Public Act 096-0124
 		





SB0230 Enrolled
LRB096 08382 RLJ 18494 b






    AN ACT concerning local government.

 
    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, Public Facilities, 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, public facility, 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:
        "To pay for public safety purposes, shall (name of 
    county) be authorized to impose an increase on its share of 
    local sales taxes by (insert rate)?"
        As additional information on the ballot below the 
    question shall appear the following:
        "This would mean that a consumer would pay an 
    additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of 
    tangible personal property bought at retail."


        The county board may also opt to establish a sunset 
    provision at which time the additional sales tax would 
    cease being collected, if not terminated earlier by a vote 
    of the county board.  If the county board votes to include a 
    sunset provision, the proposition for public safety 
    purposes shall be in substantially the following form:
        "To pay for public safety purposes, shall (name of 
    county) be authorized to impose an increase on its share of 
    local sales taxes by (insert rate) for a period not to 
    exceed (insert number of years)?"
        As additional information on the ballot below the 
    question shall appear the following:
        "This would mean that a consumer would pay an 
    additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of 
    tangible personal property bought at retail. If imposed, 
    the additional tax would cease being collected at the end 
    of (insert number of years), if not terminated earlier by a 
    vote of the county board."



        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:
        "To pay for improvements to roads and other 
    transportation purposes, shall (name of county) be 
    authorized to impose an increase on its share of local 
    sales taxes by (insert rate)?"
        As additional information on the ballot below the 
    question shall appear the following:
        "This would mean that a consumer would pay an 
    additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of 
    tangible personal property bought at retail."


        The county board may also opt to establish a sunset 
    provision at which time the additional sales tax would 
    cease being collected, if not terminated earlier by a vote 
    of the county board.  If the county board votes to include a 
    sunset provision, the proposition for transportation 
    purposes shall be in substantially the following form:
        "To pay for road improvements and other transportation 
    purposes, shall (name of county) be authorized to impose an 
    increase on its share of local sales taxes by (insert rate) 
    for a period not to exceed (insert number of years)?"
        As additional information on the ballot below the 
    question shall appear the following:
        "This would mean that a consumer would pay an 
    additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of 
    tangible personal property bought at retail. If imposed, 
    the additional tax would cease being collected at the end 
    of (insert number of years), if not terminated earlier by a 
    vote of the county board."



        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".

        (3)  The proposition for public facility purposes shall 
    be in substantially the following form: 
        "To pay for public facility purposes, shall (name of

    
    county) be authorized to impose an increase on its share of

    
    local sales taxes by (insert rate)?" 
        As additional information on the ballot below the

    
    question shall appear the following: 
        "This would mean that a consumer would pay an

    
    additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of

    
    tangible personal property bought at retail." 
        The county board may also opt to establish a sunset

    
    provision at which time the additional sales tax would

    
    cease being collected, if not terminated earlier by a vote

    
    of the county board. If the county board votes to include a

    
    sunset provision, the proposition for public facility

    
    purposes shall be in substantially the following form: 
        "To pay for public facility purposes, shall (name of

    
    county) be authorized to impose an increase on its share of

    
    local sales taxes by (insert rate) for a period not to

    
    exceed (insert number of years)?" 
        As additional information on the ballot below the

    
    question shall appear the following: 
        "This would mean that a consumer would pay an

    
    additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of

    
    tangible personal property bought at retail. If imposed,

    
    the additional tax would cease being collected at the end

    
    of (insert number of years), if not terminated earlier by a

    
    vote of the county board." 
        For purposes of this Section, "public facilities 
    purposes" means the acquisition, development, 
    construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, 
    financing, architectural planning, and installation of 
    capital facilities consisting of buildings, structures, 
    and durable equipment and for the acquisition and 
    improvement of real property and interest in real property 
    required, or expected to be required, in connection with 
    the public facilities, for use by the county for the 
    furnishing of governmental services to its citizens, 
    including but not limited to museums and nursing homes. 
        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 through 2-70 (in respect to all provisions contained in 
those Sections
other than the
State rate of tax), 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, Public Facilities, 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.  The county may share tax proceeds received under this 
Section for public safety purposes, including proceeds 
received before the effective date of this amendatory Act of 
the 96th General Assembly,  with any fire protection district 
located in the county. 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. For the purposes of this Section, "public 
facilities purposes" includes, but is not limited to, the 
acquisition, development, construction, reconstruction, 
rehabilitation, improvement, financing, architectural 
planning, and installation of capital facilities consisting of 
buildings, structures, and durable equipment and for the 
acquisition and improvement of real property and interest in 
real property required, or expected to be required, in 
connection with the public facilities, for use by the county 
for the furnishing of governmental services to its citizens, 
including but not limited to museums and nursing homes.
    (j) The Department may promulgate rules to implement this 
amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly only to the extent 
necessary to apply the existing rules for the Special County 
Retailers' Occupation Tax for Public Safety to this new purpose 
for public facilities. 

(Source: P.A. 94-781, eff. 5-19-06; 95-474, eff. 1-1-08; 
95-1002, eff. 11-20-08.)

 

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