(A) In consideration that the streets used by the licensee in the operation of its cable system within the town are valuable public properties acquired and maintained by the town at great expense to its taxpayers, and that the grant to the licensee for the use of said streets is a valuable property right without which the licensee would be required to invest substantial capital in right-of-way costs and acquisitions, and because the town will incur costs in regulating and administering the license, the licensee shall pay to the town a license fee in an amount no more than 5% of licensee's annual gross revenues.
(B) If licensee provides its subscriber a bundling discount if the subscriber purchases a bundle of cable service and non-cable services, then the price of cable service included in the bundle shall be allocated based on the licensee's standard, non-discounted rate. For example: if a subscriber's charges for a given month for cable service alone would be $40, for local telephone service alone would be $30, and for internet services alone would be $30, for a total of $100; and if the 3 services are then bundled and offered at a combined price of $80 (overall 20% discount), then the gross revenue from the cable service will be deemed to be $32 ($40, less 20% of $40.00). Licensee may allocate the discount differently over the services, so long as such allocation does not reduce the gross revenues from cable services below what it would be from the above calculation. Licensee shall not use bundled package offerings as a means of evading the payment of financial obligations that are based on cable service revenue.
(C) Should federal or state laws or regulations be amended in the future to allow the town to receive a greater fee than the fee set forth in division (A) of this section, then the town shall have the right to increase the fee to the extent specified in the license, or meet with licensee to modify the license.
(D) The payment of the license fee by the licensee to the town shall be made quarterly by delivery of the same to the manager on or before the twentieth day of the month following the quarter end, and shall become delinquent if not paid before 45 days after the end of the quarter. Payment shall be accompanied by a license fee payment worksheet provided by the town. If such payment is not made by the next to the last business day of the following month, the town shall impose interest at a rate of 1.5% per month commencing from the date payment should have been made, unless the payment is subject to a bona fide dispute, and continuing until the payment is made. Fractions of a month shall be considered to constitute a full month for the purpose of computing interest. In addition to interest which may be assessed under this division, if licensee fails to pay any license fee, licensee shall be subject to the following civil penalties:
(1) A licensee who fails to pay the license fee or any portion thereof within the time prescribed shall pay a penalty of 10% of the unpaid fee each month, unless the licensee shows that the failure is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.
(2) A licensee who fails or refuses to pay a license fee or any portion thereof after notice and demand by the town shall pay a penalty of 25% of the unpaid fee, unless licensee shows that the failure is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.
(3) If the cause of failure to pay the licensee fee or any portion thereof is determined by the town to be due to civil fraud or evasion of the license fee, the licensee shall pay a penalty of 50% of the amount of deficiency.
(E) The town shall have the right to inspect the licensee's cable service income records and the right to audit and to recompute any amounts determined to be payable under this chapter; provided, however, that such audit shall take place within 36 months following the close of each of the licensee's fiscal years. Any additional amount due to the town as a result of the audit shall be paid within 30 days following written notice to the licensee by the town, said notice shall include a copy of the audit report; provided, however, that licensee shall not be required to pay such deficiency until 30 days after completion of the administrative review process if licensee commences such process pursuant to § 114.51(A)(3). If there is a deficiency in the payment of license fees to the town of 10% or more, the town may assess the cost of the audit to the licensee. If town owes a refund to licensee or if licensee owes additional amounts to town, town and licensee shall agree upon a reasonable payment schedule with interest from the date of request until paid at the rate provided for hereunder.
(F) In compliance with applicable law, licensee shall not be required to pay any town right-of-way construction permit and development review fees which the town imposes under town code requirements on licensee's construction permit activities in or on the town streets for cable services and such fees shall be included in the license fee. If facilities constructed by licensee serve not only cable services but also internet service or telecommunications services, then licensee shall pay a proportionate cost of the permit fees attributable to those services for which an annual license fee is not being paid.
(Ord. 16-825, passed 9-13-2016)