[Adopted 11-3-1998 by Ord. No. 412; amended in its entirety 12-15-1998 by Ord. No. 414]
The Village of Granville, a municipality with a population of
less than 500,000, hereby imposes an infrastructure maintenance fee
upon all telecommunications retailers providing services within the
municipal limits of the Village, Putnam County, Illinois. This fee
is adopted pursuant to the provisions of the Illinois Telecommunications
Municipal Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Act, Public Act 90-154 (the
"Act"; 35 ILCS 635/1 et seq.).
The tax imposed shall be 1% of all gross charges charged by
all telecommunications retailers to service addresses within the municipal
limits of the Village, for telecommunications originating or received
in the municipality.
This article is intended to create a uniform system for the
collection of fees associated with the privilege of using Village
rights-of-way and other public rights-of-way for telecommunications
activity within the municipal boundaries of the Village, including
the recovery of reasonable costs for regulating the use of all public
rights-of-way within its municipal boundaries for telecommunications
activity.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
GROSS CHARGE
The amount paid to a telecommunications retailer for the
act or privilege of originating or receiving telecommunications within
the Village, 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.
A.
Gross charges for private line service shall include charges
imposed at each channel termination point within the Village, charges
for the channel mileage between each channel termination point within
the Village, and charges for that portion of the interstate inter-office
channel provided within the Village. However, gross charges shall
not include:
(1)
Any amounts added to a purchaser's bill because of a charge
made under:
(a)
The fee imposed by this article;
(b)
Additional charges added to a purchaser's bill under Section
9-221 or 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/9-221 and 5/9-222);
(c)
The tax imposed by the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act (935
ILCS 630/1 et seq.);
(e)
The tax imposed by Section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code.
(2)
Charges for a sent collect telecommunication received outside
the Village.
(3)
Charges for leased time on equipment or charges for the storage
of data or 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.
(4)
Charges for customer equipment, including such equipment that
is leased or rented by the customer from any source, wherein such
charges are disaggregated and separately identified from other charges.
(5)
Charges to business enterprises certified under Section 9-222.1
of the Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/9-222.1) to the extent of
such exemption and during the period of time specified by the Village.
(6)
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.
(7)
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.)
(8)
Charges paid by inserting coins in coin-operated telecommunications
devices.
(9)
Charges for telecommunications and all services and equipment
provided to the Village.
(10)
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.
B.
Charges for that portion of the interstate inter-office channel
provided in the Village shall be determined by the retailer as follows:
(1)
For interstate inter-office channels having two channel termination
points, only one of which is in the Village, 50% of the total charge
imposed;
(2)
For interstate inter-office channels having more than two channel
termination points, one or more of which are in the Village, an amount
equal to the total charge multiplied by a fraction, the numerator
of which is the number of channel termination points within the Village
and the denominator of which is the total number of channel termination
points; or
(3)
Any other method that reasonably apportions the total charges
for interstate inter-office channels among the states in which channel
termination points are located.
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 Village has acquired the right and authority
to locate or permit the location of utilities consistent with telecommunications
facilities. "Public right-of-way" shall not include any real or personal
Village property that is not specifically described in the previous
sentence and shall not include Village 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 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 of 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, maritime systems, air-to-ground
systems, and the like, "service address" shall mean the location of
the customer's 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 equipment
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 also include wireless telecommunications as hereinafter defined.
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 telecommunications
by a telecommunications service provider for use as a component part
of the service provided by him or her to the ultimate retail consumer
who originates or terminates the end-to-end communications. Retailer
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. § 521 et seq.), as now or hereafter amended,
or cable or other programming services subject to an open video system
fee payable to the Village through an open video system as defined
in the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission (47 CFR 76.1500
et seq.), 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 Section 2-27 of
the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (35 ILCS 120/2-27).
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 section. The Village
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 Village,
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 Village.
WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Includes cellular mobile telephone services, personal wireless
services as defined in Section 704(C) of the Telecommunications 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; and
D. Compliance with any article or provision of this Code 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 Village 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 penalties as set forth in Chapter
1, Article
III, of the Village Code.
Nothing in this article shall be construed as limiting any additional
or further remedies that the Village may have for enforcement of this
article.