Illinois State Bar Association

State and Local Taxation Section Council

MINUTES

June 21, 2002

Grand Geneva Resort & SPA, Lake Geneva, WI

 

1. Call to Order:

Chair James W. Chipman convened the meeting of the SALT Section Council at 4:30 P.M. The Secretary recorded the following members in attendance:

 

James W. Chipman, Chair

John K. Norris, Vice Chair

John G. Locallo, Secretary

Katherine A. Amari

J. Robert Barr

Patrice Ball-Reed

Thomas M. Battista

Louise M. Calvert

Stanley T. Cichowski

Karen J. Dimond

Thomas A. Jaconetty

Steven Kandelman

Stanley R. Kaminski

Frederic S. Lane

Timothy E. Moran

Dan O'Neill

Donald T. Rubin

William J. Seitz

Iris E. Sholder

John B. Truskowski

Alexander P. White

 

Chair James W. Chipman stated that the following members were given excused absences from the meeting:

Mary Ann Connelly

Mark R. Davis

Allen L. Landmeier

Introducing themselves to the group were Chair, James W. Chipman, Vice Chair, John K. Norris, Secretary, John G. Locallo and Legislative Liaison, Louise M. Calvert.

  1. Administrative Matters:

  1. The Chair relayed the message of ISBA President-elect Loren S. Golden, that it is the obligation of all of us to attend our meetings and to publish articles for the Tax Trends newsletter. The Chair stated that most meetings will be held in Chicago this year.

  2. Chair Jim Chipman presented an award to immediate past chair, Tim Moran on behalf of the ISBA and the State and Local Taxation Section Council in recognition of his exemplary service as the 2001-2002 chair of the State & Local Taxation Section Council.

  3. The Committee discussed the best day and time for our monthly meetings, and we all agreed that noon on Fridays works best.

  4. The Chair announced the Standing Subcommittee Chairs as follows:

    5. PTAB/Cook County Board of Review, Donald T. Rubin

    Case Law, Alexander P. White

    Membership, Thomas M. Battista

    Unauthorized Practice of Law, John K. Norris

    Exemption Streamlining, Mark Davis

    Treasurer's Refund Orders, William J. Seitz

    Strategic Planning, Timothy E. Moran

    Website Development, Mary Ann Connelly

  5. Approval of Minutes from the prior meeting of April 12, 2002 (deferred from the April meeting) and May 10, 2002 as amended (reflecting the attendance of John B. Truskowski).

  6. Roster Review (attached as Exhibit B) – The Chair stated this was an informational item.

  7. Section Council Count (attached as Exhibit C) – The Chair announced that the State & Local Taxation Section Council membership was 23rd out of 36 Section councils, in terms of membership.

III. Legislation:

    1. Legislative Liaison Louise Calvert gave an update on General Assembly Workings – the following bills passed into law:

      2. Income Tax

      SB1543

      SB2210

      SB2212

      HB4106

      HB4187

      HB4230

      Sales and Excise Tax

      SB1760

      SB2017

      SB2210

      SB2211

      SB2212

      HB539

      HB1276

      HB4974

      HB5686

      HB6012

      Circuit Breaker/Pharmaceutical Assistance

      SB2098

      HB4937

      HB4580

      Property Tax/Local Government

      SB1543

      SB1606

      SB1666

      SB1668

      SB1932

      SB1814

      SB2037

      SB2212

      HB539

      HB1276

      HB1918

      HB3697

      HB3710

      HB3775

      HB4053

      HB4335

      HB4337

      HB4365

      HB5375

      HB5742

      HB5779

      HB5785

      Miscellaneous/Tax Administration

      SB1649

      SB2192

      SB2209

      SB2210

      HB4465

      HB5686

      A. Martha Mills of the Cook County Treasurers Office encouraged the section council members to recommend to the ISBA that Governor Ryan sign Senate Bill 1666.

       

       

      IV. Continuing Legal Education:

      A. Bi-Annual Real Estate Tax Seminar – Bill Seitz reported that the seminar was a success. The course evaluations indicated that many of the speakers received excellent ratings.

      V. Standing Subcommittee Reports (attached as Exhibit D):

      A. The PTAB/Cook County Board of Review Subcommittee – Chair Rubin stated that a change in the form for PTAB and Board of Review docketing is possible. Also discussed was the taxpayer notification of extensions in future PTAB cases (for example, for taxing districts to obtain appraisals).

    2. Case Law: Judge Alexander White gave a brief synopsis of the following distributed cases.

      3. National City Bank of Michigan/Illinois v. Illinois PTAB, Kankakee County Board of Review and City of Kankakee, 2002 Ill. App. LEXIS 455, 4/23/02 Property Taxes.

      Craig Karfs v. City of Belleville, Board of Trustees of the Firefighters Pension Fund of the City of Belleville, 2002 Ill. App. LEXIS 423, 5/23/02.

    3. The Membership Subcommittee report – Tom Battista reported that last year's membership increased.

    4. The Unauthorized Practice of Law Subcommittee – Chair John Norris reported the subcommittee will be meeting soon.

    5. Exemption Streamlining – No report.

    6. Treasurer's Refund Orders – Chair Bill Seitz stated that we are making progress regarding SPO refunds and the credits for illegal rate objections.

    7. Strategic Planning - Chair Tim Moran of this new committee created by Jim Chipman said that the purpose of this subcommittee is basically to see where we will be in 15 years. We will address issues such as membership growth and balance of committee member specialization and legislation. Tim suggested surveys to our members, followed up by phone calls to insure that we are addressing membership needs. Tom Battista suggested using computer technology for membership recruitment and training. Tom also suggested getting together with the ISBA legislative liason to discuss communication of the bills and exchange of information and new ideas regarding using computer programs to track, categorize and tabulate legislation and section council voting. Stan Kaminski suggested that our newsletter contain articles on the basics of various state and local taxation topics. Judge Al White stated that our newsletter would be more timely if it was presented through e-mail rather than print, as is currently done by the American Bar Association.

    8. Website Development. Chair Jim Chipman stated that Mary Ann Connelly will be chairing this new subcommittee and will be working in step with the Strategic Planning subcommittee.

      9. VI. Liaison Reports:

      A. The Administrative Code Re-codification in the Illinois Compiled Statutes ("ILCS") Liaison – Judge Al White reported that recodification will most likely occur during the next administration.

      B. The Civil Practice Section Council Liaison – No report.

      C. The Local Government Liaison – No report.

      D. ISBA Bar News – John Norris, as liaison, reminded members that if they want anything published in the Bar News, they should contact Steve Anderson of the ISBA.

      E. Attorney General opinions – Dan O'Neill reported that he will be working and reporting in this area.

      VII. Old Business:

      A. TIF Update – Judge White discussed the development of local government abuse of TIFs. and the related needed scrutiny.

      B. Status of PTAB Appeals (Sales-Ratio Study Cases): Bill Seitz stated that the Bosch consolidated cases (the median level cases) are still under advisement. Oral arguments have not yet occurred in the Lurie (2-1/2 times level cases) case.

      VIII. New Business:

      A. No new business.

      IX. Future Meetings:

        1. The Chair announced that our next meeting will be in St. Louis on Saturday morning, September 7th. Exact and location and time to be determined. On Friday evening, September 6th, we will be attending a Cardinal-Cub baseball game at Bush Stadium. Contact Mary McDermott, Staff Liaison, for tickets.

X Informational Items

A. Stanley Kaminski stated that the Department of Revenue has announced that its Opinion letters over ten years old are now null and void.

 

XI. Adjournment: The meeting concluded near the appointed closing hour.

Respectfully submitted,

John G. Locallo

Secretary