A. Short Title: This section shall be known and may be cited as the CITY OF NORTHLAKE UTILITY TAX RELIEF ORDINANCE.
B. Purpose: The purpose of this section is to provide grants to senior citizens, disabled persons and other residents of the city with limited income to relieve those citizens from the burdens of utility taxes against their restricted earning power.
C. Definitions: As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them as follows:
CITY: The city of Northlake, Cook County, Illinois.
CLAIMANT: An individual who has filed a claim under this section.
HOUSEHOLD: A claimant or a claimant and his spouse living together in the same residence.
HOUSEHOLD INCOME: The combined income of the members of a household.
INCOME: Adjusted gross income, properly reportable for federal income tax purposes under the provisions of the internal revenue code, modified by adding thereto the sum of the following amounts to the extent deducted or excluded from gross income in the computation of adjusted gross income:
1. An amount equal to all amounts paid or accrued as interest or dividends during the taxable year;
2. An amount equal to all amounts received during the taxable year as an annuity under an annuity, endowment or life insurance contract or under any other contract or agreement;
3. An amount equal to the amount of benefits paid under the federal social security act during the taxable year;
4. An amount equal to the amount of benefits paid under the railroad retirement act during the taxable year;
5. An amount equal to the total amount of cash public assistance payments received from any governmental agency during the taxable year.
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE: The United States internal revenue code of 1954, or any successor law or laws relating to federal income taxes in effect for the year.
MUNICIPAL UTILITY TAX: The tax imposed and passed on to consumers of utilities pursuant to 65 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/8-11-2.
RESIDENCE: The principal dwelling place occupied in this city by a household and so much of the surrounding land as is reasonably necessary for use of the dwelling as a home and includes rental property, mobile homes, single- family dwellings and units in multi-family, multi- dwelling or multi-purpose buildings. If the assessor has established a specific legal description for a portion of a property constituting the residence, then that portion of property shall be deemed "residence" for the purposes of this section.
TAXABLE YEAR: The calendar year during which municipal utility taxes became due and payable by the consumer of the utility. (Ord. O-14-90, 3-5-1990)
D. Amount Of Grant:
1. Qualifications To Receive Grant: Any individual whose annual household income is less than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) and whose household is liable for payment of municipal utility taxes and is domiciled in this city at the time he files his claim is entitled to claim a grant under this section.
2. Limitation: The amount of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim for relief from municipal utility taxes which were paid or payable during the last preceding tax year are as follows:
Income
|
Amount Of Grant
|
Under $10,000.00 | 100 percent of municipal utility taxes |
$10,001.00 – $14,000.00 | The greater of $25.00 or 75 percent of municipal utility taxes |
$14,001.00 – $17,000.00 | The greater of $25.00 or 50 percent of municipal utility taxes |
$17,001.00 – $20,000.00 | The greater of $25.00 or 25 percent of municipal utility taxes |
If a claimant has occupied more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim only one residence for any part of a month.
E. Procedures:
1. Filing Claims:
a. Claims for the taxable year must be filed between January 1 and May 1 of the following year on forms prescribed by the city. (Ord. O-08-2001, 2-5-2001)
b. The right to file a claim under this section shall be personal to the claimant and shall not survive his death, but such right may be exercised on behalf of a claimant by his legal guardian or attorney-in-fact. If a claimant dies after having filed a timely claim, the amount thereof shall be disbursed to his surviving spouse or, if no spouse survives, to his surviving dependent minor children in equal parts, provided the spouse or child, as the case may be, resided with the claimant at the time he filed his claim. If, at the time of disbursement, neither the claimant nor his spouse is surviving and no dependent minor children of the claimant are surviving, the amount of the claim shall escheat to the city.
c. Only one member of a household may file a claim under this section in any calendar year; where both members of a household are otherwise entitled to claim a grant under this section, they must agree as to which of them will file a claim for that year. (Ord. O-14-90, 3-5-1990)
2. Approval Or Denial Of Claims:
a. Upon receipt of a timely filed claim, the finance director shall determine whether the claimant is a person entitled to a grant under this section and the amount of grant to which he is entitled hereunder. The city may require the claimant to furnish reasonable proof of the statement of domicile, household income, municipal utility taxes paid and other matters on which entitlement is based and may withhold payment of a grant until such additional proof is furnished. (Ord. O-14-90, 3-5-1990; amd. Ord. O-01-92, 1-20-1992; Ord. O-20-99, 12-6-1999)
b. The finance director shall deny claims which have been fraudulently prepared or when he finds that the claimant has acquired title to his residence or has paid utilities for his residence primarily for the purposes of receiving a grant under this section. All applicants shall provide satisfactory proof of residency and occupancy. (Ord. O-08-2001, 2-5-2001)
c. The finance director shall order the payment from appropriations made for that purpose of grants to claimants under this section in the amounts to which the finance director has determined they are entitled. If a claim is denied, the finance director shall cause written notice of that denial and the reasons for that denial to be sent to the claimant. (Ord. O-14-90, 3-5-1990; amd. Ord. O-01-92, 1-20-1992; Ord. O-20-99, 12-6-1999)
3. Appeals:
a. Any claimant aggrieved by the action of the finance director under this section, whether in the reduction of the amount of grant claimed or in the denial of the claim, may request, in writing, that the finance director reconsider his prior determination, setting out the facts on which his request is based. The finance director shall consider the request and either modify or affirm his prior determination.
b. The decision of the finance director to affirm his prior determination or the failure of the finance director to act on a request for reconsideration within sixty (60) days may be appealed to the city council for review. The city council shall consider the appeal and either modify or affirm the finance director's prior recommendation. (Ord. O-14-90, 3-5-1990; amd. 1992 Code; Ord. O-20-99, 12-6-1999)
F. Records, Information And Compliance: Every claimant of a grant under this section shall keep such records, render such statements, file such forms and comply with such rules and regulations as the city may from time to time prescribe.
All information received by the city from claims filed under this section or from any investigation conducted under the provisions of this section shall be confidential, except for official purposes within the city pursuant to the "Freedom of Information Act", 5 Illinois Compiled Statutes 140/7A and 7B.
Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the city from publishing or making available reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the grant programs contained herein wherein the contents of claims are grouped into aggregates in such a way that information contained in any individual claim shall not be disclosed.
G. Fraudulent Claims; Penalties: Any person who files a fraudulent claim for a grant under this section or who, for compensation, prepares a claim for a grant and knowingly enters false information on a claim form for any claimant under this section or who fraudulently files multiple claim forms, upon a finding of guilty, shall be imposed a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00). In addition, a person convicted of such fraud shall be permanently barred from the program of utility tax relief established under this section. The city may recover from a claimant any amount paid under this section on account of an erroneous or fraudulent claim, together with six percent (6%) interest per year. A prosecution for a violation of this subsection may be commenced at any time within three (3) years of the commission of that violation. (Ord. O-14-90, 3-5-1990; amd. 1992 Code)