1. (a) Initial certification and annual recertification. If a unit of local government has an airport-related purpose, as defined in Section 6z-20.2 of the State Finance Act, which would allow any retailers' occupation tax and service occupation tax imposed by the unit of local government and administered by the Department to include tax on aviation fuel, then, on or before September 1, 2019, and on or before each April 1 thereafter, the unit of local government must certify to the Department of Transportation, in the form and manner required by the Department of Transportation, that it has an airport-related purpose. All disputes regarding whether or not a unit of local government has an airport-related purpose shall be resolved by the Department of Transportation.

   On or before October 1, 2019, and on or before each May 1 thereafter, the Department of Transportation shall provide to the Department a list of units of local government that have certified to the Department of Transportation that they have an airport-related purpose. If a unit of local government is included in the list of units of local government that have certified that they have an airport-related purpose that is provided by the Department of Transportation to the Department on or before October 1, 2019, then, beginning on December 1, 2019, any retailers' occupation tax and service occupation tax imposed by the unit of local government and administered by the Department shall continue to be collected on aviation fuel sold in that unit of local government. Failure by a unit of local government to file an initial certification shall be treated as confirmation that the unit of local government does not have an airport-related purpose, thereby exempting, beginning on December 1, 2019, aviation fuel from any retailers' occupation tax and service occupation tax imposed by the unit of local government and administered by the Department.

   Beginning in 2020 and in each year thereafter, if a unit of local government is included in the list of units of local government that have certified that they have an airport-related purpose that is provided by the Department of Transportation to the Department on or before May 1, then any retailers' occupation tax and service occupation tax imposed by the unit of local government and administered by the Department shall continue to be (or begin to be, as the case may be) collected on aviation fuel sold in that unit of local government beginning on the following July 1. Once a unit of local government has certified that it has an airport-related purpose, failure during an annual recertification period to file a certification that it has an airport-related purpose shall be treated as confirmation that it no longer has an airport-related purpose, thereby exempting, beginning on July 1 of that year, aviation fuel from any retailers' occupation tax and service occupation tax imposed by the unit of local government and administered by the Department.

2. (b) Penalties. If a unit of local government certifies that it has an airport-related purpose and therefore receives tax revenues from a tax imposed by the unit of local government and administered by the Department of Revenue on sales of aviation fuel, but the Federal Aviation Administration thereafter determines that the tax revenues on aviation fuel generated by that tax were expended by the unit of local government for a purpose other than an airport-related purpose and the Federal Aviation Administration imposes a penalty on the State of Illinois as a result, then the State is authorized to pass this penalty on to the unit of local government by withholding an amount up to the amount of the penalty out of local retailers' occupation taxes and service occupation taxes to be allocated to the unit of local government by the State.

(Source: P.A. 101-604, eff. 12-13-19.)