Local Government Law

Appeal from a circuit court reversal of an administrative law judge’s decision that upheld taxes and penalties imposed by the Cook County Department of Revenue pursuant to the Cook County Retail Sale of Gasoline and Diesel Tax Ordinances. The department imposed fuel taxes and penalties on the plaintiff for out-of-book transactions. On appeal, the department argued that the administrative law judge was correct when he found that the out-of-book transactions, even though they do not involve the physical delivery of fuel, still involve the transfer of an ownership interest as to that fuel and are taxable. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment finding that the agency’s factual determinations were not against the manifest weight of the evidence; but also finding that the plaintiff had shown reasonable cause for its failure to pay taxes at the time of the sales so that the department improperly imposed penalties. (MIKVA and TAILOR, concurring)

Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit challenging that red light violations issued under Chicago’s automated red light camera program were void because they did not contain the information required by the Chicago Municipal Code. The circuit court granted the city’s motion to dismiss, finding that the notices of violation substantially complied with the city code and the appellate court affirmed. (FITZGERALD SMITH and ELLIS, concurring)

Plaintiff filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief alleging violations of the Freedom of Information Act and sought civil penalties, attorney fees, and costs. The city produced some of the documents while the action was pending and the trial court subsequently granted judgment in favor of the city but awarded the plaintiff attorney fees and costs as the prevailing party. The appellate court reversed the order awarding attorney fees and costs, finding that the lawsuit was not necessary to obtain the documents where plaintiff had failed to provide the city with sufficient information to determine whether the documents were subject to disclosure under FOIA. (HARRIS and BRIDGES, concurring)

Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the City of Galena alleging that the city breached its ministerial duty to complete a zoning form and caused harm to the plaintiff when it lost a lease on a building. The circuit court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss finding that the city was immune from liability under section 2-104 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act and that the plaintiff failed to state a prima facie case for negligence. The appellate court affirmed, finding that section 2-104 shielded the city from liability. (HARRIS and BRIDGES, concurring)

Plaintiffs were cited for violating a city ordinance that imposed weight limits on vehicles traveling on designated roadways. The citations were adjudicated through an administrative process and the hearing officer imposed fines against the plaintiffs, which were then affirmed by the trial court. Plaintiffs appealed, arguing that the city lacked jurisdiction to administratively adjudicate the violations. The appellate court reversed, finding that the vehicle ordinance could not be adjudicated administratively because the ordinance restricted the movement of vehicles. (DAUGHERITY and HETTEL, concurring)

Plaintiff filed an action for enforcement of FOIA seeking records from the Cook County hospital related to the treatment of “walk-in” gunshot victims and subsequent reporting of those admissions to local law enforcement. The county argued that the records were exempt from disclosure because they contained private information and protected personal health information. The supreme court held that the records were not exempt from disclosure so long as identifying information was removed prior to production. (ANNE M. BURKE, NEVILLE, OVERSTREET, CARTER, and HOLDER WHITE, concurring and THEIS, dissenting)