Full Text of SB0486 100th General Assembly
SB0486eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning revenue.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 10-5 and by adding Division 20 of Article 10 as | 6 | | follows:
| 7 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-5)
| 8 | | Sec. 10-5. Solar energy systems; definitions. It is the | 9 | | policy of this
State that the use of solar energy systems | 10 | | should be encouraged because they
conserve nonrenewable | 11 | | resources, reduce pollution and promote the health and
| 12 | | well-being of the people of this State, and should be valued in | 13 | | relation to
these benefits.
| 14 | | (a) "Solar energy" means radiant energy received from
the | 15 | | sun at wave lengths suitable for heat transfer, photosynthetic | 16 | | use,
or photovoltaic use.
| 17 | | (b) "Solar collector" means
| 18 | | (1) An assembly, structure, or design, including | 19 | | passive elements,
used for gathering, concentrating, or | 20 | | absorbing direct and indirect
solar energy, specially | 21 | | designed for holding a substantial amount of
useful thermal | 22 | | energy and to transfer that energy to a gas, solid, or
| 23 | | liquid or to use that energy directly; or
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| 1 | | (2) A mechanism that absorbs solar energy and converts | 2 | | it into
electricity; or
| 3 | | (3) A mechanism or process used for gathering solar | 4 | | energy through
wind or thermal gradients; or
| 5 | | (4) A component used to transfer thermal energy to a | 6 | | gas, solid, or
liquid, or to convert it into electricity.
| 7 | | (c) "Solar storage mechanism" means equipment or elements | 8 | | (such as
piping and transfer mechanisms, containers, heat | 9 | | exchangers, or controls
thereof, and gases, solids, liquids, or | 10 | | combinations thereof) that are
utilized for storing solar | 11 | | energy, gathered by a solar collector, for
subsequent use.
| 12 | | (d) "Solar energy system" means
| 13 | | (1)(A) A complete assembly, structure, or design of | 14 | | solar
collector, or a solar storage mechanism, which uses | 15 | | solar energy for
generating electricity that is primarily
| 16 | | consumed on the property on which the solar energy system
| 17 | | resides, or for heating or cooling gases, solids, liquids,
| 18 | | or other materials for the primary benefit of the property
| 19 | | on which the solar energy system resides ;
| 20 | | (B) The design, materials, or elements of a system and | 21 | | its
maintenance, operation, and labor components, and the | 22 | | necessary
components, if any, of supplemental conventional | 23 | | energy systems designed
or constructed to interface with a | 24 | | solar energy system; and
| 25 | | (C) Any legal, financial, or institutional orders, | 26 | | certificates, or
mechanisms, including easements, leases, |
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| 1 | | and agreements, required to
ensure continued access to | 2 | | solar energy, its source, or its use in a
solar energy | 3 | | system, and including monitoring and educational elements
| 4 | | of a demonstration project.
| 5 | | (2) "Solar energy system" does not include
| 6 | | (A) Distribution equipment that is equally usable | 7 | | in a conventional
energy system except for those | 8 | | components of the equipment that are
necessary for | 9 | | meeting the requirements of efficient solar energy | 10 | | utilization;
and
| 11 | | (B) Components of a solar energy system that serve | 12 | | structural,
insulating, protective, shading, | 13 | | aesthetic, or other non-solar energy
utilization | 14 | | purposes, as defined in the regulations of the | 15 | | Department
of Commerce and Economic Opportunity ; and .
| 16 | | (C) A commercial solar energy system, as defined
by | 17 | | this Code, in counties with fewer than 3,000,000
| 18 | | inhabitants.
| 19 | | (3) The solar energy system shall conform to the | 20 | | standards for those
systems established by regulation of | 21 | | the Department of Commerce
and Economic Opportunity.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)
| 23 | | (35 ILCS 200/Art. 10 Div. 20 heading new) | 24 | | Division 20. Commercial Solar Energy Systems |
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| 1 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-720 new) | 2 | | Sec. 10-720. Definitions. For the purpose of this Division
| 3 | | 20: | 4 | | "Allowance for physical depreciation" means (i) the actual | 5 | | age
in years of the commercial solar energy system on the | 6 | | assessment
date divided by 25 years, multiplied by (ii) its | 7 | | trended real property
cost basis. The physical depreciation, | 8 | | however, may not reduce
the value of the commercial solar | 9 | | energy system to less than 30%
of its trended real property | 10 | | cost basis. | 11 | | "Commercial solar energy system" means any device or
| 12 | | assembly of devices that (i) is ground installed and (ii) uses
| 13 | | solar energy from the sun for generating electricity for the
| 14 | | primary purpose of wholesale or retail sale and not primarily
| 15 | | for consumption on the property on which the device or devices
| 16 | | reside. | 17 | | "Commercial solar energy system real property cost basis"
| 18 | | means the owner of a commercial solar energy system's
interest | 19 | | in the land within the project boundaries and real
property | 20 | | improvements and shall be calculated at $199,000 per megawatt | 21 | | of
nameplate capacity. For the purposes of this Section,
| 22 | | "nameplate capacity" has the same definition as found in | 23 | | Section
1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. | 24 | | "Ground installed" means the installation of a commercial
| 25 | | solar energy system, with the primary purpose of solar energy
| 26 | | generation for wholesale or retail sale, on a parcel or tract |
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| 1 | | of
land. | 2 | | "Trended real property cost basis" means the commercial
| 3 | | solar energy system real property cost basis multiplied by the
