A Lincoln County representative may, upon reasonable written notice, review and audit the business records of a video service provider to the extent necessary to ensure payment of a franchise fee pursuant to this chapter. Lincoln County shall not request such an audit more than once every three (3) years. If the results of such a review and audit identify an underpayment of the franchise fee in an amount that requires corrective action, Lincoln County may perform a subsequent compliance review and audit to determine whether the video service provider has corrected the underpayment of the franchise fee. Lincoln County representatives shall perform the compliance review and audit not later than twelve (12) months after the date on which the video service provider submitted the results of the initial review and audit to Lincoln County.
Lincoln County and the video service provider shall each pay their own costs and fees relating to each review and audit performed pursuant to this chapter, except that if the video service provider elects to have the local government review and audit the requested business records of the video service provider at a location outside the territorial boundaries of Lincoln County, the video service provider shall pay the per diem allowances and travel expenses incurred by the Lincoln County representatives to perform the review and audit at that location.
A person who performs a review and audit pursuant to this chapter may not receive compensation that is based, in whole or in part, on:
A. Finding a particular result; or
B. The amount of any underpayment of the franchise fee that is identified because of the review and audit.
Lincoln County shall submit all actions to recover a disputed underpayment of a franchise fee from a video service provider to the attorney general for prosecution.
A video service provider may bring an action against Lincoln County to recover a disputed overpayment of a franchise fee to the local government.
Any action to recover a disputed underpayment or overpayment of a franchise fee must be commenced in the seventh judicial district court not later than four (4) years after the last day of the tax year to which the disputed underpayment or overpayment relates. (Ord. 2009-06, 11-2-2009)