94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
SB2131

 

Introduced 10/19/2005, by Sen. Pamela J. Althoff

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 140/7   from Ch. 116, par. 207
35 ILCS 636/5-53 new
35 ILCS 645/5-10 new
65 ILCS 5/8-11-2.5 new

    Amends the Simplified Municipal Telecommunications Tax Act, the Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Law, and the Illinois Municipal Code. Authorizes municipalities that impose certain taxes or fees on or collected by public utilities to conduct audits of those utilities to determine the accuracy of the taxes or fees paid to the municipality. Sets forth procedures under which a municipality may collect information from a public utility that is necessary to perform an audit. Sets forth procedures concerning the audit findings, liability for errors, penalties, confidentiality, and exemptions. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to exempt information provided by a public utility to a municipality in the course of an audit from the Act's inspection requirements. Effective immediately.


SRS094 00028 SDF 30029 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2131 SRS094 00028 SDF 30029 b

1     AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 3. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
5 changing Section 7 as follows:
 
6     (5 ILCS 140/7)  (from Ch. 116, par. 207)
7     Sec. 7. Exemptions.
8     (1) The following shall be exempt from inspection and
9 copying:
10         (a) Information specifically prohibited from
11     disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations
12     adopted under federal or State law.
13         (b) Information that, if disclosed, would constitute a
14     clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless
15     the disclosure is consented to in writing by the individual
16     subjects of the information. The disclosure of information
17     that bears on the public duties of public employees and
18     officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal
19     privacy. Information exempted under this subsection (b)
20     shall include but is not limited to:
21             (i) files and personal information maintained with
22         respect to clients, patients, residents, students or
23         other individuals receiving social, medical,
24         educational, vocational, financial, supervisory or
25         custodial care or services directly or indirectly from
26         federal agencies or public bodies;
27             (ii) personnel files and personal information
28         maintained with respect to employees, appointees or
29         elected officials of any public body or applicants for
30         those positions;
31             (iii) files and personal information maintained
32         with respect to any applicant, registrant or licensee

 

 

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1         by any public body cooperating with or engaged in
2         professional or occupational registration, licensure
3         or discipline;
4             (iv) information required of any taxpayer in
5         connection with the assessment or collection of any tax
6         unless disclosure is otherwise required by State
7         statute;
8             (v) information revealing the identity of persons
9         who file complaints with or provide information to
10         administrative, investigative, law enforcement or
11         penal agencies; provided, however, that identification
12         of witnesses to traffic accidents, traffic accident
13         reports, and rescue reports may be provided by agencies
14         of local government, except in a case for which a
15         criminal investigation is ongoing, without
16         constituting a clearly unwarranted per se invasion of
17         personal privacy under this subsection; and
18             (vi) the names, addresses, or other personal
19         information of participants and registrants in park
20         district, forest preserve district, and conservation
21         district programs.
22         (c) Records compiled by any public body for
23     administrative enforcement proceedings and any law
24     enforcement or correctional agency for law enforcement
25     purposes or for internal matters of a public body, but only
26     to the extent that disclosure would:
27             (i) interfere with pending or actually and
28         reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings
29         conducted by any law enforcement or correctional
30         agency;
31             (ii) interfere with pending administrative
32         enforcement proceedings conducted by any public body;
33             (iii) deprive a person of a fair trial or an
34         impartial hearing;
35             (iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a
36         confidential source or confidential information

 

 

