As used in this article, the following terms
have the following meanings:
GROSS CHARGES
The amount paid to a telecommunications retailer for the
act or privilege of originating or receiving telecommunications within
the City, and for all services rendered in connection therewith, valued
in money whether paid in money or otherwise, including cash, credits,
services, and property of every kind or nature, and shall be determined
without any deduction on account of the cost of such telecommunications,
the cost of the materials used, labor or service costs, or any other
expense whatsoever. In case credit is extended, the amount thereof
shall be included only as and when paid. Gross charges for private
line service thereof shall include charges imposed at each channel
point within the City, and charges for that portion of the interstate
interoffice channel provided within the City. However, gross charges
shall not include:
A.
Any amounts added to a purchaser's bill because
of a charge made under:
[Amended 6-14-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-4]
(1)
The fee imposed by this article;
(2)
Additional charges added to a purchaser's bill under Section
9-221 or 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act;
(3)
The tax imposed by the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act;
(5)
The tax imposed by Section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code;
or
(6)
Any similar charges added to customers' bills by retailers who
are not subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission
for the purpose of recovering any of the tax liabilities or other
amounts specified in those provisions of the Public Utilities Act
B.
Charges for a sent collect telecommunication
received outside the City;
C.
Charges for leased time on equipment or charges
for the storage of data information or subsequent retrieval or the
processing of data or information intended to change its form or content.
Such equipment includes, but is not limited to, the use of calculators,
computers, data processing equipment, tabulating equipment, or accounting
equipment and also includes the usage of computers under a time-sharing
agreement;
D.
Charges for customer equipment, including such
equipment that is leased or rented by the customer from any source,
wherein such charges are desegregated and separately identified from
other charges;
E.
Charges to business enterprises certified under
Section 9-222.1 of the Public Utilities Act to the extent of such exemption and during the period
of time specified by the City;
F.
Charges for telecommunications and all services
and equipment provided in connection therewith between a parent corporation
and its wholly owned subsidiaries or between wholly owned subsidiaries,
and only to the extent that the charges between the parent corporation
and wholly owned subsidiaries or between wholly owned subsidiaries
represent expense allocation between the corporations and not the
generation of profit other than a regulatory required profit for the
corporation rendering such services;
G.
Bad debts ("Bad debt" means any portion of a
debt that is related to a sale at retail for which gross charges are
not otherwise deductible or excludable that has become worthless or
uncollectible, as determined under applicable federal income tax standards;
if the portion of the debt deemed to be bad is subsequently paid,
the retailer shall report and pay the tax on that portion during the
reporting period in which the payment is made.);
H.
Charges paid by inserting coins in coin-operated
telecommunications devices;
I.
Charges for telecommunications and all services
and equipment provided to the City; or
J.
Amounts paid by the telecommunications retailers under the Telecommunications
Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Act (35 ILCS 635/1 et seq.).
K.
Charges for nontaxable services or telecommunications if (i)
those charges are aggregated with other charges for telecommunications
that are taxable, (ii) those charges are not separately stated on
the customer bill or invoice, and (iii) the retailer can reasonably
identify the nontaxable charges on the retailer's books and records
kept in the regular course of business. If the nontaxable charges
cannot reasonably be identified, the gross charge from the sale of
both taxable and nontaxable services or telecommunications billed
on a combined basis shall be attributed to the taxable services or
telecommunications. The burden of proving nontaxable charges shall
be on the retailer of the telecommunications.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any municipal street, alley, water or public right-of-way
dedicated or commonly used for utility purposes, including utility
easements wherein the City has acquired the right and authority to
locate or permit the location of utilities consistent with telecommunication
facilities. "Public right-of-way" shall not include any real or personal
City property that is not specifically described in the previous sentence
and shall not include City buildings and other structures or improvements,
regardless of whether they are situated in the public right-of-way.
RETAILER MAINTAINING A PLACE OF BUSINESS IN THIS STATE
Includes any like term and means and includes any retailer
having or maintaining within the State of Illinois, directly or by
a subsidiary, an office, distribution facilities, transmission facilities,
sales office, warehouse, or other place of business, or any agent
or other representative operating within this state under the authority
of the retailer or its subsidiary, irrespective of whether such place
of business or agent or other representative is located here permanently
or temporarily, or whether such retailer or subsidiary is licensed
to do business in this state.
