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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
Catherine Lazorko, Town Information Officer |
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SUBJECT: |
Resolution to Increase Cablevision Public Access Fees |
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DATE: |
December 4, 2006 |
The attached resolution would increase the cablevision public access fee from 76 to 78 cents based on the inflation factor.
On November 20, 2006, the Town Council held a public forum to receive comments on the potential adjustment of the public access fee charged to cable television customers. The public access fee rate may be:
“Public access” refers to non-commercial programming, produced or submitted by citizens, to be carried on the cable system.
At the forum, three citizens expressed their views. The executive director and the board president of The Peoples Channel spoke in favor of the public access services. A third individual complained of late night programming that she felt to be offensive on The Peoples Channel.
The Town’s contract with The Peoples Channel specifies that the Town shall have no editorial control over, involvement in or responsibility for the content or scheduling of public access programming; and, further, that The Peoples Channel shall make all decisions to accept, schedule and cablecast programming. The contract also states that The Peoples Channel shall comply with all applicable laws regarding First Amendment rights, obscenity, libel and slander, copyrights, service marks, etc., in its operation and management of public access services.
The cable television franchise approved by the Council and accepted by Time Warner Cable in July 1996 allows the Town to have cable customers billed for a public access fee.
The Town began charging a public access fee of 65 cents under a resolution adopted by the Council on November 11, 1996, and amended that amount to:
Under the agreement with The Peoples Channel, the public access fees are transferred to The Peoples Channel to provide public access television services. The purpose of the public access fee is to help cover wages, equipment, rent and other costs for management and operation of public access cable television services. The current 76-cent per month public access fee generated $120,507 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006.
Each year, the Council decides whether to increase, maintain, or reduce the public access fee. The cable franchise allows the Town to reduce, eliminate, or increase the public access fee once per year. The increase in a given year is limited to an inflation factor or three percent, whichever is less. The inflation factor is the increase in the most recent Gross National Product-Price Index (GNP-PI) published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. According to the Federal Communications Commission, the inflation factor for the previous 12-month fiscal period is 3.3 percent.
A three percent change would result in an increase in the fee from 76 cents to 78 cents per customer per month, beginning January 1, 2007. The increase would raise an additional $3,615 for The Peoples Channel.
Based on our evaluation of the proposed public access fee increase, our conclusion is that the increase complies with the terms and conditions outlined in the cable television franchise agreement, and that therefore the Council may, if it so chooses, approve the increase.