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1         furnished only by the confidential source;
2             (v) disclose unique or specialized investigative
3         techniques other than those generally used and known or
4         disclose internal documents of correctional agencies
5         related to detection, observation or investigation of
6         incidents of crime or misconduct;
7             (vi) constitute an invasion of personal privacy
8         under subsection (b) of this Section;
9             (vii) endanger the life or physical safety of law
10         enforcement personnel or any other person; or
11             (viii) obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation.
12         (d) Criminal history record information maintained by
13     State or local criminal justice agencies, except the
14     following which shall be open for public inspection and
15     copying:
16             (i) chronologically maintained arrest information,
17         such as traditional arrest logs or blotters;
18             (ii) the name of a person in the custody of a law
19         enforcement agency and the charges for which that
20         person is being held;
21             (iii) court records that are public;
22             (iv) records that are otherwise available under
23         State or local law; or
24             (v) records in which the requesting party is the
25         individual identified, except as provided under part
26         (vii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this
27         Section.
28         "Criminal history record information" means data
29     identifiable to an individual and consisting of
30     descriptions or notations of arrests, detentions,
31     indictments, informations, pre-trial proceedings, trials,
32     or other formal events in the criminal justice system or
33     descriptions or notations of criminal charges (including
34     criminal violations of local municipal ordinances) and the
35     nature of any disposition arising therefrom, including
36     sentencing, court or correctional supervision,

 

 

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1     rehabilitation and release. The term does not apply to
2     statistical records and reports in which individuals are
3     not identified and from which their identities are not
4     ascertainable, or to information that is for criminal
5     investigative or intelligence purposes.
6         (e) Records that relate to or affect the security of
7     correctional institutions and detention facilities.
8         (f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations,
9     memoranda and other records in which opinions are
10     expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except
11     that a specific record or relevant portion of a record
12     shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and
13     identified by the head of the public body. The exemption
14     provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those records
15     of officers and agencies of the General Assembly that
16     pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.
17         (g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial
18     information obtained from a person or business where the
19     trade secrets or information are proprietary, privileged
20     or confidential, or where disclosure of the trade secrets
21     or information may cause competitive harm, including:
22             (i) All information determined to be confidential
23         under Section 4002 of the Technology Advancement and
24         Development Act.
25             (ii) All trade secrets and commercial or financial
26         information obtained by a public body, including a
27         public pension fund, from a private equity fund or a
28         privately held company within the investment portfolio
29         of a private equity fund as a result of either
30         investing or evaluating a potential investment of
31         public funds in a private equity fund. The exemption
32         contained in this item does not apply to the aggregate
33         financial performance information of a private equity
34         fund, nor to the identity of the fund's managers or
35         general partners. The exemption contained in this item
36         does not apply to the identity of a privately held

 

 

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1         company within the investment portfolio of a private
2         equity fund, unless the disclosure of the identity of a
3         privately held company may cause competitive harm.
4     Nothing contained in this paragraph (g) shall be construed
5 to prevent a person or business from consenting to disclosure.
6         (h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or
7     agreement, including information which if it were
8     disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an advantage
9     to any person proposing to enter into a contractor
10     agreement with the body, until an award or final selection
11     is made. Information prepared by or for the body in
12     preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an
13     award or final selection is made.
14         (i) Valuable formulae, computer geographic systems,
15     designs, drawings and research data obtained or produced by
16     any public body when disclosure could reasonably be
17     expected to produce private gain or public loss. The
18     exemption for "computer geographic systems" provided in
19     this paragraph (i) does not extend to requests made by news
20     media as defined in Section 2 of this Act when the
21     requested information is not otherwise exempt and the only
22     purpose of the request is to access and disseminate
23     information regarding the health, safety, welfare, or
24     legal rights of the general public.
25         (j) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination
26     data used to administer an academic examination or
27     determined the qualifications of an applicant for a license
28     or employment.
29         (k) Architects' plans, engineers' technical
30     submissions, and other construction related technical
31     documents for projects not constructed or developed in
32     whole or in part with public funds and the same for
33     projects constructed or developed with public funds, but
34     only to the extent that disclosure would compromise
35     security, including but not limited to water treatment
36     facilities, airport facilities, sport stadiums, convention

 

 

