(a) Not sooner than 45 nor later than 60 days after the end of each calendar quarter, a video service provider shall pay a video service provider fee to the City. The fee shall be calculated quarterly by determining the provider’s gross revenue for the preceding calendar quarter as described in division (b) of this section and multiplying the result by the percentage specified in division (c)(1) or (2) of this section.
(b) Gross revenue shall be computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(1) Gross revenue shall consist of all of the following revenue for the calendar quarter that is collected by the provider for video service from all its subscribers having service addresses within the City:
A. Recurring monthly charges for video service;
B. Event-based charges for video service, including, but not limited to, pay-per-view and video-on-demand charges;
C. Charges for rental of set-top boxes and other video service equipment;
D. Service charges related to the provision of video service, including, but not limited to activation, installation and repair;
E. Administrative charges related to the provision of video service, including, but not limited to service order and service termination charges;
F. Advertising revenue. For these purposes, “advertising revenue” means the net revenue received by the video service provider for advertising on its subscription-based video service within the City. If such revenue is derived under a regional or national compensation contract or arrangement between the video service provider and one or more advertisers or advertising representatives, the amount of revenue derived for the City shall be determined by multiplying the total net revenue received by the video service provider under the contract or arrangement by the percentage resulting from dividing the number of subscribers in the City by the total number of regional or national subscribers that potentially receive the advertising under the contract or arrangement.
(2) Gross revenue shall not include any of the following:
A. Any taxes, fees, or assessments that are collected by the video service provider from video service subscribers for pass-through to any Federal, State, or local government agency, including the video service provider fee authorized under this section, the fee authorized under Ohio R.C. 1332.30(F), and the Federal Communication Commission user fee;
B. Uncollectible charges, except that uncollectible charges, all or part of which are written off as bad debt but subsequently collected, less the expenses of their collection shall be included in gross revenue in the quarter collected;
C. Late payment charges;
D. Maintenance charges;
E. Charges for services other than video service, reasonably identifiable on books or records the video service provider keeps in the regular course of business, or by other reasonable means, that are aggregated or bundled with amounts billed to video service subscribers, including, but not limited to any revenue received by a video service provider or its affiliates for telecommunications service, information service, or the provision of directory or internet advertising, including yellow pages, white pages, banner advertising, and electronic publishing;
F. Reimbursement by programmers of marketing costs actually incurred by the video service provider;
G. Any revenue not expressly enumerated in division (b)(1) of this section.
(c) (1) If in a calendar quarter a franchise fee is payable by a provider under a franchise in effect in the City, the percentage of gross revenue payable in that calendar quarter by the video service provider to the City shall be the same percentage of gross revenue payable in that calendar quarter pursuant to that franchise, not to exceed 5%.
(2) Otherwise, the percentage shall be 5% of a video service provider’s gross revenues, as calculated in accordance with this chapter.
(d) A video service provider that pays a video service provider fee pursuant to this section may identify and collect the amount of that fee as a separate line item on the regular bill of each of its video service subscribers that has a service address within any portion of the City.
(e) (1) At its sole expense and not more often than once per calendar year, the City or its designee may conduct an audit for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of a video service provider’s calculation of the video service provider fees it paid to City in the audit period. For the purpose of the audit, the video service provider shall make available for inspection, at the location where such records are kept in the normal course of business, those records pertaining to its gross revenue as defined in 842.02(b).
(2) A video service provider shall pay any amounts found to have been underpaid in the audit within 30 days after notice and shall include interest on the underpayments. However, payment need not be made in that 30-day period if the video service provider brings an action under division (e)(3) of this section.
(3) An action by the City or by the video service provider to dispute the amount of video service provider fee due based on the audit results may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction not later than two years following the end of the quarter to which the disputed amount relates.
(Ord. 22-07. Passed 11-19-07.)