Public Act 93-0556

SB154 Enrolled                       LRB093 02563 MKM 02573 b

    AN ACT concerning county taxes.

    Be it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section 5.  The Counties  Code  is  amended  by  changing
Section 5-1006.5 as follows:

    (55 ILCS 5/5-1006.5)
    Sec.  5-1006.5.  Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax
For Public Safety or Transportation.
    (a)  The county board of any county may impose a tax upon
all persons engaged  in  the  business  of  selling  tangible
personal  property,  other  than  personal property titled or
registered with an agency  of  this  State's  government,  at
retail  in  the  county  on the gross receipts from the sales
made in the course of business to provide revenue to be  used
exclusively  for  public safety or transportation purposes in
that county, if a proposition for the tax has been  submitted
to  the electors of that county and approved by a majority of
those voting on the question.  If imposed, this tax shall  be
imposed   only   in   one-quarter   percent   increments.  By
resolution, the county board may order the proposition to  be
submitted  at  any  election.  If  the  tax  is  imposed  for
transportation  purposes for expenditures for public highways
or as authorized under the Illinois Highway Code, the  county
board  must publish notice of the existence of its long-range
highway transportation  plan  as  required  or  described  in
Section  5-301 of the Illinois Highway Code and must make the
plan publicly available prior to approval of the ordinance or
resolution imposing the  tax.  If  the  tax  is  imposed  for
transportation  purposes  for expenditures for passenger rail
transportation, the county board must publish notice  of  the
existence  of  its  long-range  passenger rail transportation
plan and must make  the  plan  publicly  available  prior  to
approval of the ordinance or resolution imposing the tax. The
county  clerk  shall  certify  the  question  to  the  proper
election  authority,  who  shall submit the proposition at an
election in accordance with the general election law.
         (1)  The  proposition  for  public  safety  purposes
    shall be in substantially the following form:
         "Shall (name of county) be authorized  to  impose  a
    public  safety  tax  at the rate of .... upon all persons
    engaged in the  business  of  selling  tangible  personal
    property  at  retail in the county on gross receipts from
    the sales made in the course of their business to be used
    for crime prevention, detention, and other public  safety
    purposes?"
         For  the  purposes  of the paragraph, "public safety
    purposes"  means  crime   prevention,   detention,   fire
    fighting,  police, medical, ambulance, or other emergency
    services.
         Votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".
         (2)  The  proposition  for  transportation  purposes
    shall be in substantially the following form:
         "Shall (name of county) be authorized  to  impose  a
    tax at the rate of (insert rate) upon all persons engaged
    in  the business of selling tangible personal property at
    retail in the county on gross  receipts  from  the  sales
    made  in  the  course  of  their  business to be used for
    transportation purposes?
         For the purposes of this  paragraph,  transportation
    purposes  means construction, maintenance, operation, and
    improvement of public highways,  any  other  purpose  for
    which  a  county  may  expend  funds  under  the Illinois
    Highway Code, and passenger rail transportation.
         The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".
    If a majority of the electors voting on  the  proposition
vote in favor of it, the county may impose the tax.  A county
may  not  submit more than one proposition authorized by this
Section to the electors at any one time.
    This additional tax may not be imposed on  the  sales  of
food  for  human  consumption  that is to be consumed off the
premises where it is sold (other  than  alcoholic  beverages,
soft  drinks,  and food which has been prepared for immediate
consumption) and prescription and non-prescription medicines,
drugs,  medical  appliances  and   insulin,   urine   testing
materials,  syringes, and needles used by diabetics.  The tax
imposed  by  a  county  under  this  Section  and  all  civil
penalties that may be assessed as  an  incident  of  the  tax
shall be collected and enforced by the Illinois Department of
Revenue  and  deposited  into a special fund created for that
purpose.  The certificate of registration that is  issued  by
the  Department to a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation
Tax Act shall permit the retailer to  engage  in  a  business
that  is  taxable  without  registering  separately  with the
Department  under  an  ordinance  or  resolution  under  this
Section.  The Department has full  power  to  administer  and
enforce  this Section, to collect all taxes and penalties due
under this Section, to dispose  of  taxes  and  penalties  so
collected  in  the  manner  provided  in this Section, and to
determine all rights to credit memoranda arising  on  account
of  the  erroneous  payment  of  a  tax or penalty under this
Section.  In the administration of and compliance  with  this
Section,  the  Department and persons who are subject to this
Section shall (i) have the same rights, remedies, privileges,
immunities, powers, and duties, (ii) be subject to  the  same
conditions,   restrictions,   limitations,   penalties,   and
