95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB2147

 

Introduced 2/14/2008, by Sen. John O. Jones

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
55 ILCS 5/5-1006.5

    Amends the Counties Code concerning the Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety or Transportation. Authorizes counties to share tax proceeds received for public safety purposes, including proceeds received before the effective date of this amendatory Act, with any fire protection district located in the county. Effective immediately.


LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2147 LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 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 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section
5 5-1006.5 as follows:
 
6     (55 ILCS 5/5-1006.5)
7     Sec. 5-1006.5. Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax
8 For Public Safety or Transportation.
9     (a) The county board of any county may impose a tax upon
10 all persons engaged in the business of selling tangible
11 personal property, other than personal property titled or
12 registered with an agency of this State's government, at retail
13 in the county on the gross receipts from the sales made in the
14 course of business to provide revenue to be used exclusively
15 for public safety or transportation purposes in that county, if
16 a proposition for the tax has been submitted to the electors of
17 that county and approved by a majority of those voting on the
18 question. If imposed, this tax shall be imposed only in
19 one-quarter percent increments. By resolution, the county
20 board may order the proposition to be submitted at any
21 election. If the tax is imposed for transportation purposes for
22 expenditures for public highways or as authorized under the
23 Illinois Highway Code, the county board must publish notice of

 

 

SB2147 - 2 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 the existence of its long-range highway transportation plan as
2 required or described in Section 5-301 of the Illinois Highway
3 Code and must make the plan publicly available prior to
4 approval of the ordinance or resolution imposing the tax. If
5 the tax is imposed for transportation purposes for expenditures
6 for passenger rail transportation, the county board must
7 publish notice of the existence of its long-range passenger
8 rail transportation plan and must make the plan publicly
9 available prior to approval of the ordinance or resolution
10 imposing the tax. The county clerk shall certify the question
11 to the proper election authority, who shall submit the
12 proposition at an election in accordance with the general
13 election law.
14         (1) The proposition for public safety purposes shall be
15     in substantially the following form:
16         "To pay for public safety purposes, shall (name of
17     county) be authorized to impose an increase on its share of
18     local sales taxes by (insert rate)?"
19         As additional information on the ballot below the
20     question shall appear the following:
21         "This would mean that a consumer would pay an
22     additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of
23     tangible personal property bought at retail."
24         The county board may also opt to establish a sunset
25     provision at which time the additional sales tax would
26     cease being collected, if not terminated earlier by a vote

 

 

SB2147 - 3 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1     of the county board. If the county board votes to include a
2     sunset provision, the proposition for public safety
3     purposes shall be in substantially the following form:
4         "To pay for public safety purposes, shall (name of
5     county) be authorized to impose an increase on its share of
6     local sales taxes by (insert rate) for a period not to
7     exceed (insert number of years)?"
8         As additional information on the ballot below the
9     question shall appear the following:
10         "This would mean that a consumer would pay an
11     additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of
12     tangible personal property bought at retail. If imposed,
13     the additional tax would cease being collected at the end
14     of (insert number of years), if not terminated earlier by a
15     vote of the county board."
16         For the purposes of the paragraph, "public safety
17     purposes" means crime prevention, detention, fire
18     fighting, police, medical, ambulance, or other emergency
19     services.
20         Votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".
21         (2) The proposition for transportation purposes shall
22     be in substantially the following form:
23         "To pay for improvements to roads and other
24     transportation purposes, shall (name of county) be
25     authorized to impose an increase on its share of local
26     sales taxes by (insert rate)?"

