(a) Compensation. As compensation for the City's costs to administer Sections 1180.01 through 1180.21, manage, administer, and control the rights-of-way and maintain each certificate of registration issued, every provider or any person operating a system shall pay to the City registration maintenance fees beginning January 1, 2023. The registration maintenance fee shall be determined and assessed to providers and other persons operating a system or otherwise using and occupying the rights-of-way in accordance with the following process and formula:
(1) The City by January 1 of each year shall calculate all actual and incurred costs associated with rights-of-way management, administration, and control for the previous calendar year that the City was not able to reasonably recover through construction permit fees or other recovery mechanisms provided for in Sections 1180.01 through 1180.21.
(2) Providers and applicants shall accurately inform the City upon application for a certificate of registration and on or before each subsequent January 1 of the number of miles (rounded up to the nearest mile) of right-of-way the provider's system then occupied as of the immediately previous December 1.
(3) The City shall total the entire number of miles of right-of-way reported as being used or occupied by all providers.
(4) The City shall divide the calculated costs by the total number of miles of right-of-way reported as being used or occupied by all providers to arrive at a per-mile cost number.
(5) The City shall then multiply each provider's mileage calculation by the per-mile cost calculation .The product shall be a provider's then current annual registration maintenance fee.
(6) The City shall perform its annual calculation of registration maintenance fees following receipt of the providers required January 1 mileage report. Registration maintenance fees shall be invoiced to providers on or about February 1 of each calendar year and shall be due thirty (30) days following receipt.
(7) Cable companies operating under non-exclusive cable franchises for the purposes of providing cable service, video service providers as defined by Ohio R.C. Section 1332.24, providers of open video system services, which compensate the City under other mechanisms shall have the mileage of the right-of-way they use and/or occupy included in the calculations, but shall not be required to contribute to the recovery of rights-of-way costs as defined by Sections 1180.01 through 1180.21 with the exception of permit costs.
(b) Timing. Registration maintenance fees shall be paid by February 1 of each calendar year. Registration maintenance fees shall be paid in full for the first year of the registration as a condition of the certificate of registration becoming effective. Fees may be prorated from the effective date of the certificate of registration to the end of the calendar year if less than one full year.
(c) Taxes and Assessments. To the extent taxes or other assessments are imposed by taxing authorities on the use of City property as a result of a provider's use or occupation of the rights-of-way, the provider shall be responsible for payment of such taxes. Such payments shall be in addition to any other fees payable pursuant to Sections 1180.01 through 1180.21 and shall not be considered an offset to, or in lieu of, the fees and charges listed in Sections 1180.01 through 1180.21. The registration maintenance fee is not in lieu of any tax, fee, or other assessment except as specifically provided in Sections 1180.01 through 1180.21, or as required by applicable law.
(d) Interest on Late Payments. In the event that any registration maintenance fee is not paid to the City by March 1 of the year the fee is due, the provider shall pay a monthly late charge of ten percent (10%) of the unpaid balance for each month or any portion thereof for which payment is not made.
(e) No Accord and Satisfaction. No acceptance by the City of any registration maintenance fee shall be construed as an accord that the amount paid is in fact the correct amount, nor shall such acceptance of such registration maintenance fee payment be construed as a release of any claim the City may have for additional sums payable.
(Ord. 051-2022. Passed 12-5-22.)