Chicago sightseeing tour operator Wendella is exempt from paying a tour boat operator tax, a state appellate panel ruled.A panel of the 1st District Appellate Court found the tax, which is an amendment to the city’s amusement tax, was preempted by the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1884 (RHA).Justice Cynthia Y. Cobbs delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.Wendella, which operates tours on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, sued the city in Cook County Circuit Court in 2019, with its first count …