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1     centers, and all government owned, operated, or occupied
2     buildings.
3         (l) Library circulation and order records identifying
4     library users with specific materials.
5         (m) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the
6     public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the
7     public body makes the minutes available to the public under
8     Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.
9         (n) Communications between a public body and an
10     attorney or auditor representing the public body that would
11     not be subject to discovery in litigation, and materials
12     prepared or compiled by or for a public body in
13     anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative
14     proceeding upon the request of an attorney advising the
15     public body, and materials prepared or compiled with
16     respect to internal audits of public bodies.
17         (o) Information received by a primary or secondary
18     school, college or university under its procedures for the
19     evaluation of faculty members by their academic peers.
20         (p) Administrative or technical information associated
21     with automated data processing operations, including but
22     not limited to software, operating protocols, computer
23     program abstracts, file layouts, source listings, object
24     modules, load modules, user guides, documentation
25     pertaining to all logical and physical design of
26     computerized systems, employee manuals, and any other
27     information that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the
28     security of the system or its data or the security of
29     materials exempt under this Section.
30         (q) Documents or materials relating to collective
31     negotiating matters between public bodies and their
32     employees or representatives, except that any final
33     contract or agreement shall be subject to inspection and
34     copying.
35         (r) Drafts, notes, recommendations and memoranda
36     pertaining to the financing and marketing transactions of

 

 

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1     the public body. The records of ownership, registration,
2     transfer, and exchange of municipal debt obligations, and
3     of persons to whom payment with respect to these
4     obligations is made.
5         (s) The records, documents and information relating to
6     real estate purchase negotiations until those negotiations
7     have been completed or otherwise terminated. With regard to
8     a parcel involved in a pending or actually and reasonably
9     contemplated eminent domain proceeding under Article VII
10     of the Code of Civil Procedure, records, documents and
11     information relating to that parcel shall be exempt except
12     as may be allowed under discovery rules adopted by the
13     Illinois Supreme Court. The records, documents and
14     information relating to a real estate sale shall be exempt
15     until a sale is consummated.
16         (t) Any and all proprietary information and records
17     related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk
18     management association or self-insurance pool or jointly
19     self-administered health and accident cooperative or pool.
20         (u) Information concerning a university's adjudication
21     of student or employee grievance or disciplinary cases, to
22     the extent that disclosure would reveal the identity of the
23     student or employee and information concerning any public
24     body's adjudication of student or employee grievances or
25     disciplinary cases, except for the final outcome of the
26     cases.
27         (v) Course materials or research materials used by
28     faculty members.
29         (w) Information related solely to the internal
30     personnel rules and practices of a public body.
31         (x) Information contained in or related to
32     examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by,
33     on behalf of, or for the use of a public body responsible
34     for the regulation or supervision of financial
35     institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is
36     otherwise required by State law.

 

 

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1         (y) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
2     under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities Act.
3         (z) Manuals or instruction to staff that relate to
4     establishment or collection of liability for any State tax
5     or that relate to investigations by a public body to
6     determine violation of any criminal law.
7         (aa) Applications, related documents, and medical
8     records received by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
9     Procedures Board and any and all documents or other records
10     prepared by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
11     Procedures Board or its staff relating to applications it
12     has received.
13         (bb) Insurance or self insurance (including any
14     intergovernmental risk management association or self
15     insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management
16     information, records, data, advice or communications.
17         (cc) Information and records held by the Department of
18     Public Health and its authorized representatives relating
19     to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible
20     disease or any information the disclosure of which is
21     restricted under the Illinois Sexually Transmissible
22     Disease Control Act.
23         (dd) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
24     under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing Act.
25         (ee) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55 of
26     the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying
27     Qualifications Based Selection Act.
28         (ff) Security portions of system safety program plans,
29     investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists, data, or
30     information compiled, collected, or prepared by or for the
31     Regional Transportation Authority under Section 2.11 of
32     the Regional Transportation Authority Act or the St. Clair
33     County Transit District under the Bi-State Transit Safety
34     Act.
35         (gg) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
36     and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois Prepaid

 

 

