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Full Text of SB1794  102nd General Assembly

SB1794ham004 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Anthony DeLuca

Filed: 4/7/2022

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1794

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1794 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Local Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights
5Act is amended by changing Section 30 as follows:
 
6    (50 ILCS 45/30)
7    Sec. 30. Statute of limitations. Units of local government
8have an obligation to review tax returns in a timely manner and
9issue any determination of tax due as promptly as possible so
10that taxpayers may make timely corrections of future returns
11and minimize any interest charges applied to tax
12underpayments. Each unit of local government must provide
13appropriate statutes of limitation for the determination and
14assessment of taxes covered by this Act, provided, however,
15that a statute of limitations may not exceed the following:
16        (1) No notice of determination of tax due or

 

 

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1    assessment may be issued more than 5 4 years after the end
2    of the calendar year for which the return for the period
3    was filed or the end of the calendar year in which the
4    return for the period was due, whichever occurs later. An
5    audit or review that is timely performed under Section 35
6    of this Act or Section 8-11-2.5 of the Illinois Municipal
7    Code shall toll the applicable 5-year period for a period
8    of not more than 1 year.
9        (2) If any tax return was not filed or if during any
10    4-year period for which a notice of tax determination or
11    assessment may be issued by the unit of local government
12    the tax paid or remitted was less than 75% of the tax due
13    for that period, the statute of limitations shall be no
14    more than 6 years after the end of the calendar year in
15    which the return for the period was due or the end of the
16    calendar year in which the return for the period was
17    filed, whichever occurs later. In the event that a unit of
18    local government fails to provide a statute of
19    limitations, the maximum statutory period provided in this
20    Section applies.
21    (3) The changes to this Section made by this amendatory
22Act of the 102nd General Assembly do not revive any
23determination and assessment of tax due where the statute of
24limitations has expired as of the effective date of this
25amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, but the changes
26do extend the statute of limitations for the determination and

 

 

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1assessment of taxes where the statute of limitation has not
2expired as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
3102nd General Assembly.
4    This Section does not place any limitation on a unit of
5local government if a fraudulent tax return is filed.
6(Source: P.A. 91-920, eff. 1-1-01.)
 
7    Section 10. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
8changing Section 8-11-2.5 as follows:
 
9    (65 ILCS 5/8-11-2.5)
10    Sec. 8-11-2.5. Municipal tax review; requests for
11information.
12    (a) If a municipality has imposed a tax under Section
138-11-2, then the municipality, which may act through its
14designated auditor or agent, may conduct an audit of tax
15receipts collected from the public utility that is subject to
16the tax or that collects the tax from purchasers on behalf of
17the municipality to determine whether the amount of tax that
18was paid by the public utility was accurate.
19    (b) Not more than once every 2 years, a municipality that
20has imposed a tax under Section 8-11-2 of this Act may, subject
21to the limitations and protections stated in Section 16-122 of
22the Public Utilities Act and in the Local Government
23Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, make a written request via
24e-mail to an e-mail address provided by the utility for any

 

 

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1information from a utility in the format maintained by the
2public utility in the ordinary course of its business that the
3municipality reasonably requires in order to perform an audit
4under subsection (a). The information that may be requested by
5the municipality includes, without limitation:
6        (1) in an electronic format used by the public utility
7    in the ordinary course of its business, the
8    premises-specific and other information database used by
9    the public utility to determine the amount of tax due to
10    the municipality, for a time period that includes the year
11    in which the request is made and not more than 6 years
12    immediately preceding that year, as appropriate for the
13    period being audited, and which shall include for each
14    customer premises in the municipality: (i) the premises
15    address and zip code; (ii) the classification of the
16    premises as designated by the public utility, such as
17    residential, commercial, or industrial; (iii) monthly
18    usage information sufficient to calculate taxes due, in
19    therms, kilowatts, minutes, or other such other unit of
20    measurement used to calculate the taxes; (iv) the taxes
21    actually assessed, collected, and remitted to the
22    municipality; (v) the first date of service for the
23    premises, if that date occurred within the period being
24    audited; and (vi) any tax exemption claimed for the
25    premises and any additional information that supports a
26    specific tax exemption, if the municipality requests that

 

 

