SR-6-E (76)
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CM:KKV ckl f \share\rateord Santa Monica, cal~fJi~!J 9 199't
City Council Mtg.-Nov. 29, 1994
TO Mayor and City CounCll
FROM City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Approve a Resolution Issuing an
ACCQUnt1ng Order Regard1ng BaS1C Serv1ces Rates and
Associated Charges of Century Southwest Cable
Telev~sion, Inc.
INTRODV"CTION
Th~s report recommends that the C~ty Councll issue, by resolutlon,
an II account1ng orderll to Century Southwest Cable Television, Inc
(11 Century") WhlCh wll1 provide additional t~me for City staff to
reVlew supplemental information recently submitted by Century 1n
support of ~ts charges for cable televis~on serVlces for the period
from July 15, 1994 to the present
BACKGROUND
The C~ty has been cert~fied by the Federal Communicat1ons
Comm1ssion (FCC) to regulate basic cable television rates (which
includes the "basic cable" tier and rates for assoclated equipment,
lnstallat~on and service) consistent w~th FCC regulat1ons.
Pursuant to these regulat1ons, a cable company must Justify the
rates ~t charges as reasonable in accordance with federally-devised
formJlas The Clty serves as the lmplementing agency for
determ1ning compllance with federal regulatlons.
NOV 2 9 199It
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The FCC has dlv~ded the rate regulation analys~s and dec1s~on-
making process 1nto several time periods. The C~ty Counc~l adopted
a rate order on July 19, 1994 wh~ch a) established Cen::ury's
permltted rates for the basic cable serV1ce tier and associated
equipment, 1nstallation and serVlces for the perlod from September
1, 1993 to July 14, 1994j and b) ordered refunds for overcharges
for the basic serVlce tier and for certa1n installatlon rates
during that perlod. Century appealed the City's rate order and the
matter is now pending before the FCC
Presently, the City is revlew1ng rate lnformation from Century for
the perlod beginn1ng July 15, 1994 (FCC Form 1200 and associated
forms) . Dependlng on the outcome of this ar.alysls, Century Cable
customers may also be entltled to refunds for SOMe portlon of
charges made since July 15, 1994, ln addition to the refunds
prevlously ordered.
The FCC has set forth speclf1c procedl..:.res for franch1s~ng
authorities and cable companies to follow in thlS FCC Form 1200
Series reVlew process. The C1ty and Century have been proceedlng
in accordance wlth these requlrements over the past few months The
Clty received Century's FCC Form 1200 on August 12, 1994 The
lnformation contained ln lt was not sufficient for the Clty to make
a rate determ1nation On September 7, 1994 the Clty extended the
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period durlng Wh1Ch the Clty could reVlew the 1nformation provided
by Century to December 10, 1994 due to the need for Century to
provlde additional information.
On October 11, 1994 the City sent Century a Supplemental
Informat1on Request and received information from Century on
October 26, 1994. The City needs additional time to review
Century's response and may need additional informatlon from Century
before maklng a rate declsion concern1ng the reasonableness of
Century's rates for the period.
Because essentlal informatlon was rece1ved on October 26, 1994 and
must be analyzed, C1ty staff believes that it 1S prudent to
officially extend the City's review perlod beyond December 10, 1994
and yet preserve ltS r1ght to make a rate determlnat10n and order
refunds that can be retroact1vely applled back to July 15, 1994.
In order to accomplish th1S extenslon, it is necessary to 1ssue
this account1ng order.
BUDGET IMPACT
There 1S no City budgetary impact result1ng from the issuance of
this accounting order
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RECOMMENDATION
City Staff recommends that City Councll adopt the attached
resolut~on issuing an accounting order to allow further time for
the City to reach a rate dec~s~on regard1ng the reasonableness of
the basic serVlces rates and assoclated charges of Century
Southwest Cable Telev~s~on, Inc for the period commencing July 15,
1994.
Prepared by: Lynne C. Barrette
Ass1stant City Manager
Kate Vernez
Sen10r Management Analyst
Linda A. M~lls-Coyne
Deputy City Attorney
Attachment: Resolut~on
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CM:KKK:ckl.F \share\ratereso Santa Mon1ca, Callforn~a
City Council Mtg.-Nov. 29, 1994
RESOLUTION NO 8839
(Clty Councll)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
ADOPTING AN ACCOUNTING ORDER REGARDING
BASIC SERVICES RATES AND ASSOCIATED CHARGES
OF CENTURY SOUTHWEST CABLE TELEVISION, INC.
FOR THE PERIOD COMMENCING JULY 15, 1994
WHEREAS, the C1.ty of Santa Monlca (the '1 C ~ t Y 11 ) became
certlf~ed to regulate baslc cable serv~ce rates and assoc~ated
charges as of October 7, 1993, and has followed regulations
prescrlbed by the Federal Communicatlons Comm~sslon (llPCC" ) for the
regulation of the baslc service tier and associated charges (the
II FCC Rules") i and
WHEREAS, the Clty has not yet completed lts review of
the FCC Forms 1200, 1205, 1210 and 1215 subm1.tted by Century
Southwest Cable Telev~slon, Inc. (the II Company" ) and reached a
decision regard~ng the reasonableness of the rates for baslc
se~Jice and assoclated equipment, installat1.on and serV1ce charged
by the Company; and
WHEREAS, the C~ty ~s not yet in a pos~tlon to issue a
rate decision at thlS t~me since the Clty needs additlonal t~me to
rev~ew the supplemental ~nformatlon submitted by the Company 1n
support of 1ts FCC Forms;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA DOES RESOLVE AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1. Pursuant to 47 C.F.R. Section 76.933(c} of
the FCC Rules I the Company 1S hereby directed, from the date of
thlS Order untll the date the Company implements any rate deClslon
lssuea by the Clty, to keep an accurate account of all amounts
recelved, and on whose behalf such amounts were paid, for ,
oaS1C
serVlce and assoclated equlpment, lnstallatlon and serVlce
SECTION 2: The Company may not increase its rates for
basic cable serVlce, and for associated equlpment and 1nstallat1on,
nor may It lnst1"Cute new charges for other types of servJ.ce,
equipment or lnstallation assoclated with the basic service tler,
without flrst complYlng wlth the FCC Rules, EICl udi:1.g any
modiflcatlons or amendments to the FCC Rules.
SECTION 3. The City reserves all rlghts it ~as under the
FCC Rules, lncluding the rlght to establlsh reasonable rates and
order rate refunds, lf the City finds that the Company's rates are
unreasonable under the FCC Rules I lncluding any modif~catlons or
amendments to such regulations
SECTION 4. The Clty Manager shall cause to be delivered
a copy of this Order to the Company prlor to December lO, 1994.
SECTION 5. The City Clerk shall certlfy to the adoptlon
of this Resolut~on, and thenceforth and thereafter the sa~e shall
be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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"'-tUvz.-' ,
Ci.~y Attorn (, ( ~ -:7 _ ')
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Adopted and approved tlus 29th of November, 1994
2v tPy{
Ma or
I hereby certIfy that the foregomg ResolutIOn 8839 (CCS) was duly adopted at a
meetmg of the CIty CouncIl held on the 29th of November, 1994 by the followmg vote'
Ayes Councllmembers Abdo, Genser, Greenberg,Holbrook, Olsen,
Rosenstem, Vazquez
Noes Councllmembers None
Abstam Councllmembers. None
Absent Councllmembers: None
ATTEST
~~/A~
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CIty Clerk