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(a) Every telecommunications provider as defined by this chapter shall register with the City within 30 days after the effective date of this chapter or becoming a telecommunications provider, whichever is later, on a form to be provided by the City, provided, however, that any telecommunications retailer that has filed a return pursuant to Section 890.04(c) of this chapter shall be deemed to have registered in accordance with this section.
(b) Every telecommunications provider who has registered with the City pursuant to subsection (a) hereof has an affirmative duty to submit an amended registration form or current return as required by Section 890.04(c), as the case may be, to the City within 30 days from the date of the occurrence of any changes in the information provided by the telecommunications provider in the registration form or most recent return on file with the City.
(Ord. 709. Passed 10-13-97.)
(a) A City telecommunications infrastructure maintenance fee is hereby imposed upon all telecommunications retailers in the amount of two percent of all gross charges charged by the telecommunications retailer to service addresses within the City for telecommunications originating or received in the City.
(b) Upon the effective date of the infrastructure maintenance fee authorized in this chapter, the City infrastructure maintenance fee authorized hereunder shall be the only fee or compensation for the use of all public rights-of-way within the City by telecommunications retailers. Imposition of the infrastructure maintenance fee provided under this chapter does not, however, serve as a limitation on the levying of any taxes or imposition of any fees otherwise authorized by law.
(c) The City telecommunications infrastructure maintenance fee authorized by this section shall be collected, enforced, and administered as set forth in Section 890.04 of this Chapter.
(Ord. 709. Passed 10-13-97; Ord. 783. Passed 9-9-02.)
(a) A telecommunications retailer shall charge to and collect from each customer an additional charge in an amount equal to the City infrastructure maintenance fee attributable to that customer's service address.
(b) Unless otherwise approved by the City Council, the infrastructure maintenance fee shall be remitted by the telecommunications retailer to the City not later than the last day of the month subsequent to the month in which a bill is issued to the customer; provided, however, that the telecommunications retailer may retain an amount not to exceed two percent of the City infrastructure maintenance fee collected by it to reimburse itself for expenses incurred in accounting for and remitting the fee.
(c) Remittance of the City infrastructure maintenance fee to the City shall be accompanied by a return, in a form to be prescribed by the City Council, which shall contain such information as the City Council may reasonably require.
(d) Any infrastructure maintenance fee required to be collected pursuant to this chapter and any such infrastructure maintenance fee collected by such telecommunications retailer shall constitute a debt owed by the telecommunications retailer to the City. The charge imposed under subsection (a) hereof by the telecommunications retailer pursuant to this chapter shall constitute a debt of the purchaser to the telecommunications retailer who provides such services until paid and, if unpaid, is recoverable at law in the same manner as the original charge for such services.
(e) If it shall appear that an amount of infrastructure maintenance fee has been paid that was not due under the provisions of this chapter, whether as a result of a mistake of fact or an error of law, then such amount shall be credited against any infrastructure maintenance fee due, or to become due, under this chapter, from the telecommunications retailer who made the erroneous payment; provided, however, that the City Council may request, and the telecommunications retailer shall provide, written substantiation for such credit. However, no claim for such credit may be made more than three years after the date of the erroneous payment unless the credit is used only to offset a claim of underpayment made by the City within the applicable statutory period of limitations, and the credit derives from an overpayment made by the same telecommunications retailer during the applicable statutory period of limitations.
(f) Amounts paid under this chapter by telecommunications retailers shall not be included in the tax base under any of the following acts:
(1) "Gross charges" for purposes of the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act;
(2) "Gross receipts" for purposes of the municipal utility tax as prescribed in Section 8-11-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code;
(3) "Gross charges" for purposes of the municipal telecommunications tax as prescribed in Section 8-11-17 of the Illinois Municipal Code; and
(4) "Gross revenue" for purposes of the tax on annual gross revenue of public utilities prescribed in Section 2202 of the Public Utilities Act.
(g) The City shall have the right, in its discretion, to audit the books and records of all telecommunications retailers subject to this chapter to determine whether the telecommunications retailer has properly accounted to the City for the City infrastructure maintenance fee. Any underpayment of the amount of the City infrastructure maintenance fee due to the City by the telecommunications retailer shall be paid to the City plus five percent of the total amount of the underpayment determined in an audit, plus any costs incurred by the City in conducting the audit, in an amount not to exceed five percent of the total amount of the underpayment determined in an audit. Said sum shall be paid to the City within twenty-one days after the date of issuance of an invoice for same.
(h) The City Council, or its designee, may promulgate such further or additional regulations concerning the administration and enforcement of this chapter, consistent with its provisions, as may be required from time to time and shall notify all telecommunications retailers that are registered pursuant to Section 890.02 of this chapter of such regulations.
(Ord. 709. Passed 10-13-97.)
Nothing in this chapter shall excuse any person or entity from obligations imposed under any law, including, but not limited to:
(a) Generally applicable taxes;
(b) Standards for construction on, over, under, or within, or the use or repair of, the public rights-of-way, including standards relating to free standing towers and other structures upon the public rights-of-way, as provided;
(c) Any liability imposed for failure to comply with such generally applicable taxes or standards governing construction on, over, under, or within, or the use or repair of, the public rights-of-way; and
(d) Compliance with any ordinance or provision of these Codified Ordinances concerning uses or structures not located on, over, or within the right-of-way.
(Ord. 709. Passed 10-13-97.)
Any franchise, license, or similar agreements between telecommunications retailers and the City entered into before the effective date of this chapter 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.
(Ord. 709. Passed 10-13-97.)
(a) The City hereby waives all fees, charges, and other compensation that may accrue, after the effective date of the waiver, to the City by a telecommunications retailer pursuant to any existing City franchise, license, or similar agreement with a telecommunications retailer during the time the City imposes the telecommunications infrastructure maintenance fee. This waiver shall be effective only during the time the infrastructure maintenance fee provided for in this chapter is subject to being lawfully imposed on the telecommunications retailer and collected by the telecommunications retailer from the customer.
(b) The City Clerk shall send a notice of the waiver by certified mail/return receipt requested to each telecommunications retailer with whom the City has a franchise.
(c) The City infrastructure maintenance fee provided for in this chapter shall become effective and imposed on the first day of the month not less than ninety days after the City provides written notice, by certified mail to each telecommunications retailer with whom the City has an existing franchise, license, or similar agreement, that the City waives all compensation under such existing franchise, license, or similar agreement during such time as the fee is subject to being lawfully imposed and collected by the retailer and remitted to the City. The infrastructure maintenance fee shall apply to gross charges billed on or after the effective date as established in the preceding sentence.
(Ord. 709. Passed 10-13-97.)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: See Section 202.99 for general Code penalty if no specific penalty is provided.)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as limiting any additional or further remedies that the City may have for enforcement of this chapter.
(Ord. 709. Passed 10-13-97.)