| 4 | | trending factor. | 5 | | "Trending factor" means a number equal to the Consumer
| 6 | | Price Index (U.S. city average all items) published by the
| 7 | | Bureau of Labor Statistics for the December immediately
| 8 | | preceding the assessment date, divided by the Consumer Price
| 9 | | Index (U.S. city average all items) published by the Bureau of
| 10 | | Labor Statistics for December of 2017. | 11 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-725 new) | 12 | | Sec. 10-725. Improvement valuation of commercial solar
| 13 | | energy systems in counties with fewer than 3,000,000
| 14 | | inhabitants. Beginning in assessment year 2018, the fair cash
| 15 | | value of commercial solar energy system improvements in | 16 | | counties
with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants shall be | 17 | | determined by
subtracting the allowance for physical | 18 | | depreciation from the
trended real property cost basis. | 19 | | Functional obsolescence and
external obsolescence of the solar | 20 | | energy device may further
reduce the fair cash value of the | 21 | | commercial solar energy system
improvements, to the extent they | 22 | | are proved by the taxpayer by
clear and convincing evidence. | 23 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-730 new) | 24 | | Sec. 10-730. Exempt properties. The provisions of this
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| 1 | | Division do not apply to commercial solar energy systems that
| 2 | | are owned by any person or entity that is otherwise exempt from
| 3 | | taxation under this Code. | 4 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-735 new) | 5 | | Sec. 10-735. Commercial solar energy systems not subject to
| 6 | | equalization. Commercial solar energy systems assessable under
| 7 | | this Division are not subject to equalization factors applied | 8 | | by
the Department or any board of review, assessor, or chief | 9 | | county
assessment officer. | 10 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-740 new) | 11 | | Sec. 10-740. Survey for ground installed commercial solar
| 12 | | energy systems; parcel identification numbers for property
| 13 | | improved with a ground installed commercial solar energy | 14 | | system.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the owner | 15 | | of the
ground installed commercial solar energy system shall | 16 | | commission
a metes and bounds survey description of the land | 17 | | upon which the
commercial solar energy system is installed, | 18 | | including access
routes, over which the owner of the commercial | 19 | | solar energy
system has exclusive control. The owner of the | 20 | | ground installed
commercial solar energy system shall, at his | 21 | | or her own expense,
use an Illinois-registered land surveyor to | 22 | | prepare the survey.
The owner of the ground installed | 23 | | commercial solar energy system
shall deliver a copy of the | 24 | | survey to the chief county
assessment officer and to the owner |
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| 1 | | of the land upon which the
ground installed commercial solar | 2 | | energy system is constructed.
Upon receiving a copy of the | 3 | | survey, the chief county assessment
officer shall issue | 4 | | separate parcel identification numbers for
the real property | 5 | | improvements and the land containing the
ground installed | 6 | | commercial solar energy system to be used only
for the purposes | 7 | | of property assessment for taxation. The
property records shall | 8 | | contain the legal description of the
commercial solar energy | 9 | | system parcel and describe any leasehold
interest or other | 10 | | interest of the owner of the commercial solar
energy system in | 11 | | the property. A plat prepared under this
Section shall not be | 12 | | construed as a violation of the Plat Act. | 13 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-745 new) | 14 | | Sec. 10-745. Real estate taxes. Notwithstanding the
| 15 | | provisions of Section 9-175 of this Code, the owner of the
| 16 | | commercial solar energy system shall be liable for the real
| 17 | | estate taxes for the land and real property improvements of a
| 18 | | ground installed commercial solar energy system.
| 19 | | Notwithstanding the forgoing, the owner of the land upon which | 20 | | a
commercial solar energy system is installed may pay any | 21 | | unpaid
tax of the commercial solar energy system parcel prior | 22 | | to the
initiation of any tax sale proceedings. | 23 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-750 new) | 24 | | Sec. 10-750. Property assessed as farmland. |
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| 1 | | Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, real property | 2 | | assessed as farmland
in accordance with Section 10-110 in the | 3 | | assessment year prior
to valuation under this Division shall | 4 | | return to being assessed
as farmland in accordance with Section | 5 | | 10-110 in the year
following completion of the removal of the | 6 | | commercial solar
energy system as long as the property is | 7 | | returned to a farm use
as defined in Section 1-60 of this Act, | 8 | | notwithstanding that the
land was not used for farming for the | 9 | | 2 preceding years. | 10 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-755 new) | 11 | | Sec. 10-755. Abatements. Any taxing district, upon a
| 12 | | majority vote of its governing authority, may, after the
| 13 | | determination of the assessed valuation as set forth in this
| 14 | | Code, order the clerk of the appropriate municipality or county
| 15 | | to abate any portion of real property taxes otherwise levied or
| 16 | | extended by the taxing district on a commercial solar energy
| 17 | | system. | 18 | | (35 ILCS 200/10-760 new) | 19 | | Sec. 10-760. Applicability. The provisions of this | 20 | | Division
apply for assessment years 2018 through 2033.
| 21 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 22 | | becoming law.
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