IL Code pertaining to County Schools Facility Tax

    Sec. 5-1006.7. School facility occupation taxes.

    (a) In any county, a tax shall be imposed 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 school facility purposes 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 as provided in subsection (c). The tax under this Section shall be imposed only in one-quarter percent increments and may not exceed 1%.

    This additional tax may not be imposed on the sale 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 that 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 Department of Revenue has full power to administer and enforce this subsection, to collect all taxes and penalties due under this subsection, to dispose of taxes and penalties so collected in the manner provided in this subsection, and to determine all rights to credit memoranda arising on account of the erroneous payment of a tax or penalty under this subsection. The Department shall deposit all taxes and penalties collected under this subsection into a special fund created for that purpose.

    In the administration of and compliance with this subsection, the Department and persons who are subject to this subsection (i) have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers, and duties, (ii) are subject to the same conditions, restrictions, limitations, penalties, and definitions of terms, and (iii) shall employ the same modes of procedure as are set forth in Sections 1 through 1o, 2 through 2-70 (in respect to all provisions contained in those Sections other than the State rate of tax), 2a through 2h, 3 (except as to the disposition of taxes and penalties collected), 4, 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, 5h, 5i, 5j, 5k, 5l, 6, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 11a, 12, and 13 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act and all provisions of the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act as if those provisions were set forth in this subsection.

    The certificate of registration that is issued by the Department to a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act permits the retailer to engage in a business that is taxable without registering separately with the Department under an ordinance or resolution under this subsection.

    Persons subject to any tax imposed under the authority granted in this subsection may reimburse themselves for their seller's tax liability by separately stating that tax as an additional charge, which may be stated in combination, in a single amount, with State tax that sellers are required to collect under the Use Tax Act, pursuant to any bracketed schedules set forth by the Department.

    (b) If a tax has been imposed under subsection (a), then a service occupation tax must 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 and deposited into a special fund created for that purpose. The Department has full power to administer and enforce this subsection, to collect all taxes and penalties due under this subsection, to dispose of taxes and penalties so collected in the manner provided in this subsection, and to determine all rights to credit memoranda arising on account of the erroneous payment of a tax or penalty under this subsection.

    In the administration of and compliance with this subsection, the Department and persons who are subject to this subsection shall (i) have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers and duties, (ii) be subject to the same conditions, restrictions, limitations, penalties and definition of terms, and (iii) employ the same modes of procedure as are set forth in Sections 2 (except that that reference to State in the definition of supplier maintaining a place of business in this State means the county), 2a through 2d, 3 through 3-50 (in respect to all provisions contained in those Sections 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 is a debt to the extent indicated in that Section 8 is 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 means the county), Section 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 of the Service Occupation Tax Act and all provisions 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 may be stated in combination, in a single amount, with State tax that servicemen are authorized to collect under the Service Use Tax Act, pursuant to any bracketed schedules set forth by the Department.

    (c) The tax under this Section may not be imposed until the question of imposing the tax has been submitted to the electors of the county at a regular election and approved by a majority of the electors voting on the question. For all regular elections held prior to August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542), upon a resolution by the county board or a resolution by school district boards that represent at least 51% of the student enrollment within the county, the county board must certify the question to the proper election authority in accordance with the Election Code.

    For all regular elections held prior to August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542), the election authority must submit the question in substantially the following form:

        Shall (name of county) be authorized to impose a

retailers' occupation tax and a service occupation tax (commonly referred to as a "sales tax") at a rate of (insert rate) to be used exclusively for school facility purposes?

The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".

    If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote in the affirmative, then the county may, thereafter, impose the tax.

    For all regular elections held on or after August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542), the regional superintendent of schools for the county must, upon receipt of a resolution or resolutions of school district boards that represent more than 50% of the student enrollment within the county, certify the question to the proper election authority for submission to the electors of the county at the next regular election at which the question lawfully may be submitted to the electors, all in accordance with the Election Code.

    For all regular elections held on or after August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542), the election authority must submit the question in substantially the following form:

        Shall a retailers' occupation tax and a service

occupation tax (commonly referred to as a "sales tax") be imposed in (name of county) at a rate of (insert rate) to be used exclusively for school facility purposes?

The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".

    If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote in the affirmative, then the tax shall be imposed at the rate set forth in the question. 

    For the purposes of this subsection (c), "enrollment" means the head count of the students residing in the county on the last school day of September of each year, which must be reported on the Illinois State Board of Education Public School Fall Enrollment/Housing Report. 

