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All vehicles owned and operated upon the public ways of the city by the United States government or any agency thereof, or by the State of Illinois or any department thereof, or by any political subdivision, public or municipal corporation of the State of Illinois or any department or other agency of such corporation, or by the American Red Cross, all buses owned and operated by churches in conjunction with the authorized activities of said institutions, and all vehicles registered under Section 3-616 of the Motor Vehicle Law of the State of Illinois, shall be exempt from the vehicle tax. Every exempt vehicle, except those vehicles owned by the City of Chicago which are used by said governmental agencies in confidential or undercover investigatory services or by an officer of any of said agencies as his official car, shall have the name of the owner painted in letters at least one and one-half inches in length in a conspicuous place on the outside of each side of the vehicle; provided, that in lieu of such identification every vehicle which is exempt from payment of the state motor vehicle registration fee, shall have a wheel tax license emblem as provided in Section 3-56-070 of this chapter; and every vehicle owned by the United States government or any agency thereof, which is not identified as herein required, shall have such wheel tax license emblem. All wheel tax license emblems for vehicles exempt from payment of the vehicle tax shall be furnished by the city clerk free of charge.
(Prior code § 29-15; Amend Coun. J. 10-26-77, p. 6108; Amend Coun. J. 12-12-07, p. 16793, § 1)
(a) As used in this section:
"Vehicle tax" means the wheel tax license fee required to be paid under this chapter, including any penalties associated with the fee.
(b) The comptroller shall establish and administer a system whereby the city notifies the Secretary of State of vehicle tax liability and the Secretary of State suspends the registration of vehicles for which the tax has not been paid. The system shall be operated in accordance with Section 3-704.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code. 625 ILCS 5/3-704.1, as amended. The determination of the comptroller that the vehicle owner has failed to pay the vehicle tax as required by this chapter shall be prima facie correct, and the protesting party shall have the burden of proving with books, records and other documentary evidence (including, but not limited to, affidavits submitted by the city clerk, or other affidavits) that the determination is incorrect.
(c) The system shall provide for the following:
(1) The comptroller shall send by first class mail to the vehicle owner at the owner's address recorded with the secretary of state a first notice for failure to pay a vehicle tax whenever the comptroller has reasonable cause to believe that the vehicle owner has failed to pay a vehicle tax as required by this chapter. Such reasonable belief may, but need not be, based upon a report from the city clerk stating that the vehicle tax is delinquent. The notice sent to the owner shall include at least the following:
(A) The name and address of the vehicle owner;
(B) The registration plate number of the vehicle;
(C) The period for which the vehicle tax is due;
(D) The amount of vehicle tax that is due;
(E) A statement that the vehicle owner's registration for the vehicle will be subject to suspension proceedings unless the vehicle owner pays the vehicle tax or successfully contests the owner's alleged liability within 30 days of the date of the notice;
(F) An explanation of the vehicle owner's opportunity to be heard under subsection (d).
(2) If a vehicle owner fails to pay the vehicle tax or to contest successfully the owner's alleged liability within the period specified in the first notice, the comptroller shall send by first class mail to the vehicle owner at the owner's address recorded with the secretary of state a second notice of impending registration suspension. The notice shall contain the same information as the first notice, but shall also state that the failure to pay the amount owing, or to contest successfully the alleged liability within 45 days of the second notice, will result in the city's notification of the secretary of state that the vehicle owner is eligible for the initiation of suspension proceedings under Section 3-704.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
(d) The vehicle owner may file with the comptroller a request for an opportunity to be heard under this subsection. The owner may contest the alleged liability either through an adjudication by mail or at an administrative hearing, at the option of the vehicle owner. The grounds upon which the liability may be contested shall be limited to the following:
(1) The alleged vehicle owner does not own the vehicle.
(2) The vehicle is not subject to the vehicle tax by law.
(3) The vehicle tax for the period in question has been paid.
At an administrative hearing, the formal or technical rules of evidence shall not apply. Evidence may be admitted if it is a type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs. The hearing shall be recorded. The person conducting the hearing shall have the power to administer oaths and to secure by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant documents.
(e) If a vehicle owner who has been sent a first notice of failure to pay a vehicle tax and a second notice of impending failure to pay a vehicle tax and a second notice of impending registration suspension fails to pay the vehicle tax or to contest successfully the vehicle owner's liability within the periods specified in the notices, the comptroller shall cause a certified report to be sent to the Secretary of State pursuant to this subsection. The report, which shall be certified by the comptroller, shall notify the Secretary of State of the vehicle owner's failure to pay the vehicle tax or related penalties, and shall contain the following:
(1) the name, last known address and registration plate number of the vehicle of the person who failed to pay the vehicle tax;
(2) an indication that the report is made by and on behalf of the City of Chicago;
(3) a statement that the city sent notices as required by subsection (c); the date on which the notices were sent; the address to which the notices were sent; and the date of the hearing, if any.
