50 ILCS 750/20

(50 ILCS 750/20)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2027)

Sec. 20. Statewide surcharge.

(a) On and after January 1, 2016, and except with respect to those customers who are subject to surcharges as provided in Section 15.3 of this Act, a monthly surcharge shall be imposed on all customers of telecommunications carriers and wireless carriers as follows:

(1) Each telecommunications carrier shall impose a monthly surcharge per network connection; provided, however, the monthly surcharge shall not apply to a network connection provided for use with pay telephone services. Until December 31, 2017, the surcharge shall be $0.87 per network connection and on and after January 1, 2018, the surcharge shall be $1.50 per network connection.

(1.5) For an advanced service, the surcharge is based on the number of concurrent voice paths. As used in this paragraph, "concurrent voice paths or trunk lines" means the largest number of calls that can dial to 9-1-1 from a single location. The telecommunications carrier collecting the surcharge shall impose surcharges in accordance with the table provided in this Section, without limiting any telecommunications carrier's obligations to otherwise keep and maintain records. Any telecommunications carrier electing to impose fewer than 5 surcharges per advanced service provisioned path or shall keep and maintain records adequately to demonstrate the VGC capability of each advanced service provisioned path or with fewer than 5 surcharges imposed, provided that 20 surcharges shall be imposed on an advanced service provisioned voice paths or trunk lines regardless of the VGC capability where a telecommunications carrier cannot demonstrate the VGC capability of the advanced service provisioned voice paths or trunk lines. The VGC 9-1-1 surcharges shall be assessed as follows:

(A) for up to 10 VGC voice paths or trunk lines, no more than 5 surcharges;

(B) for up to 50 VGC voice paths or trunk lines, no more than 20 surcharges; and

(C) for over 50 VGC voice patch or trunk lines, no more than 20% of the lines that have surcharges.

(2) (Blank).

(a-5) For purposes of computing the surcharge imposed by this Section, the network connections to which the surcharge shall apply shall be those in-service network connections, other than those network connections assigned to the municipality or county, where the service address for each network connection is located within the corporate limits of the State levying the surcharge. Except for mobile telecommunication services, the "service address" shall mean the location of the primary use of the network connection or connections. For mobile telecommunication services, "service address" means the customer's place of primary use as defined in the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Conformity Act.

(b) (Blank).

(b-5) The surcharges imposed by this Section shall be stated as separate items on subscriber bills.

(b-10) The telecommunications carrier collecting the surcharge may deduct and retain 1.74% of the gross amount of surcharge collected in order to reimburse the telecommunications carrier for the expense of accounting and collecting the surcharge.

(c) The surcharges authorized by this Section shall be collected from the subscriber by the telecommunications carrier providing the subscriber with the network connection as a separately stated item on the subscriber's bill.

(d) The amount of the surcharge collected by the telecommunications carrier shall be paid to the State not later than 30 days after the surcharge is collected, net of any network or other 9-1-1 or sophisticated 9-1-1 system charges then due the particular telecommunications carrier, as shown on an itemized bill. The telecommunications carrier collecting the surcharge shall also be entitled to deduct 1.74% of the gross amount of the surcharge collected in order to reimburse the telecommunications carrier for the expense of accounting and collecting the surcharge.

Each wireless carrier shall impose and collect a monthly surcharge per CMRS connection that has a telephone number with a primary place of use within this State. After January 1, 2018, the surcharge shall be $1.50 per connection.

(d-5) (Blank).

(e) Surcharges imposed under this Section shall be collected by the carriers and shall be remitted to the Illinois State Police by the payment method set by the Illinois State Treasurer's Office. All payments less than $100,000 must be made electronically per the instructions given by the Illinois State Treasurer's Office and the Illinois State Police. Surcharge payments are due by the end of the next calendar month after the calendar month in which they were collected for deposit into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. Carriers are not required to remit surcharges that are billed to subscribers but not yet collected. Monthly remittances by wireless carriers shall include the number of subscribers by 5-digit zip code. A carrier that fails to provide the zip code information required under this subsection (e) shall be subject to the penalty set forth in subsection (g) of this Section.

(e-5) The first remittance by wireless carriers shall include the number of subscribers by the 5-digit zip code and shall be the means by which the Illinois State Police determines distributions from the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. This information shall be updated monthly based on the subscriber's PPU and should not be a post office box. Any carrier that fails to provide the zip code information required under this subsection (e) shall be subject to the penalty set forth in subsection (g) of this Section.

(f) If, within 8 calendar days after it is due under subsection (e) of this Section, a carrier does not remit the surcharge or any portion thereof required under this Section, then the surcharge or portion thereof shall be deemed delinquent until paid in full, and the Illinois State Police may impose a penalty against the carrier in an amount equal to the greater of:

(1) $25 for each month or portion of a month from the time an amount becomes delinquent until the amount is paid in full; or

(2) an amount equal to the product of 1% and the sum of all delinquent amounts for each month or portion of a month that the delinquent amounts remain unpaid.

A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (f) for a portion of a month during which the carrier pays the delinquent amount in full shall be prorated for each day of that month that the delinquent amount was paid in full. Any penalty imposed under this subsection (f) is in addition to the amount of the delinquency and is in addition to any other penalty imposed under this Section.

(g) If, within 8 calendar days after it is due, a wireless carrier does not provide the number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (e) of this Section, then the report is deemed delinquent and the Illinois State Police may impose a penalty against the carrier in an amount equal to the greater of:

(1) $25 for each month or portion of a month that the report is delinquent; or

(2) an amount equal to the product of $0.01 and the number of subscribers served by the carrier for each month or portion of a month that the delinquent report is not provided.

A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (g) for a portion of a month during which the carrier provides the number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (e) of this Section shall be prorated for each day of that month during which the carrier had not provided the number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (e) of this Section. Any penalty imposed under this subsection (g) is in addition to any other penalty imposed under this Section.

(h) A penalty imposed and collected in accordance with subsection (f) or (g) of this Section shall be deposited into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund for distribution according to Section 30 of this Act.

(i) The Illinois State Police may enforce the collection of any delinquent amount and any penalty due and unpaid under this Section by legal action or in any other manner by which the collection of debts due the State of Illinois may be enforced under the laws of this State. The Illinois State Police may excuse the payment of any penalty imposed under this Section if the Administrator determines that the enforcement of this penalty is unjust.

(j) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, nothing shall impair the right of wireless carriers to recover unreimbursed compliance costs for all emergency communications services directly from their wireless subscribers by line-item charges on the wireless subscriber's bill. Those compliance costs include all costs incurred by wireless carriers in complying with local, State, and federal regulatory or legislative mandates that require the transmission and receipt of emergency communications to and from the general public, including, but not limited to, NG9-1-1.

(Source: P.A. 103-366, eff. 1-1-24; 104-204, eff. 8-15-25.)