(a) City reserves right to regulate rates. The city reserves the right to regulate the grantee's rates for cable service to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
(b) Current rate schedule to be filed with city: 30 days notice required prior to rate change. A grantee, for information purposes, and for the city to ensure nondiscrimination, shall provide the city with a complete schedule of all current basic service and enhanced service rates and charges, including pay TV and pay-per-view rates and charges, and (subject to other requirements specified in the materials referenced in Section 95-14(e)) shall give 30 days prior notice from the date of mailing to the city and to all affected subscribers of any pricing changes or additional charges, excluding temporary marketing and sales discounts or offers. Forty-five days before any price changes or additional charges are to take effect, a grantee shall provide the city with a copy of the proposed notification for subscribers so that the city may review the text of the notice to assure accuracy of information being presented to subscribers.
(c) Grantee to furnish service to each person in franchise area making request for service. Grantee shall furnish and maintain cable service to each person within the franchise area who makes a bona fide request to receive such service that is based upon the requirements of this ordinance and/or a franchise agreement. Nothing in a franchise agreement shall limit the right of the grantee to deny service to any person which has a negative credit or service history with the grantee, which may include non-payment of bills or theft or damage to the grantee's equipment, or who has threatened or assaulted employees of the grantee in the course of their employment. Provided that in the event service is denied, the grantee will give written notice to the person requesting service of his or her right to appeal to the city the grantee's decision to deny service, and of the city's authority to reverse the grantee's decision in instances where the grantee has acted unreasonably.
(d) Basic service charges must be applied on nondiscriminatory basis. All charges for basic service must be applied on a nondiscriminatory basis. A grantee may, however, conduct promotional campaigns in which rates are discounted or waived, and may offer bulk rate discounts for multiple unit dwellings, hotels, motels, and similar institutions.
(e) City adopts rate regulation procedures consistent with FCC rules. The city hereby adopts by reference rules of the Federal Communications Commission set forth in Subpart (n) (Cable Rate Regulation) of Part 76 (Cable Television Service) of Chapter I of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulation regarding the regulation of cable television rates for basic service and associated equipment, as amended.
After a grantee has submitted for review its existing rates for the basic service tier and associated equipment costs or a proposed increase in these rates, the grantee shall publish a public notice of the rates and costs giving interested parties, including the grantee, a reasonable opportunity to file written comments which shall be available in the offices of the City Secretary for public inspection and copying during normal business hours.
The city adopts by reference procedures set forth in 47 CFR Section 459 regarding confidential business information submitted by the Grantee in a rate regulation proceeding.
A grantee which willfully or repeatedly fails to comply with a rate regulation or refund order directed specifically at the grantee shall be subject to a monetary forfeiture as determined by the city, not to exceed $10,000.00 for failure to comply with a rate regulation and $50,000.00 for failure to comply with a refund order.
(Ord. No. 2801, § 3, 2-25-99)