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1    information, including the customer name and other
2    relevant data; however, a public utility that is an
3    electric utility may not provide other customer-specific
4    information to the municipality; provided, however, that,
5    if the municipality has requested customer-specific
6    billing, usage, and load shape data from a public utility
7    that is an electric utility and has not provided the
8    electric utility with the verifiable authorization
9    required by Section 16-122 of the Public Utilities Act,
10    then the electric utility shall remove from the database
11    all customer-specific billing, usage, and load shape data
12    before providing it to the municipality; and
13        (2) the premises address for customer accounts that
14    the public utility's records indicate are: (i) in a
15    bordering municipality, township, or unincorporated area
16    (other than the City of Chicago), provided that the
17    municipality provides the public utility a list of such
18    bordering jurisdictions; or (ii) in any zip code with
19    boundaries that include or are adjacent to the requesting
20    municipality provided that the municipality provides the
21    public utility a list of those zip codes; this item (ii)
22    applies to requests made on or after September 1, 2022. If
23    any such customer is determined by the municipality and
24    the utility to be located within the requesting
25    municipality, then the public utility shall provide the
26    additional information provided in paragraph (1) of this

 

 

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1    subsection (b). in a format used by the public utility in
2    the ordinary course of its business, summary data, as
3    needed by the municipality, to determine the unit
4    consumption of utility services by providing the gross
5    therms, kilowatts, minutes, or other units of measurement
6    being taxed within the municipal jurisdiction and the
7    gross revenues collected and the associated taxes
8    assessed.
9    Following the municipality's receipt of the information
10provided by the public utility pursuant to paragraphs (1) or
11(2) of this subsection (b), if a question or issue arises that
12can only be addressed by accessing customer-specific or
13additional information not described in this Section, then the
14utility shall attempt to resolve the question or issue without
15disclosing any customer-specific information. If this process
16does not resolve the question or issue, then either the
17municipality or public utility can further pursue the matter
18before the Department of Revenue, which has the discretion to
19receive or share customer-specific information with the
20municipality as appropriate subject to confidentiality
21restrictions.
22    (c) Each public utility must provide the information
23requested under subsection (b) within 45 days after the date
24of the request. :
25        (1) 60 days after the date of the request if the
26    population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or

 

 

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1    less; or
2        (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the
3    population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000.
4    The time in which a public utility must provide the
5information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by
6an agreement between the municipality and the public utility.
7If a public utility receives, during a single month,
8information requests from more than 2 municipalities, or the
9aggregate population of the requesting municipalities is
10100,000 customers or more, the public utility is entitled to
11an additional 30 days to respond to those requests.
12    (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an
13error by the public utility in the amount of taxes paid by the
14public utility, then the municipality must notify the public
15utility of the error. Any such notice must be issued pursuant
16to Section 30 of the Local Government Taxpayers' Bill of
17Rights Act or a lesser period of time from the date the tax was
18due that may be specified in the municipal ordinance imposing
19the tax. Upon such a notice, any audit shall be conducted
20pursuant to Section 35 of the Local Government Taxpayers' Bill
21of Rights Act subject to the timelines set forth in this
22subsection (d). The public utility must submit a written
23response within 60 days after the date the notice was
24postmarked stating that it has corrected the error or stating
25the reason that the error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The
26municipality then has 60 days after the receipt of the public

 

 

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1utility's response to review and contest the conclusion of the
2public utility. If the parties are unable to agree on the
3disposition of the audit findings within 120 days after the
4notification of the error to the public utility, then either
5party may submit the matter for appeal as outlined in Section
640 of the Local Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act. If
7the appeals process does not produce a satisfactory result,
8then either party may pursue the alleged error in a court of
9competent jurisdiction.
10    (e) The public utility shall be liable to the municipality
11for unpaid taxes, including taxes that the public utility
12failed to properly bill to the customer subject to subsection
13paragraph (2) of subsection (e-10) of this Section. This
14subsection (e) does not limit a utility's right to an
15offsetting credit it would otherwise be entitled to, including
16that authorized by subsection (c) of Section 8-11-2 of the
17Code. To the extent that a public utility's errors in past tax
18collections and payments relate to premises located in an area
19of the municipality that was annexed on or after the effective
20date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly,
21however, the public utility shall only be liable for such
22errors beginning 60 days after the date that the municipality
23provided the public utility notice of the annexation, provided
24that the public utility provides municipalities with an email
25address to send annexation notices. A copy of the annexation
26ordinance and the map filed with the County Clerk sent to the

 

 

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1email address provided by the public utility shall be deemed
2sufficient notice, but other forms of notice may also be
3sufficient No public utility is liable for any error in past
4collections and payments that was unknown by it prior to the
5audit process unless (i) the error was due to negligence by the
6public utility in the collection or processing of required
7data and (ii) the municipality had not failed to respond in
8writing on an accurate and timely basis to any written request
9of the public utility to review and correct information used
10by the public utility to collect the municipality's tax if a
11diligent review of such information by the municipality
12reasonably could have been expected to discover such error.
13If, however, an error in past collections or payments resulted
14in a customer, who should not have owed a tax to any
15municipality, having paid a tax to a municipality, then the
16customer may, to the extent allowed by Section 9-252 of the
17Public Utilities Act, recover the tax from the public utility,
18and any amount so paid by the public utility may be deducted by
19that public utility from any taxes then or thereafter owed by
20the public utility to that municipality.
21    (e-5) Upon mutual agreement, a utility and municipality
22may use a web portal in lieu of email to receive notice of
23annexations and boundary changes. After December 31, 2025 for
24a gas public utility that serves more than 2,000,000 customers
25in Illinois and after December 31, 2022 for all other public
26utilities that serve more than 1,000,000 retail customers in

