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90_HB0988 65 ILCS 5/8-11-2 from Ch. 24, par. 8-11-2 Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Authorizes the corporate authorities of any municipality to tax persons engaged in the business of (i) transmitting images by means of electricity, radio magnetic waves, or fiber optics, (ii) distributing, supplying, furnishing, or selling gas for use or consumption and not for resale, (iii) distributing, supplying, furnishing, or selling electricity for use or consumption and not for resale, or (iv) distributing, supplying, furnishing, or selling water for use or consumption and not for resale, in an amount based on the number of installations the person has within the municipality. LRB9002507PTcw LRB9002507PTcw 1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Municipal Code by changing 2 Section 8-11-2. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by 6 changing Section 8-11-2 as follows: 7 (65 ILCS 5/8-11-2) (from Ch. 24, par. 8-11-2) 8 Sec. 8-11-2. The corporate authorities of any 9 municipality may tax any or all of the following occupations 10 or privileges: 11 1. Persons engaged in the business of transmitting 12 messages by means of electricity or radio magnetic waves, 13 or fiber optics, at a rate not to exceed 5% of the gross 14 receipts from that business originating within the 15 corporate limits of the municipality. 16 2. Persons engaged in the business of distributing, 17 supplying, furnishing, or selling gas for use or 18 consumption within the corporate limits of a municipality 19 of 500,000 or fewer population, and not for resale, at a 20 rate not to exceed 5% of the gross receipts therefrom. 21 2a. Persons engaged in the business of 22 distributing, supplying, furnishing, or selling gas for 23 use or consumption within the corporate limits of a 24 municipality of over 500,000 population, and not for 25 resale, at a rate not to exceed 8% of the gross receipts 26 therefrom. If imposed, this tax shall be paid in monthly 27 payments. 28 3. Persons engaged in the business of distributing, 29 supplying, furnishing, or selling electricity for use or 30 consumption within the corporate limits of the 31 municipality, and not for resale, at a rate not to exceed -2- LRB9002507PTcw 1 5% of the gross receipts therefrom. 2 4. Persons engaged in the business of distributing, 3 supplying, furnishing, or selling water for use or 4 consumption within the corporate limits of the 5 municipality, and not for resale, at a rate not to exceed 6 5% of the gross receipts therefrom. 7 5. Persons engaged in the business of (i) 8 transmitting messages by means of electricity, radio 9 magnetic waves, or fiber optics, (ii) distributing, 10 supplying, furnishing, or selling gas for use or 11 consumption and not for resale, (iii) distributing, 12 supplying, furnishing, or selling electricity for use or 13 consumption and not for resale, or (iv) distributing, 14 supplying, furnishing, or selling water for use or 15 consumption and not for resale, in an amount based on the 16 number of installations the person has within the 17 municipality. 18 None of the taxes authorized by this Section may be 19 imposed with respect to any transaction in interstate 20 commerce or otherwise to the extent to which the business may 21 not, under the constitution and statutes of the United 22 States, be made the subject of taxation by this State or any 23 political sub-division thereof; nor shall any persons engaged 24 in the business of distributing, supplying, furnishing, or 25 selling gas, water, or electricity, or engaged in the 26 business of transmitting messages be subject to taxation 27 under the provisions of this Section for those transactions 28 that are or may become subject to taxation under the 29 provisions of the "Municipal Retailers' Occupation Tax Act" 30 authorized by Section 8-11-1; nor shall any tax authorized by 31 this Section be imposed upon any person engaged in a business 32 unless the tax is imposed in like manner and at the same rate 33 upon all persons engaged in businesses of the same class in 34 the municipality, whether privately or municipally owned or -3- LRB9002507PTcw 1 operated. 2 Any of the taxes enumerated in this Section may be in 3 addition to the payment of money, or value of products or 4 services furnished to the municipality by the taxpayer as 5 compensation for the use of its streets, alleys, or other 6 public places, or installation and maintenance therein, 7 thereon or thereunder of poles, wires, pipes or other 8 equipment used in the operation of the taxpayer's business. 9 (a) If the corporate authorities of any home rule 10 municipality have adopted an ordinance that imposed a tax on 11 public utility customers, between July 1, 1971, and October 12 1, 1981, on the good faith belief that they were exercising 13 authority pursuant to Section 6 of Article VII of the 1970 14 Illinois Constitution, that action of the corporate 15 authorities shall be declared legal and valid, 16 notwithstanding a later decision of a judicial tribunal 17 declaring the ordinance invalid. No municipality shall be 18 required to rebate, refund, or issue credits for any taxes 19 described in this paragraph, and those taxes shall be deemed 20 to have been levied and collected in accordance with the 21 Constitution and laws of this State. 