SR-022796-6E
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CM:KKV:ckl:f:\cmanager\cable\ califormlEB 2 7 1996
rtord227 Santa Monlca,
City Councll Mtg. Feb. 27, 1996
TO Mayor and Clty Council
FROM Clty Staff
SUBJECT. Recommendation to Approve a Resolution Issuing an
Accountlng Order Regardlng Equipment and Installation
Charges of Century Southwest Cable Televlslon, Inc.
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the Clty Councll lssue, by resolutlon,
an lIaccountlng order" to Century Southwest Cable Televlslon, Inc.
("Century" ) WhlCh wlll provlde additional time for Cl ty staff to
review information from Century ln support of ltS charges for
equipment and installation as shown in its Annual FCC Form 1205,
and WhlCh wlll preserve the Clty'S Ylght to order refunds in the
event the Clty deterTl'lneS that Century's proposed charges are
unreasonable.
BACKGROUND
The Clty has been certlfled by the Federal Communlcatlons
Commlsslon (FCC) to regulate basic cable televislon rates (which
lncludes the "basic cable" tier and charges for assoclated
equlpment, lr:stallation and servlces) consistent wlth FCC
yegulatlons. Pursuant to these regulatlonsf a cable company must
Justify its charges as reasonable in accordance with federally-
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FEB 2 7 1996
devlsed formulas. The Clty serves as the implementing agency for
determlnlng compllance wlth federal regulations.
The FCC has set forth speclfic procedures for franchlslng
authorlties and cable companles to follow In the perlod commencing
after July l4, 1994. Under those procedures, Century must Justify
ltS charges, and lncreases In ltS charges, by flling the
approprlate FCC Form l200 Serles form The Clty and Century have
been proceeding In accordance with these procedures.
Because basic threshold issues regardlng Century Select rates are
already on appeal before the FCC, the City and Century have entered
into an agreement to defer further reVlew of certaln of Century's
FCC Form l200 serles rate fillngs pendlng completion of current
appeals before the FCC, and judlclal review If any, and to extend
Century's refund llability durlng that period. Thls agreement
preserves the Clty'S right to order refunds if rates subject to
those rate filings are found unreasonable but minlmlzes further
costs to the Clty In the lnterlm However, the deferral affected
by thls agreement does not apply to Century's annual equlpment and
installation rate flllngs
The FCC requlres that Century submlt the FCC Form l205 annually to
Justify its charges for equipment and installation assoclated with
the baS1C service tier. On November 6, 1995, the City recelved
Century's FCC Form l205 rate flllng. Presently, the City is
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reviewlng the rate fillng from Century and wlll request addltlonal
information: (1) to cure any deflclencles ln Century's completlon
of the rate flllng; (2) to verlfy the lnformation the Company
submitted; and (3) to complete reVlew by the City of the Company's
rate flllng
The City needs additional tlme to reVlew Century's annual FCC rate
flling for equlpment and lnstallatlon. City staff belleves that
the Clty should issue an accountlng order to preserve the City's
rlght to order refunds in the event the Clty determlnes that the
Company's proposed charges for equipment and installatlon are
unreasonable.
BUDGET IMPACT
There lS no City budgetary lmpact resultlng from the lssuance of
this accountlng order.
RECOMMENDATION
City Staff recommends that Clty Councll adopt the attached
resolutlon issuing an accountlng order to preserve the Clty'S right
to order rate refunds ln the event the Clty determines that the
rates proposed by Century for charges for equipment and
installatlon on ltS annual FCC Form 1205 are unreasonable
Prepared by Kathryn Vernez, Senlor Management Analyst
Linda A. Mllls-Coyne,Deputy City Attorney
Robln Gee, Cable TV Manager
Attachment Resolution
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CM;KKK;ckl:f:\cmanager\
cable\reso227 Santa Monica, California
C2ty Council Mtg. February 27, 1996
RESOLUTION NO 9002 (eeS)
(City Counc2l)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
ADOPTING AN ACCOUNTING ORDER REGARDING
EQUIPMENT AND INSTALLATION CHARGES
OF CENTURY SOUTHWEST CABLE TELEVISION, INC.
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica (the "City") became
cert2f2ed to regulate basic cable service rates and associated
charges as of October 7, 1993, and has followed regulations
prescribed by the Federal Commun2cations Commiss2on ("FCC") for the
regulat20n of the bas2c service t2er and assoc2ated charges (the
"FCC Rules"), and
WHEREAS, the C2 ty has not yet completed 2tS review of the
November 6, 1995 rate f2l2ng for equ2pment and installat20n charges
assoc2ated with the basic serV2ce tier by Century Southwest Cable
Telev2sion, Inc (the " Company" ) and has not reached a decision
regarding the reasonableness of the Company's proposed charges for
such equ2pment and installat2on; and
WHEREAS, the City 2S not in a pos2tion to 2ssue a rate
dec~sion at this t2me since the Company has not submltted
suff2cient 2nformation for the C2ty to reach a rate decis2on;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES RESOLVE AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Pursuant to 47 C.F.R. Sect20n 76.933(c) of the
FCC Rules, the Company 2S hereby d2rected, from the date of this