 

 

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1Illinois, the public utilities shall provide a secure web
2portal for municipalities to use, and, thereafter, the web
3portals shall be used by all municipalities to notify the
4public utilities of annexations. The web portal must provide
5the municipality with an electronic record of all
6communications and attached documents that the municipality
7has submitted through the portal.
8    (e-10) (1) No later than August 1, 2023, the Department of
9Revenue shall develop and publish a written process to be used
10by each public utility and each municipality that imposes a
11tax under Section 8-11-2 of the Code, which may act through its
12designated auditor or agent, under which:
13            (A) by December 31, 2024, and on a regular
14        schedule thereafter to occur approximately every 5
15        years, each public utility shall work collaboratively
16        with each municipality to develop and file with the
17        Department of Revenue, a master list of all premises
18        addresses in the municipality (including premises
19        addresses with inactive accounts) that are subject to
20        such tax and all accounts in the municipality that are
21        exempt from such tax, provided that the final date for
22        the first master list shall be extended, at the
23        utility's request, to no later than December 31, 2026;
24            (B) information is provided to the municipality to
25        facilitate development of the master list including
26        information described in paragraph (1) of subsection

 

 

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1        (b) of this Section regarding all accounts (including
2        premises addresses with inactive accounts) that the
3        public utility's records show are in the municipality
4        and the premises addresses in (i) any bordering
5        municipality, (ii) any bordering township, or (iii)
6        any zip code that is in any part in the municipality or
7        that borders the municipality;
8            (C) any dispute between the public utility and the
9        municipality related to the master list will be
10        resolved;
11            (D) on a semi-annual basis following the
12        development of the master list, each public utility
13        shall provide to each municipality certain information
14        that the municipality can use to nominate changes to
15        the master list, including, but not limited to: (i) a
16        list of any tax-related changes, such as the addition
17        or removal of an exemption, or to the taxing
18        jurisdiction, to any account on the master list; and
19        (ii) new premises addresses within the municipality,
20        any bordering municipality, in any bordering township,
21        or in any zip code that is in any part in the
22        municipality or that borders the municipality;
23            (E) accounts nominated by the municipality to be
24        added or deleted from the master list may be submitted
25        to the public utility and related disputes will be
26        resolved;

 

 

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1            (F) changes may be made to the master list; and
2            (G) the utility may file a master list based
3        solely on its records if the municipality fails to
4        participate and such a municipality may request to
5        restart the process prior to the end of the five-year
6        cycle.
7        (2) No public utility is liable for any error in tax
8    collections or payments due more than 60 days after the
9    date that the first master list for the relevant
10    municipality is filed with the Department of Revenue
11    unless such error in tax collection or payment:
12            (A) was related to a premises address on the
13        master list at the time of the error;
14            (B) was related to an area of the municipality
15        annexed on or after the effective date of this
16        amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, notice
17        of which was properly provided to the public utility
18        pursuant to the procedures set forth in subsection
19        (e); or
20            (C) resulted from the public utility's failure to
21        comply with the process established in this subsection
22        (e-10).
23        (3) If the public utility uses a portal as set forth in
24    subsection (e-5), all lists, changes affecting tax
25    collection and remission, proposed corrections, and
26    reports shall be provided through such portal.

 

 

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1    (e-15) If a customer paid a tax to a municipality that the
2customer did not owe or was in excess of the tax the customer
3owed, then the customer may, to the extent allowed by Section
49-252 of the Public Utilities Act, recover the tax or over
5payment from the public utility, and any amount so paid by the
6public utility may be deducted by that public utility from any
7taxes then or thereafter owed by the public utility to that
8municipality.
9    (e-20) (1) The Department of Revenue shall have the
10authority to resolve a claim by a municipality that a public
11utility materially failed to comply with the requirements of
12subsections (b) or (c) of this Section or the process
13developed under subsection (e-10) of this Section. If the
14Department of Revenue finds, after notice and hearing, that a
15public utility (i) caused a material delay in providing
16information properly requested under such subsections or (ii)
17omitted a material portion of information properly requested,
18then the Department shall assess a penalty on the utility of up
19to $50,000 per audit, or up to $10,000 per audit for a utility
20that served less than 100,000 retail customers on the date of
21the audit notice, or, if the claim relates to subsection
22(e-10), up to $50,000 per 5-year master list cycle or up to
23$10,000 per cycle for a utility that served less than 100,000
24retail customers on the date such master list was filed with
25the Department, which penalty shall be paid by the public
26utility to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the