22 (b) In any case in which (i) prior to October 19, 1979, 23 the corporate authorities of any municipality have adopted an 24 ordinance imposing a tax authorized by this Section (or by 25 the predecessor provision of the "Revised Cities and Villages 26 Act") and have explicitly or in practice interpreted gross 27 receipts to include either charges added to customers' bills 28 pursuant to the provision of paragraph (a) of Section 36 of 29 the Public Utilities Act or charges added to customers' bills 30 by taxpayers who are not subject to rate regulation by the 31 Illinois Commerce Commission for the purpose of recovering 32 any of the tax liabilities or other amounts specified in such 33 paragraph (a) of Section 36 of that Act, and (ii) on or after 34 October 19, 1979, a judicial tribunal has construed gross -4- LRB9002507PTcw 1 receipts to exclude all or part of those charges, then 2 neither those municipality nor any taxpayer who paid the tax 3 shall be required to rebate, refund, or issue credits for any 4 tax imposed or charge collected from customers pursuant to 5 the municipality's interpretation prior to October 19, 1979. 6 This paragraph reflects a legislative finding that it would 7 be contrary to the public interest to require a municipality 8 or its taxpayers to refund taxes or charges attributable to 9 the municipality's more inclusive interpretation of gross 10 receipts prior to October 19, 1979, and is not intended to 11 prescribe or limit judicial construction of this Section. The 12 legislative finding set forth in this subsection does not 13 apply to taxes imposed after the effective date of this 14 amendatory Act of 1995. 15 (c) (Blank). 16 (d) For the purpose of the taxes enumerated in this 17 Section: 18 "Gross receipts" means the consideration received for the 19 transmission of messages, the consideration received for 20 distributing, supplying, furnishing or selling gas for use or 21 consumption and not for resale, and the consideration 22 received for distributing, supplying, furnishing or selling 23 electricity for use or consumption and not for resale, and 24 the consideration received for distributing, supplying, 25 furnishing or selling water for use or consumption and not 26 for resale, and for all services rendered in connection 27 therewith valued in money, whether received in money or 28 otherwise, including cash, credit, services and property of 29 every kind and material and for all services rendered 30 therewith, and shall be determined without any deduction on 31 account of the cost of transmitting such messages, without 32 any deduction on account of the cost of the service, product 33 or commodity supplied, the cost of materials used, labor or 34 service cost, or any other expenses whatsoever. "Gross -5- LRB9002507PTcw 1 receipts" shall not include that portion of the consideration 2 received for distributing, supplying, furnishing, or selling 3 gas, electricity, or water to, or for the transmission of 4 messages for, business enterprises described in paragraph (e) 5 of this Section to the extent and during the period in which 6 the exemption authorized by paragraph (e) is in effect or for 7 school districts or units of local government described in 8 paragraph (f) during the period in which the exemption 9 authorized in paragraph (f) is in effect. 10 For utility bills issued on or after May 1, 1996, but 11 before May 1, 1997, and for receipts from those utility 12 bills, "gross receipts" does not include one-third of (i) 13 amounts added to customers' bills under Section 9-222 of the 14 Public Utilities Act, or (ii) amounts added to customers' 15 bills by taxpayers who are not subject to rate regulation by 16 the Illinois Commerce Commission for the purpose of 17 recovering any of the tax liabilities described in Section 18 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act. For utility bills issued 19 on or after May 1, 1997, but before May 1, 1998, and for 20 receipts from those utility bills, "gross receipts" does not 21 include two-thirds of (i) amounts added to customers' bills 22 under Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) 23 amount added to customers' bills by taxpayers who are not 24 subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce 25 Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax 26 liabilities described in Section 9-222 of the Public 27 Utilities Act. For utility bills issued on or after May 1, 28 1998, and for receipts from those utility bills, "gross 29 receipts" does not include (i) amounts added to customers' 30 bills under Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act, or 31 (ii) amounts added to customers' bills by taxpayers who are 32 not subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce 33 Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax 34 liabilities described in Section 9-222 of the Public -6- LRB9002507PTcw 1 Utilities Act. 2 For purposes of this Section "gross receipts" shall not 3 include (i) amounts added to customers' bills under Section 4 9-221 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) charges added to 5 customers' bills to recover the surcharge imposed under the 6 Emergency Telephone System Act. This paragraph is not 7 intended to nor does it make any change in the meaning of 8 "gross receipts" for the purposes of this Section, but is 9 intended to remove possible ambiguities, thereby confirming 10 the existing meaning of "gross receipts" prior to the 11 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995. 12 The words "transmitting messages", in addition to the 13 usual and popular meaning of person to person communication, 14 shall include the furnishing, for a consideration, of 15 services or facilities (whether owned or leased), or both, to 16 persons in connection with the transmission of messages where 17 those persons do not, in turn, receive any consideration in 18 connection therewith, but shall not include such furnishing 19 of services or facilities to persons for the transmission of 20 messages to the extent that any such services or facilities 21 for the transmission of messages are furnished for a 22 consideration, by those persons to other persons, for the 23 transmission of messages. 