NEWS

Andrew Acker, a partner at Storino Ramello and Durkin, recently represented the City of Rolling Meadows in an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. On March 20, 2025, the Illinois Supreme Court entered its decision in the sales tax misallocation case of Village of Arlington Heights v. City of Rolling Meadows, 2025 IL 130461, finding in favor of Rolling Meadows and reversing the appellate court’s decision. Arlington Heights brought an action against neighboring Rolling Meadows to recover over $1 million of sales tax revenue generated by a business located within Arlington Heights that had been collected and paid for more than eight years by the Illinois Department of Revenue to Rolling Meadows. The Circuit Court granted Rolling Meadows’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. By way of the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling, the municipalities of this State were provided with a bright-line rule related to sales tax misallocation cases between two municipalities: based upon the plain and unambiguous language contained in the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act, the Illinois Department of Revenue provides the sole remedy for sales tax misallocation as a six- (6- ) month look back reimbursement except in situations where there is a rebate agreement entered after June 1, 2004. In the absence of a rebate agreement entered after June 1, 2004, the Circuit Courts of this State lack subject matter jurisdiction over claims asserted by one municipality against another municipality for recovery of misallocation of sales tax revenues. In this case, because there was not a rebate agreement involved, the Village of Arlington Heights’ claims seeking reimbursement from Rolling Meadows were properly dismissed as the Cook County Circuit Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the village’s claims.

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Circuit Court of Cook County Case No. 2021 L 010485 Reid v. Lappe