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DIVCA Staff Report 2 March 1, 2010 <br />including collection of franchise fee, PEG issuance, and enforcement of customer service <br />standards. <br />Adoption of the ordinance preserves the City's ability, to the extent permitted by DIVCA, to <br />collect PEG fees and enforce customer service standards. As provided by the DIVCA, the <br />ordinance confirms the requirement under state law that any state franchise holder operating <br />within San Leandro pay to the City a state franchise fee of 5% of gross revenues received from <br />activities within the local franchise areas. Both AT&T and Comcast currently pay the quarterly <br />5% franchise fee to the City. <br />Additionally, the ordinance provides that each state franchise holder shall pay to the City a PEG <br />fee equal to one percent (1%) of the gross revenues received from the franchise area. Those <br />revenues must be used by the City for PEG purposes consistent with federal law (which includes <br />costs associated with purchase, installation, repair, and maintenance of facilities and equipment). <br />These funds must be used to support PEG infrastructure-related costs and cannot be used for <br />personnel costs or other General Fund purposes. AT&T currently pays the 1% PEG fees <br />(approximately $2,300 each quarter). With the adoption of the DIVCA ordinance, it is estimated <br />that Comcast would pay approximately $30,000 per quarter (3,000,000 x .O1) for PEG fees. <br />The customer service standards that the City is allowed to enforce are limited to those set forth in <br />state and federal law. Those standards address issues such as installation, disconnection, service <br />and repair obligations; billing procedures; rate increases; complaint and bill dispute resolution <br />procedures; and subscriber privacy protections. Local jurisdictions are precluded from imposing <br />standards in other areas or from increasing performance levels in the standards specified. The <br />City's customer service staff contact is the City's Community Relations Representative. <br />Fiscal Impact <br />It is estimated that approximately $30,000 per quarter ($120,000 annually) from Comcast for <br />PEG infrastructure-related services will be paid to the City. Approximately $2,300 ($9,200 <br />annually). is already being paid by AT&T. A separate PEG fund has been set up by the Finance <br />Department to account for the incoming fees from all state franchise holders operating within the <br />City. <br />CONCLUSION <br />Staff recommends City Council approval of the proposed ordinance which would amend the <br />City's Municipal Code to add a new chapter to implement the DIVCA requirements, thereby <br />providing an additional 1 % of the video-related franchise gross revenue to support PEG <br />infrastructure. This ordinance would be applicable to all video service providers within San <br />Leandro, <br />