Laguna Woods Municipal Code Ch. 6.42 Regulation of State Video Franchise Holders

This chapter is designed to regulate video service providers holding State video franchises and operating within the City.

On January 1, 2007, the State of California became the sole authority with power to grant State video franchises pursuant to the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 ("The Act"). Pursuant to the Act, the City of Laguna Woods shall receive a franchise fee and a fee for public, educational and/or government (PEG) purposes from all State video franchise holders operating within the City. Additionally, the City acquired the responsibility to establish and enforce penalties, consistent with state law, against all State video franchise holders operating within the City for violations of customer service standards. The Act precludes the City from adopting its own standards and grants all authority to adopt customer service standards to the State. The Act leaves unchanged the City's authority to regulate, in accordance with Chapter 6.34, the City's current cable franchises and any City cable franchise(s) issued prior to January 1, 2008, if any, until the expiration of any such franchise.

(Ord. No. 07-03, § 2, 6-27-2007)

(a) For any state video franchise holder operating within the boundaries of the City, there shall be a fee paid to the City equal to five percent of the gross revenue of that state video franchise holder.

(b) For any state video franchise holder operating within the boundaries of the City, there shall be an additional fee paid to the City equal to one percent of the gross revenue of that state video franchise holder, which fee shall be used by the City for any Public, Educational, and/or Governmental (PEG) purposes consistent with State and Federal law.

(c) Gross revenue, for the purposes of Subsections (a) and (b) above, shall have the definition set forth in California Public Utilities Code § 5860.

(d) The City Council, may, by resolution, opt to temporarily waive the collection, but not the imposition, of the franchise fee and/or the PEG fee.

(Ord. No. 07-03, § 2, 6-27-2007; Ord. No. 17-04, § 1, 5-17-2017)

Not more than once annually, the City Manager or her designee may examine and perform an audit of the business records of a holder of a State video franchise to ensure compliance with Section 6.42.020.

(Ord. No. 07-03, § 2, 6-27-2007)

(a) The holder of a state video franchise shall comply with all applicable State and Federal customer service and protection standards pertaining to the provision of video service.

(b) The City Manager or her designee shall monitor the compliance of State video franchise holders with respect to State and Federal customer service and protection standards. The City Manager or her designee will provide the State video franchise holder written notice of any material breaches of applicable customer service standards, and will allow the State video franchise holder 30 days from the receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material breach. Material breaches not remedied within the 30-day time period will be subject to the following penalties to be imposed by the City:

(1) For the first occurrence of a violation, a fine of $500.00 shall be imposed for each day the violation remains in effect, not to exceed $1,500.00 for each violation.

(2) For a second violation of the same nature within 12 months, a fine of $1,000.00 shall be imposed for each day the violation remains in effect, not to exceed $3,000.00 for each violation.

(3) For a third or further violation of the same nature within 12 months, a fine of $2,500.00 shall be imposed for each day the violation remains in effect, not to exceed $7,500.00 for each violation.

(c) A State video franchise holder may appeal a penalty assessed by the City Manager to the City Council within 60 days of the initial assessment. The City Council shall hear all evidence and relevant testimony and may uphold, modify or vacate the penalty. The City Council's decision on the imposition of a penalty shall be final.

(Ord. No. 07-03, § 2, 6-27-2007)

(a) Applicants for State video franchises within the boundaries of the City must concurrently provide complete copies to the City of any application or amendments to applications filed with the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC). One complete copy must be provided to the City Manager.

(b) Within 30 days of receipt, the City Manager will provide any appropriate comments to the PUC regarding an application or an amendment to an application for a State video franchise.

(Ord. No. 07-03, § 2, 6-27-2007)