request of the CATV operator to review | 15 |
| and correct information used by the CATV operator to calculate | 16 |
| the appropriate franchise fees if a diligent review of such | 17 |
| information by the municipality reasonably could have been | 18 |
| expected to discover such error. | 19 |
| (f) All account specific information provided by a CATV | 20 |
| operator under this Section may be used only for the purpose of | 21 |
| an audit conducted under this Section and the enforcement of | 22 |
| any franchise fee delinquent claim. All such information must | 23 |
| be held in strict confidence by the municipality and its agents | 24 |
| and may not be disclosed to the public under the Freedom of | 25 |
| Information Act or under any other similar statutes allowing | 26 |
| for or requiring public disclosure. |
|
|
|
SB2612 Engrossed |
- 22 - |
LRB096 13422 RLJ 28151 b |
|
| 1 |
| (g) For the purposes of this Section, "CATV operator" means | 2 |
| a person or entity that provides video services under a | 3 |
| franchise agreement with a municipality pursuant to Section | 4 |
| 11-42-11 of the Municipal Code and a holder authorized under | 5 |
| Section 21-401 of the Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007 | 6 |
| as consistent with Section 21-901 of that Law. | 7 |
| (h) This Section applies to any cable franchise agreement | 8 |
| between a CATV operator and a municipality in effect on or | 9 |
| after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th | 10 |
| General Assembly, but only if the operator files a written | 11 |
| declaration with the municipality that the operator elects to | 12 |
| have this Section apply. | 13 |
| (i) This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule | 14 |
| powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of | 15 |
| Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
| 16 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 17 |
| becoming law.
|
|