definitions  of  terms,  and  (iii)  employ the same modes of
procedure as are prescribed in Sections 1, 1a, 1a-1, 1d,  1e,
1f,  1i,  1j,  1k, 1m, 1n, 2, 2-5, 2-5.5, 2-10 (in respect to
all provisions contained in those  Sections  other  than  the
State  rate of tax), 2-15 through 2-70, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3 (except
provisions  relating  to  transaction  returns  and   quarter
monthly  payments), 4, 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, 5h, 5i,
5j, 5k, 5l, 6, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 11a, 12,  and  13
of  the  Retailers' Occupation Tax Act and Section 3-7 of the
Uniform Penalty and Interest Act as if those provisions  were
set forth in this Section.
    Persons  subject  to  any tax imposed under the authority
granted in this Section may reimburse  themselves  for  their
sellers'  tax  liability  by separately stating the tax as an
additional charge, which charge may be stated in combination,
in a single amount, with State tax which sellers are required
to collect under the Use Tax Act, pursuant to such  bracketed
schedules as the Department may prescribe.
    Whenever  the  Department determines that a refund should
be made under this Section to a claimant instead of issuing a
credit memorandum, the  Department  shall  notify  the  State
Comptroller,  who  shall  cause the order to be drawn for the
amount specified and to the person named in the  notification
from  the  Department.  The refund shall be paid by the State
Treasurer out of the County Public Safety  or  Transportation
Retailers' Occupation Tax Fund.
    (b)  If  a  tax  has been imposed under subsection (a), a
service occupation tax shall also be imposed at the same rate
upon all persons engaged, in the county, in the  business  of
making  sales of service, who, as an incident to making those
sales of service, transfer tangible personal property  within
the  county as an incident to a sale of service. This tax may
not be imposed on sales of food for human consumption that is
to be consumed off the premises where it is sold (other  than
alcoholic  beverages,  soft  drinks,  and  food  prepared for
immediate consumption) and prescription and  non-prescription
medicines,  drugs,  medical  appliances  and  insulin,  urine
testing  materials,  syringes, and needles used by diabetics.
The tax imposed under this subsection and all civil penalties
that  may  be  assessed  as  an  incident  thereof  shall  be
collected and enforced by  the  Department  of  Revenue.  The
Department  has  full  power  to  administer and enforce this
subsection; to collect all taxes and penalties due hereunder;
to dispose of taxes and penalties so collected in the  manner
hereinafter  provided;  and to determine all rights to credit
memoranda arising on account of the erroneous payment of  tax
or   penalty  hereunder.    In  the  administration  of,  and
compliance with this subsection, the Department  and  persons
who  are  subject  to  this paragraph shall (i) have the same
rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers, and duties,
(ii)  be  subject  to  the  same  conditions,   restrictions,
limitations,    penalties,    exclusions,   exemptions,   and
definitions of terms, and (iii)  employ  the  same  modes  of
procedure  as  are  prescribed in Sections 2 (except that the
reference to State in the definition of supplier  maintaining
a place of business in this State shall mean the county), 2a,
2b,  2c, 3 through 3-50 (in respect to all provisions therein
other than the  State  rate  of  tax),  4  (except  that  the
reference  to  the  State  shall  be  to the county), 5, 7, 8
(except that the jurisdiction to which the  tax  shall  be  a
debt  to  the extent indicated in that Section 8 shall be the
county), 9  (except  as  to  the  disposition  of  taxes  and
penalties  collected),  10,  11,  12  (except  the  reference
therein  to Section 2b of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act),
13 (except that any reference to the  State  shall  mean  the
county),  Section  15,  16,  17, 18, 19 and 20 of the Service
Occupation Tax Act and Section 3-7 of the Uniform Penalty and
Interest Act, as fully as if those provisions were set  forth
herein.
    Persons  subject  to  any tax imposed under the authority
granted in this subsection may reimburse themselves for their
serviceman's tax liability by separately stating the  tax  as
an   additional   charge,  which  charge  may  be  stated  in
combination,  in  a  single  amount,  with  State  tax   that
servicemen  are  authorized  to collect under the Service Use
Tax Act, in accordance with such  bracket  schedules  as  the
Department may prescribe.
    Whenever  the  Department determines that a refund should
be made under  this  subsection  to  a  claimant  instead  of
issuing  a credit memorandum, the Department shall notify the
State Comptroller, who shall cause the warrant  to  be  drawn
for  the  amount  specified,  and to the person named, in the
notification from the Department.  The refund shall  be  paid
by  the  State  Treasurer  out of the County Public Safety or
Transportation Retailers' Occupation Fund.
    Nothing  in  this  subsection  shall  be   construed   to
authorize  the  county  to impose a tax upon the privilege of
engaging in any business which under the Constitution of  the
United  States may not be made the subject of taxation by the
State.
    (c)  The Department shall immediately  pay  over  to  the
State  Treasurer,  ex  officio,  as  trustee,  all  taxes and
penalties collected under this Section to be  deposited  into