(f) A person named in a certified report filed with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 3-704.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code in accordance with subsection (e) of this section may, within 45 days of the date on the Secretary of State's notice to the person named in the certified report of the possible suspension as required by Section 3-704.1(f) of the Illinois Vehicle Code, file with the comptroller a written statement and provide books, records and other supporting documentation to challenge the certified report. The grounds for challenging the accuracy of the certified report shall be limited to the following:
(1) That the city failed to send notices to the alleged vehicle owner as required by Section 3-704.1(b) of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
(2) That the city failed to indicate the dates on which the notices were sent.
(3) That the city failed to indicate the date of the hearing, if held.
(4) That the alleged vehicle owner did not own the vehicle during the relevant tax period.
(5) That the vehicle is not subject to the vehicle tax by law.
(6) That vehicle tax for the relevant tax period has been paid.
(g) The comptroller shall notify the vehicle owner of the comptroller's decision. The comptroller shall also notify the Secretary of State whenever a person named in a certified report has subsequently paid a vehicle tax or whenever the comptroller determines that the original report was in error. The comptroller shall also give a certified copy of the notification upon request at no additional charge to the person named in the report.
(h) From time to time, the city treasurer and the city comptroller shall reimburse the Secretary of State for the Secretary's expenses in administering the vehicle suspension program as required by Section 3-704.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
(i) Whenever a certified report is sent to the Secretary of State pursuant to this subsection, the comptroller shall assess against the vehicle owner a processing fee to reimburse the city for its expenses. The amount of the processing fee shall be $30.00, plus an amount equal to the amount that the city is required to reimburse the Secretary of State for the Secretary of State's expenses in suspending the vehicle registration of the vehicle owner.
The fee imposed by this subsection shall be imposed only if the vehicle owner's registration is suspended.
(Added Coun. J. 8-4-93, p. 36336; Amend Coun. J. 6-10-96, p. 22858; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. I, § 3)
(a) Any person who shall take, destroy, remove or obliterate any wheel tax license emblem provided for in this chapter, without the consent of the owner of the vehicle, shall be fined not less than $25.00 nor more than $200.00 for each offense. Every such wrongful destruction, obliteration or removal of such wheel tax license emblem from any vehicle shall be considered a separate offense.
(b) Any person who fails to pay the wheel tax license fee imposed by this chapter or to display the wheel tax license emblem as required by this chapter shall be fined the vehicle-weight-based amount applicable to a violation of Section 9-64-125 for failure to display the wheel tax license emblem.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, where the penalty is not otherwise herein provided for, shall be fined not less than $5.00 nor more than $100.00 for each offense. A separate and distinct offense shall be considered as committed for each and every day any vehicle is used upon the public ways of the city without having procured a license and without having complied with the provisions of this chapter. There shall be a presumption that a vehicle in a location that is accessible only from the public way has been used upon the public way to arrive at such location.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, persons who reside in the city, register their motor vehicle at a location outside the city and fail to pay the license tax fee imposed by this chapter shall be fined not less than $300.00 nor more than $1,000.00.
(Prior code § 29-17; Amend Coun. J. 2-4-92, p. 12811; Amend Coun. J. 11-10-94, p. 59125; Amend Coun. J. 7-9-03, p. 3280, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-12-07, p. 16793, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 7-28-11, p. 5048, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. I, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 14596, Art. IV, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 2-15-12, p. 20533, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-10-13, p. 51189, § 9; Amend Coun. J. 4-30-14, p. 79724, § 2)
No person shall operate or park on the public way any vehicle bearing a counterfeit wheel tax license emblem. For purposes of this section, a "counterfeit wheel tax license emblem" shall mean an emblem not prepared by, or at the direction of, the City Clerk. The operator of such vehicle shall be liable to the City for an administrative penalty of $500.
(Added Coun. J. 12-12-07, p. 17518, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 14596, Art. I, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 10-28-15, p. 11951, Art. III, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 7-22-20, p. 18957, § 2)
The city clerk is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the requirements of this chapter. This chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder may be enforced by designated employees of the office of the city clerk or by members of the police department. The city clerk shall (1) post on the city clerk's website any rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter; (2) keep a printed copy of such rules and regulations on file in the office of the city clerk; and (3) make such rules and regulations available for public inspection and copying during normal business hours.
(Added Coun. J. 4-10-13, p. 51189, § 10; Amend Coun. J. 7-30-14, p. 85534, § 3)