ORDINANCE 1418ORDINANCE NO. 1418
AN ORDINANCE OF AMENDING § 9 -6 -3 AND ADDING A NEW §
9 -6 -27 TO THE EL SEGUNDO MUNICIPAL CODE
ESTABLISHING VIDEO FRANCHISE FEES, PEG FEES,
PENALTIES AND OTHER RELATED MATTERS FOR STATE
VIDEO FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS.
The City Council of the City of El Segundo does ordain as follows:
SECTION 1: El Segundo Municipal Code ( "ESMC ") § 9 -6 -3 is amended by adding the
definition of "State Franchisee" in alphabetical order to read as follows:
"State Franchisee" means any holder of a State - issued video franchise operating in the
City, as defined in Public Utilities Code § 5830(p).
SECTION 2: A new § 9 -6 -27 is added to the ESMC to read as follows:
"9 -6 -27: STATE VIDEO FRANCHISES:
A. PEG Fee Established. In accord with Public Utilities Code § 5870(n), any
Grantee of a Franchise, or State Franchisee, must pay the City a fee for the
support of PEG channel facilities.
1. The amount of the PEG Fee established by this section 9 -6 -27 is
two percent (2 %) of Gross Revenues, as defined in this Code, the
applicable City- issued franchise, or Public Utilities Code § 5860(d).
B. Franchise Fee Established. For any State Franchisee, the amount of the
franchise fee imposed by Public Utilities Code § 5840(q) is five percent
(5 %) of Gross Revenues, as defined in Public Utilities Code § 5860(d).
1. In accord with Public Utilities Code § 5860(a), the City Manager, or
designee, will prepare and provide to State Franchisees all
necessary documentation supporting the percentage franchise fee
paid by the incumbent cable operator serving the City.
C. Notices from State Franchisees. Any notice a State Franchisee is required
to deliver to the City by Public Utilities Code § 5840(m) must be delivered
to the City Manager, or designee.
D. Nothing in this Chapter is intended to limit or restrict in any way the
imposition of any existing or future generally applicable,
nondiscriminatory, competitively neutral tax, fee, or charge to a State
Franchisee, City franchisee or the services the franchisees provide.
E. Customer Service Provisions for State Franchisees.
All State Franchisees must comply with all applicable State and
Federal laws and regulations regarding customer service and
customer protection.
2. The City Manager, or designee, may review the performance of
State Franchisees for compliance with the customer service
requirements specified in Public Utilities Code § 5900 (the
"Customer Service Standards ").
If the City believes a material breach of the Customer Service
Standards has occurred, the City Manager must give the State
Franchisee written notice of any alleged material breach(es). The
State Franchisee must remedy the specified material breach(es) not
later than thirty (30) days from receipt of the notice.
4. If the State Franchisee fails to remedy the specified material
breach(es) within thirty (30) days, the City Manager, or designee,
may impose monetary penalties as set forth in this Section.
F. The City Manager, or designee, may impose monetary penalties as
provided by this Section as follows:
Up to five hundred dollars ($500) for each day of each material
breach, not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500)
for each occurrence of a material breach.
2. For a second material breach of the same nature within 12 months,
up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day of each material
breach, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each
occurrence of the material breach.
For a third or further material breach of the same nature within 12
months, up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day of each
material breach, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) for
each occurrence of the material breach.
4. Any monetary penalty imposed under this section may be appealed
by the State Franchisee to the City Council. Appeals must be
received in writing by the City Clerk within sixty (60) days of
imposition of the penalty. The State Franchisee may present any
relevant written or oral evidence of its choice. The City Council
may uphold or reverse, in whole or in part, the imposition of the
monetary penalties.
G. The City Manager, or designee, must ensure PEG transmissions, content,
and programming provided by the City to a State Franchisee is in a format
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compatible with the State Franchisee's system. In the alternative, the
transmissions, content, and programming may be provided in a industry
standard format, in accord with Public Utilities Code § 5870(g)(1).
H. For the duration of any City- issued franchise, if that Franchisee has
existing unsatisfied obligations under the franchise to pay to the City any
cash payments for the ongoing costs of public, educational, and
government access channel facilities or institutional networks, the fee
payable by each City and State Franchisee is the Franchisee's pro rata per
subscriber share of the cash payment required to be paid by the City
franchisee to the City for the costs of PEG channel facilities.
1. Within forty -five (45) days after receiving notice required by Public
Utilities Code § 5840(n), each City and State Franchisee must
provide to the City Manager, or designee, a written statement of the
number of its subscribers within the Franchisee's service area in the
City.
2. Within forty -five (45) days after receiving all Franchisee subscriber
number statements, the City Manager, or designee, must calculate
the division of the cash payments among all City and State
Franchisees, and provide written notice to each Franchisee of the
Franchisee's share of the cash payment. This amount may
expressed as a percentage of gross revenue or as an amount per
subscriber, per month, or otherwise.
I. Interconnection. To properly serve the City's interest in PEG
programming, each State Franchisee and City Franchisee must comply
with the PEG system interconnection requirements of Public Utilities
Code § 5870. The City Manager, or his or her designee, may make any
interconnection determinations of the City under Public Utilities Code §
5870, including requiring interconnection where the City Franchisee and
State Franchisee fail to reach a mutually acceptable interconnection
agreement."
SECTION 3: Repeal or amendment of any provision of the El Segundo Municipal Code
herein will not affect any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred before, or preclude
prosecution and imposition of penalties for any violation occurring before, this
Ordinance's effective date. Any such repealed part will remain in full force and effect for
sustaining action or prosecuting violations occurring before the effective date of this
Ordinance.
SECTION 4: If any part of this Ordinance or its application is deemed invalid by a court
of competent jurisdiction, the city council intends that such invalidity will not affect the
effectiveness of the remaining provisions or applications and, to this end, the provisions
of this Ordinance are severable.
SECTION 5: The City Clerk is directed to certify the passage and adoption of this
Ordinance; cause it to be entered into the City of El Segundo's book of original
ordinances; make a note of the passage and adoption in the records of this meeting; and,
within fifteen (15) days after the passage and adoption of this Ordinance, cause it to be
published or posted in accordance with California law.
SECTION 6: This Ordinance will become effective on the thirty -first (31st) day
following its passage and adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 1st day of April , 2008.
M
ATTEST:
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS
CITY OF EL SEGUNDO )
I, Cindy Mortesen, City Clerk of the City of El Segundo, California, do hereby certify
that the whole number of members of the City Council of said City is five; that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 1418 was duly introduced by said City Council at a regular
meeting held on the 18th day of March , 2008, and was duly passed and
adopted by said City Council, approved and signed by the Mayor, and attested to by the
City Clerk, all at a regular meeting of said Council held on the 1st day
of April , 2008, and the same was so passed and adopted by the following
vote:
AYES: McDowell, Busch, Boulgarides, Fisher, Jacobson
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
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m Mort e City erk
ATTEST:
5