the   County   Public  Safety  or  Transportation  Retailers'
Occupation Tax Fund, which shall be an  unappropriated  trust
fund  held  outside  of the State treasury.  On or before the
25th day of each calendar month, the Department shall prepare
and certify to the Comptroller  the  disbursement  of  stated
sums  of money to the counties from which retailers have paid
taxes or  penalties  to  the  Department  during  the  second
preceding  calendar  month.   The  amount  to be paid to each
county, and deposited by the county  into  its  special  fund
created for the purposes of this Section, shall be the amount
(not including credit memoranda) collected under this Section
during  the second preceding calendar month by the Department
plus an amount the  Department  determines  is  necessary  to
offset  any amounts that were erroneously paid to a different
taxing body, and not including (i) an  amount  equal  to  the
amount  of  refunds made during the second preceding calendar
month by the Department on behalf of the county and (ii)  any
amount  that the Department determines is necessary to offset
any amounts that were payable to a different taxing body  but
were  erroneously  paid  to the county.  Within 10 days after
receipt by the Comptroller of the disbursement  certification
to  the  counties provided for in this Section to be given to
the Comptroller by  the  Department,  the  Comptroller  shall
cause  the  orders  to be drawn for the respective amounts in
accordance with directions contained in the certification.
    In addition to the disbursement required by the preceding
paragraph, an allocation shall be made in March of each  year
to   each   county   that  received  more  than  $500,000  in
disbursements under the preceding paragraph in the  preceding
calendar year.  The allocation shall be in an amount equal to
the  average  monthly  distribution  made to each such county
under the preceding paragraph during the  preceding  calendar
year  (excluding  the  2  months  of  highest receipts).  The
distribution made in March of each  year  subsequent  to  the
year  in  which  an  allocation  was  made  pursuant  to this
paragraph and the preceding paragraph shall be reduced by the
amount allocated and disbursed under this  paragraph  in  the
preceding  calendar  year.   The Department shall prepare and
certify to the Comptroller for disbursement  the  allocations
made in accordance with this paragraph.
    (d)  For   the   purpose   of   determining   the   local
governmental unit whose tax is applicable, a retail sale by a
producer  of  coal  or another mineral mined in Illinois is a
sale at retail at the place where the coal or  other  mineral
mined   in  Illinois  is  extracted  from  the  earth.   This
paragraph does not apply to coal or another mineral  when  it
is  delivered  or shipped by the seller to the purchaser at a
point outside Illinois so that the sale is exempt  under  the
United States Constitution as a sale in interstate or foreign
commerce.
    (e)  Nothing  in  this  Section  shall  be  construed  to
authorize  a  county  to  impose  a tax upon the privilege of
engaging in any business that under the Constitution  of  the
United States may not be made the subject of taxation by this
State.
    (e-5)  If  a county imposes a tax under this Section, the
county board may, by ordinance, discontinue or lower the rate
of the tax.  If the county  board  lowers  the  tax  rate  or
discontinues the tax, a referendum must be held in accordance
with  subsection (a) of this Section in order to increase the
rate of the tax or to reimpose the discontinued tax.
    (f)  Beginning April 1, 1998, the results of any election
authorizing a proposition to impose a tax under this  Section
or  effecting  a  change in the rate of tax, or any ordinance
lowering  the  rate  or  discontinuing  the  tax,  shall   be
certified  by  the  county  clerk and filed with the Illinois
Department of Revenue either (i) on or before the  first  day
of   April,   whereupon   the  Department  shall  proceed  to
administer and enforce the tax as of the first  day  of  July
next following the filing; or (ii) on or before the first day
of   October,  whereupon  the  Department  shall  proceed  to
administer and enforce the tax as of the first day of January
next following the filing.
    (g)  When certifying the amount of a monthly disbursement
to a county under this Section, the Department shall increase
or decrease the amounts by an amount necessary to offset  any
miscalculation  of previous disbursements.  The offset amount
shall be the amount erroneously disbursed within the previous
6 months from the time a miscalculation is discovered.
    (h)  This Section may be cited  as  the  "Special  County
Occupation Tax For Public Safety or Transportation Law".
    (i)  For   purposes  of  this  Section,  "public  safety"
includes, but is not limited to, crime prevention, detention,
fire fighting, police, medical, ambulance, or other emergency
services.  For the purposes of this Section, "transportation"
includes,  but  is  not   limited   to,   the   construction,
maintenance,  operation,  and improvement of public highways,
any other purpose for which a county may expend  funds  under
the Illinois Highway Code, and passenger rail transportation.
(Source:  P.A.  89-107,  eff.  1-1-96;  89-718,  eff. 3-7-97;
90-190, eff. 7-24-97;  90-267,  eff.  7-30-97;  90-552,  eff.
12-12-97;   90-562,  eff.  12-16-97;  90-655,  eff.  7-30-98;
90-689, eff. 7-31-98.)

    Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
becoming law.