 

 

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1Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
2Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, a penalty assessed
3pursuant to this subsection shall be the exclusive remedy for
4the conduct that is the subject of the claim. A penalty
5assessed under this subsection shall bar and prohibit pursuit
6of any other penalty, fine, or recovery related to the conduct
7for which the penalty was assessed.
8    (2) No penalty shall be assessed by the Department
9pursuant to this subsection if the Department finds that a
10delay or omission was immaterial or de minimis.
11    (3) Any penalties or fines paid by a public utility
12pursuant to this subsection shall not be recoverable through
13the utility's rates.
14    (4) If a municipality and public utility have a
15disagreement regarding the scope or conduct of an audit
16undertaken pursuant to this Section, they shall work together
17in good faith to attempt to resolve the dispute. If, after a
18period of no less than 14 days, the municipality and public
19utility are not able to reach an agreement regarding the
20dispute, either entity, or both entities jointly, may submit a
21request to the Illinois Department of Revenue seeking
22resolution of the dispute, and the Department shall have the
23authority to resolve the issue, and shall resolve such dispute
24within 60 days. Each such request must include a statement
25showing that consultation and reasonable attempts to resolve
26the dispute have failed.

 

 

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1    The time period established pursuant to this Section for
2complying with requests for information under this Section
3shall be suspended during the dispute resolution processes set
4forth in this paragraph (4) of subsection (e-20), but only for
5the issue or issues that are the subject of the dispute.
6Information requests that are undisputed shall continue to be
7subject to the time periods for compliance set forth in this
8Section.
9    (f) All account specific and premises-specific information
10provided by a public utility under this Section may be used
11only for the purpose of an audit of taxes conducted under this
12Section and the enforcement of any related tax claim. All such
13information must be held in strict confidence by the
14municipality and its agents and may not be disclosed to the
15public under the Freedom of Information Act or under any other
16similar statutes allowing for or requiring public disclosure.
17    (g) The provisions of this Section shall not be construed
18as diminishing or replacing any civil remedy available to a
19municipality, taxpayer, or tax collector.
20    (h) This Section does not apply to any municipality having
21a population greater than 1,000,000.
22    (i) The changes to subsection (e) and paragraph (2) of
23subsection (e-10) of this Section made by this amendatory Act
24of the 102nd General Assembly apply to taxes due on or after
25August 1, 2022. The remaining changes to this Section made by
26this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly apply on or

 

 

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1after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd
2General Assembly.
3    (j) As used in this Section:
4    "Customer-specific information" means the name, phone
5number, email address, and banking information of a customer.
6"Customer-specific information" includes the load-shape data
7associated with a customer account. "Customer-specific
8information" does not include the tax-exempt status of the
9premises and the name of tax exempt customers.
10    "Premises-specific information" means any information,
11including billing and usage data, associated with a premises
12address that is not customer-specific information.
13    "Premises address" includes the jurisdiction to which the
14address is currently coded by the public utility for municipal
15tax purposes.
16(Source: P.A. 96-1422, eff. 8-3-10.)
 
17    Section 15. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
18changing Section 16-122 as follows:
 
19    (220 ILCS 5/16-122)
20    Sec. 16-122. Customer information.
21    (a) Upon the request of a retail customer, or a person who
22presents verifiable authorization and is acting as the
23customer's agent, and payment of a reasonable fee, electric
24utilities shall provide to the customer or its authorized

 

 

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1agent the customer's billing and usage data.
2    (b) Upon request from any alternative retail electric
3supplier and payment of a reasonable fee, an electric utility
4serving retail customers in its service area shall make
5available generic information concerning the usage, load shape
6curve or other general characteristics of customers by rate
7classification. Provided however, no customer specific
8billing, usage or load shape data shall be provided under this
9subsection unless authorization to provide such information is
10provided by the customer pursuant to subsection (a) of this
11Section.
12    (c) Upon request from a unit of local government and
13payment of a reasonable fee, an electric utility shall make
14available information concerning the usage, load shape curves,
15and other characteristics of customers by customer
16classification and location within the boundaries of the unit
17of local government, however, no customer specific billing,
18usage, or load shape data shall be provided under this
19subsection unless authorization to provide that information is
20provided by the customer. This subsection (c) does not
21prohibit an electric utility from providing a unit of local
22government or its designated auditor the materials delineated
23in Section 8-11-2.5 of the Illinois Municipal Code for the
24purposes of an audit under that Section.
25    (d) All such customer information shall be made available
26in a timely fashion in an electronic format, if available.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 92-585, eff. 6-26-02.)
 
2    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3becoming law.".