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1     Tuition Act.
2         (hh) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
3     under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
4         (ii) Beginning July 1, 1999, information that would
5     disclose or might lead to the disclosure of secret or
6     confidential information, codes, algorithms, programs, or
7     private keys intended to be used to create electronic or
8     digital signatures under the Electronic Commerce Security
9     Act.
10         (jj) Information contained in a local emergency energy
11     plan submitted to a municipality in accordance with a local
12     emergency energy plan ordinance that is adopted under
13     Section 11-21.5-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
14         (kk) Information and data concerning the distribution
15     of surcharge moneys collected and remitted by wireless
16     carriers under the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety
17     Act.
18         (ll) Vulnerability assessments, security measures, and
19     response policies or plans that are designed to identify,
20     prevent, or respond to potential attacks upon a community's
21     population or systems, facilities, or installations, the
22     destruction or contamination of which would constitute a
23     clear and present danger to the health or safety of the
24     community, but only to the extent that disclosure could
25     reasonably be expected to jeopardize the effectiveness of
26     the measures or the safety of the personnel who implement
27     them or the public. Information exempt under this item may
28     include such things as details pertaining to the
29     mobilization or deployment of personnel or equipment, to
30     the operation of communication systems or protocols, or to
31     tactical operations.
32         (mm) Maps and other records regarding the location or
33     security of a utility's generation, transmission,
34     distribution, storage, gathering, treatment, or switching
35     facilities.
36         (nn) Law enforcement officer identification

 

 

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1     information or driver identification information compiled
2     by a law enforcement agency or the Department of
3     Transportation under Section 11-212 of the Illinois
4     Vehicle Code.
5         (oo) Records and information provided to a residential
6     health care facility resident sexual assault and death
7     review team or the Residential Health Care Facility
8     Resident Sexual Assault and Death Review Teams Executive
9     Council under the Residential Health Care Facility
10     Resident Sexual Assault and Death Review Team Act.
11         (pp) Information provided to the predatory lending
12     database created pursuant to Article 3 of the Residential
13     Real Property Disclosure Act, except to the extent
14     authorized under that Article.
15         (qq) (pp) Defense budgets and petitions for
16     certification of compensation and expenses for court
17     appointed trial counsel as provided under Sections 10 and
18     15 of the Capital Crimes Litigation Act. This subsection
19     (qq) (pp) shall apply until the conclusion of the trial and
20     appeal of the case, even if the prosecution chooses not to
21     pursue the death penalty prior to trial or sentencing.
22         (rr) Information collected from a public utility in the
23     course of a municipal audit under Section 5-53 of the
24     Simplified Municipal Telecommunications Tax Act, Section
25     5-10 of the Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee
26     Law, or Section 8-11-2.5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
27     (2) This Section does not authorize withholding of
28 information or limit the availability of records to the public,
29 except as stated in this Section or otherwise provided in this
30 Act.
31 (Source: P.A. 93-43, eff. 7-1-03; 93-209, eff. 7-18-03; 93-237,
32 eff. 7-22-03; 93-325, eff. 7-23-03, 93-422, eff. 8-5-03;
33 93-577, eff. 8-21-03; 93-617, eff. 12-9-03; 94-280, eff.
34 1-1-06; 94-508, eff. 1-1-06; 94-664, eff. 1-1-06; revised
35 8-29-05.)
 

 

 

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1     Section 5. The Simplified Municipal Telecommunications Tax
2 Act is amended by adding Section 5-53 as follows:
 
3     (35 ILCS 636/5-53 new)
4     Sec. 5-53. Municipal tax review; requests for information.
5     (a) A municipality may conduct an audit of tax receipts
6 collected by retailers on behalf of the municipality under this
7 Act to determine whether the amount of tax that was collected
8 by the retailer on behalf of the municipality was accurate.
9     (b) Not more than once each year, a municipality that has
10 imposed a tax under this Act may request any information from a
11 retailer that the municipality reasonably requires to perform
12 an audit under subsection (a). The information that may be
13 requested by the municipality includes, without limitation:
14         (1) in an electronic format, the database used by the
15     retailer to assess the taxes on behalf of the municipality,
16     which, at a minimum, must provide the service or location
17     address, the billing address, and the usage by account,
18     including gross charge and tax revenue collected by
19     account, of all customers subject to the municipal tax; and
20         (2) in a format required by the municipality, summary
21     data as needed by the municipality to determine the unit
22     consumption of telecommunications services by providing
23     the gross minutes or other units of measurement being taxed
24     within the municipal jurisdiction, the gross charges
25     collected, and the associated taxes assessed.
26     (c) Each retailer must provide the information requested
27 under subsection (b) within:
28         (1) 30 days after the date of the request if the
29     population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or
30     less; or
31         (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the
32     population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000.
33     The time in which a retailer must provide the information
34 requested under subsection (b) may be extended by an agreement
35 between the municipality and the retailer or, when the parties

