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Legislation Enacted to Provide Local Steel Industry With Utility Tax Exemption


Chicago Heights, IL–(ENEWSPF)–January 22, 2010.  Legislation sponsored by State Representative Anthony DeLuca (D-Chicago Heights) providing financial relief to qualifying manufacturers in the form of a utility tax exemption was signed into law Thursday by Governor Quinn.  DeLuca sponsored this legislation in an effort to help retain local manufacturing jobs.

“As our state and local economies continue to make progress toward an economic recovery, we need to do everything we can to remove obstacles that impede economic growth of our state’s manufacturing industry,” DeLuca said.  “I believe that the best way we can help the Illinois’ manufacturing sector prosper, retain jobs and create new employment opportunities is by providing them with some much needed relief from high utility taxes.”

Public Act 96-0865 creates an additional eligibility category to the current set of guidelines that the Department of Commerce and Economic Oppportunity (DCEO) uses to determine what types of businesses may qualify for a utility tax exemption.

Under this new law, manufacturing businesses based in enterprise zones now qualify for DCEO’s utility tax exemption if they meet requirements for retaining full-time positions in the following years:

  • 500 full-time jobs in 2009 and 2010;
  • 675 full-time jobs in 2011;
  • 850 full-time jobs in 2012; and
  • 1,000 full-time jobs in 2013.

“This new law will help our community retain local jobs and tax revenues that would have been lost had the dead weight of high utility costs forced local manufacturers to relocate,” DeLuca added.  “I believe that manufacturing businesses across the state, particularly our local steel industry in the Southland, will benefit greatly from this new law and will hopefully be more free to focus their financial resources on retaining local jobs, as well as creating many new employment opportunities for our residents.”

If a company is deemed eligible for the exemption, DCEO will determine the term length of the exemption, which cannot extend longer than 30 years.

Public Act 96-0865 took effect upon being signed by the Governor and allows applications to DCEO for this utility tax exemption to commence within 2 months.

For more information, please contact Representative DeLuca’s constituent office at 708-672-0200.

 

Source: State Representative DeLuca


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