    (d) 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 School Facility Occupation Tax Fund, which shall be an unappropriated trust fund held outside 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 regional superintendents of schools in counties from which retailers or servicemen have paid taxes or penalties to the Department during the second preceding calendar month. The amount to be paid to each regional superintendent of schools and disbursed to him or her in accordance with Section 3-14.31 of the School Code, is equal to the amount (not including credit memoranda) collected from the county under this Section during the second preceding calendar month by the Department, (i) less 2% of that amount, which shall be deposited into the Tax Compliance and Administration Fund and shall be used by the Department, subject to appropriation, to cover the costs of the Department in administering and enforcing the provisions of this Section, on behalf of the county, (ii) plus an amount that the Department determines is necessary to offset any amounts that were erroneously paid to a different taxing body; (iii) less an amount equal to the amount of refunds made during the second preceding calendar month by the Department on behalf of the county; and (iv) less 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. When certifying the amount of a monthly disbursement to a regional superintendent of schools under this Section, the Department shall increase or decrease the amounts by an amount necessary to offset any miscalculation of previous disbursements within the previous 6 months from the time a miscalculation is discovered.

    Within 10 days after receipt by the Comptroller from the Department of the disbursement certification to the regional superintendents of the schools provided for in this Section, the Comptroller shall cause the orders to be drawn for the respective amounts in accordance with directions contained in the certification.

    If the Department determines that a refund should be made under this Section to a claimant instead of issuing a credit memorandum, then the Department shall notify the 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 Treasurer out of the School Facility Occupation Tax Fund. 

    (e) For the purposes 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 subsection 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.

    (f) Nothing in this Section may be construed to authorize a tax to be imposed 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.

    (g) If a county board imposes a tax under this Section pursuant to a referendum held before August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542) at a rate below the rate set forth in the question approved by a majority of electors of that county voting on the question as provided in subsection (c), then the county board may, by ordinance, increase the rate of the tax up to the rate set forth in the question approved by a majority of electors of that county voting on the question as provided in subsection (c). If a county board imposes a tax under this Section pursuant to a referendum held before August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542), then the board may, by ordinance, discontinue or reduce the rate of the tax. If a tax is imposed under this Section pursuant to a referendum held on or after August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542), then the county board may reduce or discontinue the tax, but only in accordance with subsection (h-5) of this Section. If, however, a school board issues bonds that are secured by the proceeds of the tax under this Section, then the county board may not reduce the tax rate or discontinue the tax if that rate reduction or discontinuance would adversely affect the school board's ability to pay the principal and interest on those bonds as they become due or necessitate the extension of additional property taxes to pay the principal and interest on those bonds. If the county board reduces the tax rate or discontinues the tax, then a referendum must be held in accordance with subsection (c) of this Section in order to increase the rate of the tax or to reimpose the discontinued tax. 

    Until January 1, 2014, the results of any election that imposes, reduces, or discontinues a tax under this Section must be certified by the election authority, and any ordinance that increases or lowers the rate or discontinues the tax must be certified by the county clerk and, in each case, 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 or change in the rate 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 or change in the rate as of the first day of January next following the filing.

    Beginning January 1, 2014, the results of any election that imposes, reduces, or discontinues a tax under this Section must be certified by the election authority, and any ordinance that increases or lowers the rate or discontinues the tax must be certified by the county clerk and, in each case, filed with the Illinois Department of Revenue either (i) on or before the first day of May, whereupon the Department shall proceed to administer and enforce the tax or change in the rate 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 or change in the rate as of the first day of January next following the filing. 

    (h) For purposes of this Section, "school facility purposes" means (i) 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 capital facilities and (ii) the payment of bonds or other obligations heretofore or hereafter issued, including bonds or other obligations heretofore or hereafter issued to refund or to continue to refund bonds or other obligations issued, for school facility purposes, provided that the taxes levied to pay those bonds are abated by the amount of the taxes imposed under this Section that are used to pay those bonds. "School-facility purposes" also includes fire prevention, safety, energy conservation, accessibility, school security, and specified repair purposes set forth under Section 17-2.11 of the School Code.

    (h-5) A county board in a county where a tax has been imposed under this Section pursuant to a referendum held on or after August 23, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-542) may, by ordinance or resolution, submit to the voters of the county the question of reducing or discontinuing the tax. In the ordinance or resolution, the county board shall certify the question to the proper election authority in accordance with the Election Code. The election authority must submit the question in substantially the following form:

        Shall the school facility retailers' occupation tax

and service occupation tax (commonly referred to as the "school facility sales tax") currently imposed in (name of county) at a rate of (insert rate) be (reduced to (insert rate))(discontinued)?

If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote in the affirmative, then, subject to the provisions of subsection (g) of this Section, the tax shall be reduced or discontinued as set forth in the question. 

    (i) This Section does not apply to Cook County.

    (j) This Section may be cited as the County School Facility Occupation Tax Law. 

(Source: P.A. 98-584, eff. 8-27-13; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-217, eff. 7-31-15; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)