 

 

SB2147 - 4 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1         As additional information on the ballot below the
2     question shall appear the following:
3         "This would mean that a consumer would pay an
4     additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of
5     tangible personal property bought at retail."
6         The county board may also opt to establish a sunset
7     provision at which time the additional sales tax would
8     cease being collected, if not terminated earlier by a vote
9     of the county board. If the county board votes to include a
10     sunset provision, the proposition for transportation
11     purposes shall be in substantially the following form:
12         "To pay for road improvements and other transportation
13     purposes, shall (name of county) be authorized to impose an
14     increase on its share of local sales taxes by (insert rate)
15     for a period not to exceed (insert number of years)?"
16         As additional information on the ballot below the
17     question shall appear the following:
18         "This would mean that a consumer would pay an
19     additional (insert amount) in sales tax for every $100 of
20     tangible personal property bought at retail. If imposed,
21     the additional tax would cease being collected at the end
22     of (insert number of years), if not terminated earlier by a
23     vote of the county board."
24         For the purposes of this paragraph, transportation
25     purposes means construction, maintenance, operation, and
26     improvement of public highways, any other purpose for which

 

 

SB2147 - 5 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1     a county may expend funds under the Illinois Highway Code,
2     and passenger rail transportation.
3         The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".
4     If a majority of the electors voting on the proposition
5 vote in favor of it, the county may impose the tax. A county
6 may not submit more than one proposition authorized by this
7 Section to the electors at any one time.
8     This additional tax may not be imposed on the sales of food
9 for human consumption that is to be consumed off the premises
10 where it is sold (other than alcoholic beverages, soft drinks,
11 and food which has been prepared for immediate consumption) and
12 prescription and non-prescription medicines, drugs, medical
13 appliances and insulin, urine testing materials, syringes, and
14 needles used by diabetics. The tax imposed by a county under
15 this Section and all civil penalties that may be assessed as an
16 incident of the tax shall be collected and enforced by the
17 Illinois Department of Revenue and deposited into a special
18 fund created for that purpose. The certificate of registration
19 that is issued by the Department to a retailer under the
20 Retailers' Occupation Tax Act shall permit the retailer to
21 engage in a business that is taxable without registering
22 separately with the Department under an ordinance or resolution
23 under this Section. The Department has full power to administer
24 and enforce this Section, to collect all taxes and penalties
25 due under this Section, to dispose of taxes and penalties so
26 collected in the manner provided in this Section, and to

 

 

SB2147 - 6 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 determine all rights to credit memoranda arising on account of
2 the erroneous payment of a tax or penalty under this Section.
3 In the administration of and compliance with this Section, the
4 Department and persons who are subject to this Section shall
5 (i) have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities,
6 powers, and duties, (ii) be subject to the same conditions,
7 restrictions, limitations, penalties, and definitions of
8 terms, and (iii) employ the same modes of procedure as are
9 prescribed in Sections 1, 1a, 1a-1, 1d, 1e, 1f, 1i, 1j, 1k, 1m,
10 1n, 2 through 2-70 (in respect to all provisions contained in
11 those Sections other than the State rate of tax), 2a, 2b, 2c, 3
12 (except provisions relating to transaction returns and quarter
13 monthly payments), 4, 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, 5h, 5i,
14 5j, 5k, 5l, 6, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 11a, 12, and 13 of
15 the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act and Section 3-7 of the
16 Uniform Penalty and Interest Act as if those provisions were
17 set forth in this Section.
18     Persons subject to any tax imposed under the authority
19 granted in this Section may reimburse themselves for their
20 sellers' tax liability by separately stating the tax as an
21 additional charge, which charge may be stated in combination,
22 in a single amount, with State tax which sellers are required
23 to collect under the Use Tax Act, pursuant to such bracketed
24 schedules as the Department may prescribe.
25     Whenever the Department determines that a refund should be
26 made under this Section to a claimant instead of issuing a

 

 