24 "Person" as used in this Section means any natural 25 individual, firm, trust, estate, partnership, association, 26 joint stock company, joint adventure, corporation, municipal 27 corporation or political subdivision of this State, or a 28 receiver, trustee, guardian or other representative appointed 29 by order of any court. 30 "Public utility" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in 31 Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act and shall include 32 telecommunications carriers as defined in Section 13-202 of 33 that Act. 34 In the case of persons engaged in the business of -7- LRB9002507PTcw 1 transmitting messages through the use of mobile equipment, 2 such as cellular phones and paging systems, the gross 3 receipts from the business shall be deemed to originate 4 within the corporate limits of a municipality only if the 5 address to which the bills for the service are sent is within 6 those corporate limits. If, however, that address is not 7 located within a municipality that imposes a tax under this 8 Section, then (i) if the party responsible for the bill is 9 not an individual, the gross receipts from the business shall 10 be deemed to originate within the corporate limits of the 11 municipality where that party's principal place of business 12 in Illinois is located, and (ii) if the party responsible for 13 the bill is an individual, the gross receipts from the 14 business shall be deemed to originate within the corporate 15 limits of the municipality where that party's principal 16 residence in Illinois is located. 17 (e) Any municipality that imposes taxes upon public 18 utilities pursuant to this Section whose territory includes 19 any part of an enterprise zone or federally designated 20 Foreign Trade Zone or Sub-Zone may, by a majority vote of its 21 corporate authorities, exempt from those taxes for a period 22 not exceeding 20 years any specified percentage of gross 23 receipts of public utilities received from business 24 enterprises that: 25 (1) either (i) make investments that cause the 26 creation of a minimum of 200 full-time equivalent jobs in 27 Illinois or (ii) make investments that cause the 28 retention of a minimum of 1,000 full-time jobs in 29 Illinois; and 30 (2) are either (i) located in an Enterprise Zone 31 established pursuant to the Illinois Enterprise Zone Act 32 or (ii) Department of Commerce and Community Affairs 33 designated High Impact Businesses located in a federally 34 designated Foreign Trade Zone or Sub-Zone; and -8- LRB9002507PTcw 1 (3) are certified by the Department of Commerce and 2 Community Affairs as complying with the requirements 3 specified in clauses (1) and (2) of this paragraph (e). 4 Upon adoption of the ordinance authorizing the exemption, 5 the municipal clerk shall transmit a copy of that ordinance 6 to the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. The 7 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs shall determine 8 whether the business enterprises located in the municipality 9 meet the criteria prescribed in this paragraph. If the 10 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs determines that 11 the business enterprises meet the criteria, it shall grant 12 certification. The Department of Commerce and Community 13 Affairs shall act upon certification requests within 30 days 14 after receipt of the ordinance. 15 Upon certification of the business enterprise by the 16 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, the Department 17 of Commerce and Community Affairs shall notify the Department 18 of Revenue of the certification. The Department of Revenue 19 shall notify the public utilities of the exemption status of 20 the gross receipts received from the certified business 21 enterprises. Such exemption status shall be effective within 22 3 months after certification. 23 (f) A municipality that imposes taxes upon public 24 utilities under this Section and whose territory includes 25 part of another unit of local government or a school district 26 may by ordinance exempt the other unit of local government or 27 school district from those taxes. 28 (g) The amendment of this Section by Public Act 84-127 29 shall take precedence over any other amendment of this 30 Section by any other amendatory Act passed by the 84th 31 General Assembly before the effective date of Public Act 32 84-127. 33 (h) In any case in which, before July 1, 1992, a person 34 engaged in the business of transmitting messages through the -9- LRB9002507PTcw 1 use of mobile equipment, such as cellular phones and paging 2 systems, has determined the municipality within which the 3 gross receipts from the business originated by reference to 4 the location of its transmitting or switching equipment, then 5 (i) neither the municipality to which tax was paid on that 6 basis nor the taxpayer that paid tax on that basis shall be 7 required to rebate, refund, or issue credits for any such tax 8 or charge collected from customers to reimburse the taxpayer 9 for the tax and (ii) no municipality to which tax would have 10 been paid with respect to those gross receipts if the 11 provisions of this amendatory Act of 1991 had been in effect 12 before July 1, 1992, shall have any claim against the 13 taxpayer for any amount of the tax. 14 (Source: P.A. 88-132; 89-325, eff. 1-1-96.)