 

 

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1 cannot agree, by application to the Illinois Commerce
2 Commission by the retailer with a written notice provided to
3 the municipality within the original time required for
4 providing the requested information.
5     (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an
6 error by the retailer in the collection or assessment of the
7 taxes, then the municipality may notify the retailer of the
8 error. Upon such a notice, the retailer must submit a written
9 response within 30 days after the notice stating that it has
10 corrected the error or stating the reason that the error is
11 inapplicable or inaccurate. The municipality then has 30 days
12 after the receipt of the retailer's response to review and
13 contest the conclusion of the retailer. If the parties are
14 unable to agree on the disposition of the audit findings within
15 60 days after the notification of the error to the retailer,
16 then either party may submit the matter to the Illinois
17 Commerce Commission for resolution.
18     (e) Retailers and municipalities are not liable for any
19 error in past collections and payments that were unknown to the
20 retailer or municipality prior to the audit process unless the
21 error was due to gross negligence in collection or processing
22 of required data.
23     (f) All information provided by a retailer under this
24 Section must be held in strict confidence by the municipality
25 and its agents and is excluded from disclosure to the public
26 under the Freedom of Information Act.
27     (g) Any retailer that fails to comply with the provisions
28 of this Section is subject to a civil penalty of $500 for each
29 day that the retailer is in noncompliance.
30     (h) A retailer that collects less than $1,000 annually in
31 taxes under this Act is exempt from the provisions of this
32 Section. The Illinois Commerce Commission must adopt any rules
33 that are required to effectively enforce this Section.
 
34     Section 10. The Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee
35 Law is amended by adding Section 5-10 as follows:
 

 

 

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1     (35 ILCS 645/5-10 new)
2     Sec. 5-10. Municipal tax review; requests for information.
3     (a) A municipality may conduct an audit of fees under this
4 Act to determine the accuracy of the fees paid by an
5 electricity deliverer.
6     (b) Not more than once each year, a municipality that has
7 imposed a fee under this Act may request any information from
8 an electricity deliverer that the municipality reasonably
9 requires to perform an audit under subsection (a). The
10 information that may be requested by the municipality includes,
11 without limitation:
12         (1) in an electronic format, the database used by the
13     deliverer to determine the fee amount due to the
14     municipality, which, at a minimum, must provide the service
15     or location address, the billing address, and the usage by
16     account, including gross kilowatt-hours and any fees
17     collected by account from the purchaser, of all purchasers;
18     and
19         (2) in a format required by the municipality, summary
20     data as needed by the municipality to determine the unit
21     consumption by providing the gross kilowatt-hours or other
22     units of measurement being taxed within the municipal
23     jurisdiction.
24     (c) Each electricity deliverer must provide the
25 information requested under subsection (b) within:
26         (1) 30 days after the date of the request if the
27     population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or
28     less; or
29         (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the
30     population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000.
31     The time in which an electricity deliverer must provide the
32 information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by
33 an agreement between the municipality and the electricity
34 deliverer or, when the parties cannot agree, by application to
35 the Illinois Commerce Commission by the electricity deliverer

 

 