SB2147 - 7 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 credit memorandum, the Department shall notify the State
2 Comptroller, who shall cause the order to be drawn for the
3 amount specified and to the person named in the notification
4 from the Department. The refund shall be paid by the State
5 Treasurer out of the County Public Safety or Transportation
6 Retailers' Occupation Tax Fund.
7     (b) If a tax has been imposed under subsection (a), a
8 service occupation tax shall also be imposed at the same rate
9 upon all persons engaged, in the county, in the business of
10 making sales of service, who, as an incident to making those
11 sales of service, transfer tangible personal property within
12 the county as an incident to a sale of service. This tax may
13 not be imposed on sales of food for human consumption that is
14 to be consumed off the premises where it is sold (other than
15 alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, and food prepared for
16 immediate consumption) and prescription and non-prescription
17 medicines, drugs, medical appliances and insulin, urine
18 testing materials, syringes, and needles used by diabetics. The
19 tax imposed under this subsection and all civil penalties that
20 may be assessed as an incident thereof shall be collected and
21 enforced by the Department of Revenue. The Department has full
22 power to administer and enforce this subsection; to collect all
23 taxes and penalties due hereunder; to dispose of taxes and
24 penalties so collected in the manner hereinafter provided; and
25 to determine all rights to credit memoranda arising on account
26 of the erroneous payment of tax or penalty hereunder. In the

 

 

SB2147 - 8 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 administration of, and compliance with this subsection, the
2 Department and persons who are subject to this paragraph shall
3 (i) have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities,
4 powers, and duties, (ii) be subject to the same conditions,
5 restrictions, limitations, penalties, exclusions, exemptions,
6 and definitions of terms, and (iii) employ the same modes of
7 procedure as are prescribed in Sections 2 (except that the
8 reference to State in the definition of supplier maintaining a
9 place of business in this State shall mean the county), 2a, 2b,
10 2c, 3 through 3-50 (in respect to all provisions therein other
11 than the State rate of tax), 4 (except that the reference to
12 the State shall be to the county), 5, 7, 8 (except that the
13 jurisdiction to which the tax shall be a debt to the extent
14 indicated in that Section 8 shall be the county), 9 (except as
15 to the disposition of taxes and penalties collected), 10, 11,
16 12 (except the reference therein to Section 2b of the
17 Retailers' Occupation Tax Act), 13 (except that any reference
18 to the State shall mean the county), Section 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
19 and 20 of the Service Occupation Tax Act and Section 3-7 of the
20 Uniform Penalty and Interest Act, as fully as if those
21 provisions were set forth herein.
22     Persons subject to any tax imposed under the authority
23 granted in this subsection may reimburse themselves for their
24 serviceman's tax liability by separately stating the tax as an
25 additional charge, which charge may be stated in combination,
26 in a single amount, with State tax that servicemen are

 

 

SB2147 - 9 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 authorized to collect under the Service Use Tax Act, in
2 accordance with such bracket schedules as the Department may
3 prescribe.
4     Whenever the Department determines that a refund should be
5 made under this subsection to a claimant instead of issuing a
6 credit memorandum, the Department shall notify the State
7 Comptroller, who shall cause the warrant to be drawn for the
8 amount specified, and to the person named, in the notification
9 from the Department. The refund shall be paid by the State
10 Treasurer out of the County Public Safety or Transportation
11 Retailers' Occupation Fund.
12     Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize
13 the county to impose a tax upon the privilege of engaging in
14 any business which under the Constitution of the United States
15 may not be made the subject of taxation by the State.
16     (c) The Department shall immediately pay over to the State
17 Treasurer, ex officio, as trustee, all taxes and penalties
18 collected under this Section to be deposited into the County
19 Public Safety or Transportation Retailers' Occupation Tax
20 Fund, which shall be an unappropriated trust fund held outside
21 of the State treasury. On or before the 25th day of each
22 calendar month, the Department shall prepare and certify to the
23 Comptroller the disbursement of stated sums of money to the
24 counties from which retailers have paid taxes or penalties to
25 the Department during the second preceding calendar month. The
26 amount to be paid to each county, and deposited by the county

 

 

