65 ILCS 5/8-11-2
The corporate authorities of any municipality may tax any or all of the following occupations or privileges:
If a municipality imposes a tax at rates lower than either the maximum rates specified in this Section or the alternative maximum rates promulgated by the Illinois Commerce Commission, as provided below, the tax rates shall be imposed upon the kilowatt hour categories set forth above with the same proportional relationship as that which exists among such maximum rates. Notwithstanding the foregoing, until December 31, 2008, no municipality shall establish rates that are in excess of rates reasonably calculated to produce revenues that equal the maximum total revenues such municipality could have received under the tax authorized by this subparagraph in the last full calendar year prior to August 1, 1998 (the effective date of Section 65 of Public Act 90-561) ; provided that this shall not be a limitation on the amount of tax revenues actually collected by such municipality.
Upon the request of the corporate authorities of a municipality, the Illinois Commerce Commission shall, within 90 days after receipt of such request, promulgate alternative rates for each of these kilowatt-hour categories that will reflect, as closely as reasonably practical for that municipality, the distribution of the tax among classes of purchasers as if the tax were based on a uniform percentage of the purchase price of electricity. A municipality that has adopted an ordinance imposing a tax pursuant to subparagraph 3 as it existed prior to August 1, 1998 (the effective date of Section 65 of Public Act 90-561) may, rather than imposing the tax permitted by Public Act 90-561 , continue to impose the tax pursuant to that ordinance with respect to gross receipts received from residential customers through July 31, 1999, and with respect to gross receipts from any non-residential customer until the first bill issued to such customer for delivery services in accordance with Section 16-104 of the Public Utilities Act but in no case later than the last bill issued to such customer before December 31, 2000. No ordinance imposing the tax permitted by Public Act 90-561 shall be applicable to any non-residential customer until the first bill issued to such customer for delivery services in accordance with Section 16-104 of the Public Utilities Act but in no case later than the last bill issued to such non-residential customer before December 31, 2000.
None of the taxes authorized by this Section may be imposed with respect to any transaction in interstate commerce or otherwise to the extent to which the business or privilege may not, under the constitution and statutes of the United States, be made the subject of taxation by this State or any political sub-division thereof; nor shall any persons engaged in the business of distributing, supplying, furnishing, selling or transmitting gas, water, or electricity, or using or consuming electricity acquired in a purchase at retail, be subject to taxation under the provisions of this Section for those transactions that are or may become subject to taxation under the provisions of the Municipal Retailers' Occupation Tax Act authorized by Section 8-11-1; nor shall any tax authorized by this Section be imposed upon any person engaged in a business or on any privilege unless the tax is imposed in like manner and at the same rate upon all persons engaged in businesses of the same class in the municipality, whether privately or municipally owned or operated, or exercising the same privilege within the municipality.
Any of the taxes enumerated in this Section may be in addition to the payment of money, or value of products or services furnished to the municipality by the taxpayer as compensation for the use of its streets, alleys, or other public places, or installation and maintenance therein, thereon or thereunder of poles, wires, pipes, or other equipment used in the operation of the taxpayer's business.
"Gross receipts" means the consideration received for distributing, supplying, furnishing or selling gas for use or consumption and not for resale, and the consideration received for distributing, supplying, furnishing or selling water for use or consumption and not for resale, and for all services rendered in connection therewith valued in money, whether received in money or otherwise, including cash, credit, services and property of every kind and material and for all services rendered therewith, and shall be determined without any deduction on account of the cost of the service, product or commodity supplied, the cost of materials used, labor or service cost, or any other expenses whatsoever. "Gross receipts" shall not include that portion of the consideration received for distributing, supplying, furnishing, or selling gas or water to business enterprises described in paragraph (e) of this Section to the extent and during the period in which the exemption authorized by paragraph (e) is in effect or for school districts or units of local government described in paragraph (f) during the period in which the exemption authorized in paragraph (f) is in effect.
For utility bills issued on or after May 1, 1996, but before May 1, 1997, and for receipts from those utility bills, "gross receipts" does not include one-third of (i) amounts added to customers' bills under Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) amounts added to customers' bills by taxpayers who are not subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax liabilities described in Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act. For utility bills issued on or after May 1, 1997, but before May 1, 1998, and for receipts from those utility bills, "gross receipts" does not include two-thirds of (i) amounts added to customers' bills under Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) amount added to customers' bills by taxpayers who are not subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax liabilities described in Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act. For utility bills issued on or after May 1, 1998, and for receipts from those utility bills, "gross receipts" does not include (i) amounts added to customers' bills under Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) amounts added to customers' bills by taxpayers who are not subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax liabilities described in Section 9-222 of the Public Utilities Act.
For purposes of this Section "gross receipts" shall not include amounts added to customers' bills under Section 9-221 of the Public Utilities Act. This paragraph is not intended to nor does it make any change in the meaning of "gross receipts" for the purposes of this Section, but is intended to remove possible ambiguities, thereby confirming the existing meaning of "gross receipts" prior to January 1, 1996 (the effective date of Public Act 89-325) .
"Person" as used in this Section means any natural individual, firm, trust, estate, partnership, association, joint stock company, joint adventure, corporation, limited liability company, municipal corporation, the State or any of its political subdivisions, any State university created by statute, or a receiver, trustee, guardian or other representative appointed by order of any court.
"Person maintaining a place of business in this State" shall mean any person having or maintaining within this State, directly or by a subsidiary or other affiliate, an office, generation facility, distribution facility, transmission facility, sales office or other place of business, or any employee, agent, or other representative operating within this State under the authority of the person or its subsidiary or other affiliate, irrespective of whether such place of business or agent or other representative is located in this State permanently or temporarily, or whether such person, subsidiary or other affiliate is licensed or qualified to do business in this State.
"Public utility" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act and shall include alternative retail electric suppliers as defined in Section 16-102 of that Act.
"Purchase at retail" shall mean any acquisition of electricity by a purchaser for purposes of use or consumption, and not for resale, but shall not include the use of electricity by a public utility directly in the generation, production, transmission, delivery or sale of electricity.
"Purchaser" shall mean any person who uses or consumes, within the corporate limits of the municipality, electricity acquired in a purchase at retail.
Upon adoption of the ordinance authorizing the exemption, the municipal clerk shall transmit a copy of that ordinance to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall determine whether the business enterprises located in the municipality meet the criteria prescribed in this paragraph. If the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity determines that the business enterprises meet the criteria, it shall grant certification. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall act upon certification requests within 30 days after receipt of the ordinance.
Upon certification of the business enterprise by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall notify the Department of Revenue of the certification. The Department of Revenue shall notify the public utilities of the exemption status of the gross receipts received from, and the electricity used or consumed by, the certified business enterprises. Such exemption status shall be effective within 3 months after certification.
65 ILCS 5/8-11-2