SALE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS AT RETAIL
The transmitting, supplying, or furnishing of telecommunications
and all services rendered in connection therewith for a consideration,
other than between a parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries
or between wholly owned subsidiaries, when the gross charge made by
one such corporation to another such corporation is not greater than
the gross charge paid to the retailer for its use or consumption and
not for sale.
SERVICE ADDRESS
The location of telecommunications equipment from which telecommunications
services are originated or at which telecommunications services are
received. If this is not a defined location, as in the case of wireless
telecommunications, paging systems and maritime systems, "service
address" shall mean the customer's place of primary use as defined
in the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Conformity Act (35 ILCS
638/1 et seq.). For air-to-ground systems and the like, 'service address'
shall mean the location of the customer's primary use of the telecommunications
as defined by the location in Illinois where bills are sent.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Includes, but is not limited to, messages or information
transmitted through use of local, toll, and wide-area telephone service,
channel services, telegraph services, teletypewriter service, computer
exchange services, private line services, specialized mobile radio
services, or any other transmission of messages or information by
electronic or similar means, between or among points by wire, cable,
fiber optics, laser, microwave, radio satellite, or similar facilities.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, "telecommunications"
shall not include value-added services in which computer processing
applications are used to act on the form, content, code, and protocol
of the information for purposes other than transmission. "Telecommunications"
shall not include purchase of telecommunication by a telecommunications
service provider for use as a component part of the service provided
by him/her to the ultimate retail consumer who originates or terminates
the taxable end-to-end communications. Carrier access charges, right-of-access
charges, charges for use of intercompany facilities, and all telecommunications
resold in the subsequent provision and used as a component of, or
integrated into, end-to-end telecommunications service shall not be
included in gross charges as sales for resale. "Telecommunications"
shall not include the provision of cable services through a cable
system as defined in the Cable Communications Act of 1984 (47 U.S.C.
Sections 521 and following) as now or hereafter amended or cable or
other programming services subject to an open video system fee payable
to the City through an open video system as defined in the Rules of
the Federal Communications Commission (47 C.D.F. 76.1550 and following)
as now or hereafter amended. Prepaid telephone calling arrangements
shall not be considered "telecommunications" subject to the tax imposed
under this article. For purposes of this definition, "prepaid telephone
calling arrangements" means that term as defined in 35 ILCS 120/2-27
of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER
A.
Any telecommunications retailer; and
B.
Any person that is not a telecommunications retailer that installs,
owns, operates or controls equipment in the public right-of-way that
is used or designed to be used to transmit telecommunications in any
form.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS RETAILER or RETAILER or CARRIER
Includes every person engaged in the business of making sales
of telecommunications at retail as defined in this article. The City
may, in its discretion, upon application, authorize the collection
of the fee hereby imposed by any retailer not maintaining a place
of business within this state, who, to the satisfaction of the City,
furnishes adequate security to ensure collection and payment of the
fee. When so authorized, it shall be the duty of such retailer to
pay the fee upon all of the gross charges for telecommunications in
the same manner and subject to the same requirements as a retailer
maintaining a place of business within the City.
WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Includes cellular mobile telephone services, personal wireless
services as defined in Section 704(C) of the Telecommunication Act
of 1996 (Public Law No. 104-104), 42 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7),
as now or hereafter amended, including all commercial mobile radio
services, and paging services.
Nothing in this article shall excuse any person
or entity from obligations imposed under any law, including, but not
limited to:
A. Generally applicable taxes; and
B. Standards for construction on, over, under, or within,
use of or repair of the public rights-of-way, including standards
relating to freestanding towers and other structures upon the public
rights-of-way, as provided; and
C. Any liability imposed for the failure to comply with
such generally applicable taxes or standards governing construction
on, over, under, or within, use of or repair of the public rights-of-way,
as provided; and
D. Compliance with any ordinance or provision of this
article concerning uses or structures not located on, over or within
the right-of-way.
Any franchise, license, or similar agreements
between telecommunications retailers and the City entered into before
the effective date of this article regarding the use of public rights-of-way
shall remain valid according to and for their stated terms except
for any fees, charges or other compensation to the extent waived.
Any telecommunications provider who violates,
disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with any of the provisions
of this article shall be subject to a fine in an amount not to exceed
$750 for each offense.
Nothing in this article shall be construed as
limiting any additional or further remedies that the City may have
for enforcement of this article.