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1 with a written notice provided to the municipality within the
2 original time required for providing the requested
3 information.
4     (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an
5 error by the electricity deliverer in the payment of the fee,
6 then the municipality may notify the electricity deliverer of
7 the error. Upon such a notice, the electricity deliverer must
8 submit a written response within 30 days after the notice
9 stating that it has corrected the error or stating the reason
10 that the error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The municipality
11 then has 30 days after the receipt of the electricity
12 deliverer's response to review and contest the conclusion of
13 the electricity deliverer. If the parties are unable to agree
14 on the disposition of the audit findings within 60 days after
15 the notification of the error to the electricity deliverer,
16 then either party may submit the matter to the Illinois
17 Commerce Commission for resolution.
18     (e) Electricity deliverers and municipalities are not
19 liable for any error in past collections and payments that were
20 unknown to the electricity deliverer or municipality prior to
21 the audit process unless the error was due to gross negligence
22 in collection or processing of required data.
23     (f) All information provided by an electricity deliverer
24 under this Section must be held in strict confidence by the
25 municipality and its agents and is excluded from disclosure to
26 the public under the Freedom of Information Act.
27     (g) Any electricity deliverer that fails to comply with the
28 provisions of this Section is subject to a civil penalty of
29 $500 for each day that the electricity deliverer is in
30 noncompliance.
31     (h) An electricity deliverer that collects less than $1,000
32 annually in taxes under this Act is exempt from the provisions
33 of this Section. The Illinois Commerce Commission must adopt
34 any rules that are required to effectively enforce this
35 Section.
 

 

 

SB2131 - 15 - SRS094 00028 SDF 30029 b

1     Section 15. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
2 adding Section 8-11-2.5 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 utility that is subject to the tax
9 or that collects the tax from purchasers on behalf of the
10 municipality to determine whether the amount of tax that was
11 paid by the utility was accurate.
12     (b) Not more than once each year, a municipality that has
13 imposed a tax under this Act may request any information from a
14 utility that the municipality reasonably requires to perform an
15 audit under subsection (a). The information that may be
16 requested by the municipality includes, without limitation:
17         (1) in an electronic format, the database used by the
18     utility to determine the amount of tax due to the
19     municipality, which, at a minimum, must provide the service
20     or location address, the billing address, and the usage by
21     account, gross taxable revenues, and any tax revenue
22     collected from the purchaser, of all purchasers; and
23         (2) in a format required by the municipality, summary
24     data as needed by the municipality to determine the unit
25     consumption of utility services by providing the gross
26     therms, kilowatts, minutes or other units of measurement
27     being taxed within the municipal jurisdiction and the gross
28     revenues collected and the associated taxes assessed.
29     (c) Each public utility must provide the information
30 requested under subsection (b) within:
31         (1) 30 days after the date of the request if the
32     population of the requesting municipality is 500,000 or
33     less; or
34         (2) 90 days after the date of the request if the
35     population of the requesting municipality exceeds 500,000.

 

 

SB2131 - 16 - SRS094 00028 SDF 30029 b

1     The time in which a public utility must provide the
2 information requested under subsection (b) may be extended by
3 an agreement between the municipality and the public utility
4 or, when the parties cannot agree, by application to the
5 Illinois Commerce Commission by the public utility with a
6 written notice provided to the municipality within the original
7 time required for providing the requested information.
8     (d) If an audit by the municipality or its agents finds an
9 error by the public utility in the amount of taxes paid by the
10 public utility, then the municipality may notify the public
11 utility of the error. Upon such a notice, the public utility
12 must submit a written response within 30 days after the notice
13 stating that it has corrected the error or stating the reason
14 that the error is inapplicable or inaccurate. The municipality
15 then has 30 days after the receipt of the public utility's
16 response to review and contest the conclusion of the public
17 utility. If the parties are unable to agree on the disposition
18 of the audit findings within 60 days after the notification of
19 the error to the public utility, then either party may submit
20 the matter to the Illinois Commerce Commission for resolution.
21     (e) Public utilities and municipalities are not liable for
22 any error in past collections and payments that were unknown to
23 the public utility or municipality prior to the audit process
24 unless the error was due to gross negligence in collection or
25 processing of required data.
26     (f) All information provided by a public utility under this
27 Section must be held in strict confidence by the municipality
28 and its agents and is excluded from disclosure to the public
29 under the Freedom of Information Act.
30     (g) Any public utility that fails to comply with the
31 provisions of this Section is subject to a civil penalty of
32 $500 for each day that the public utility is in noncompliance.
33     (h) A public utility that collects less than $1,000
34 annually in taxes under this Act is exempt from the provisions
35 of this Section. The Illinois Commerce Commission must adopt
36 any rules that are required to effectively enforce this

 

 

SB2131 - 17 - SRS094 00028 SDF 30029 b

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