SB2147 - 10 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 into its special fund created for the purposes of this Section,
2 shall be the amount (not including credit memoranda) collected
3 under this Section during the second preceding calendar month
4 by the Department plus an amount the Department determines is
5 necessary to offset any amounts that were erroneously paid to a
6 different taxing body, and not including (i) an amount equal to
7 the amount of refunds made during the second preceding calendar
8 month by the Department on behalf of the county and (ii) any
9 amount that the Department determines is necessary to offset
10 any amounts that were payable to a different taxing body but
11 were erroneously paid to the county. Within 10 days after
12 receipt by the Comptroller of the disbursement certification to
13 the counties provided for in this Section to be given to the
14 Comptroller by the Department, the Comptroller shall cause the
15 orders to be drawn for the respective amounts in accordance
16 with directions contained in the certification.
17     In addition to the disbursement required by the preceding
18 paragraph, an allocation shall be made in March of each year to
19 each county that received more than $500,000 in disbursements
20 under the preceding paragraph in the preceding calendar year.
21 The allocation shall be in an amount equal to the average
22 monthly distribution made to each such county under the
23 preceding paragraph during the preceding calendar year
24 (excluding the 2 months of highest receipts). The distribution
25 made in March of each year subsequent to the year in which an
26 allocation was made pursuant to this paragraph and the

 

 

SB2147 - 11 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 preceding paragraph shall be reduced by the amount allocated
2 and disbursed under this paragraph in the preceding calendar
3 year. The Department shall prepare and certify to the
4 Comptroller for disbursement the allocations made in
5 accordance with this paragraph.
6     (d) For the purpose of determining the local governmental
7 unit whose tax is applicable, a retail sale by a producer of
8 coal or another mineral mined in Illinois is a sale at retail
9 at the place where the coal or other mineral mined in Illinois
10 is extracted from the earth. This paragraph does not apply to
11 coal or another mineral when it is delivered or shipped by the
12 seller to the purchaser at a point outside Illinois so that the
13 sale is exempt under the United States Constitution as a sale
14 in interstate or foreign commerce.
15     (e) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to authorize
16 a county to impose a tax upon the privilege of engaging in any
17 business that under the Constitution of the United States may
18 not be made the subject of taxation by this State.
19     (e-5) If a county imposes a tax under this Section, the
20 county board may, by ordinance, discontinue or lower the rate
21 of the tax. If the county board lowers the tax rate or
22 discontinues the tax, a referendum must be held in accordance
23 with subsection (a) of this Section in order to increase the
24 rate of the tax or to reimpose the discontinued tax.
25     (f) Beginning April 1, 1998, the results of any election
26 authorizing a proposition to impose a tax under this Section or

 

 

SB2147 - 12 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 effecting a change in the rate of tax, or any ordinance
2 lowering the rate or discontinuing the tax, shall be certified
3 by the county clerk and filed with the Illinois Department of
4 Revenue either (i) on or before the first day of April,
5 whereupon the Department shall proceed to administer and
6 enforce the tax as of the first day of July next following the
7 filing; or (ii) on or before the first day of October,
8 whereupon the Department shall proceed to administer and
9 enforce the tax as of the first day of January next following
10 the filing.
11     (g) When certifying the amount of a monthly disbursement to
12 a county under this Section, the Department shall increase or
13 decrease the amounts by an amount necessary to offset any
14 miscalculation of previous disbursements. The offset amount
15 shall be the amount erroneously disbursed within the previous 6
16 months from the time a miscalculation is discovered.
17     (h) This Section may be cited as the "Special County
18 Occupation Tax For Public Safety or Transportation Law".
19     (i) For purposes of this Section, "public safety" includes,
20 but is not limited to, crime prevention, detention, fire
21 fighting, police, medical, ambulance, or other emergency
22 services. The county may share tax proceeds received under this
23 Section for public safety purposes, including proceeds
24 received before the effective date of this amendatory Act of
25 the 95th General Assembly, with any fire protection district
26 located in the county. For the purposes of this Section,

 

 

SB2147 - 13 - LRB095 19040 BDD 45220 b

1 "transportation" includes, but is not limited to, the
2 construction, maintenance, operation, and improvement of
3 public highways, any other purpose for which a county may
4 expend funds under the Illinois Highway Code, and passenger
5 rail transportation.
6 (Source: P.A. 94-781, eff. 5-19-06; 95-474, eff. 1-1-08.)
 
7     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
8 becoming law.