4.08.230 Imposition of franchise fees.
A. For the privilege of using the City’s streets and other facilities and for the purpose of defraying the City’s regulatory expenses, each franchisee shall pay a franchise fee to the City at a rate established by resolution of the city council.
1. The franchise fee shall be computed and collected on a calendar quarterly basis.
2. The fee shall be paid by the franchisee not later than the last day of the month immediately following the end of the quarter.
3. A franchise fee payment shall become delinquent if not paid by the last day of the month immediately following the end of the quarter.
4. A simple interest charge of 18 percent shall be charged against the entire delinquent balance until the balance is paid.
B. At the time of payment of the quarterly fee, each franchisee shall file with the city manager a verified statement of quarterly cash receipts for the period covered by the tendered fee.
1. Such statements shall be public records.
2. Each franchisee shall maintain books and records disclosing the cash receipts derived from business conducted within the City, which shall be open at reasonable times for audit by the city manager.
3. The City may require a uniform system of bookkeeping and record keeping to be used by all franchisees.
4. Material misrepresentation of cash receipts by a franchisee constitutes cause for revocation of the franchise.
C. The franchise fee imposed by this section is in addition to and not in lieu of any other fee, charge, or tax imposed by the City.
D. The obligation to pay franchise fees on cash receipts generated from services performed under a City franchise shall survive termination of the franchise no matter how terminated.
E. The city council by resolution may change the amount and computation of franchise fees from time to time.
F. The council by resolution may reallocate the franchise fee percentages for different customer groups, such as residential or commercial, if such a reallocation mitigates a cost of service disparity that is not fully corrected through the rate setting process.
1. In order to do so, the city manager must be able to demonstrate that overall equity among the franchisees is improved.
2. Such a reallocation may not materially reduce the amount of total franchise fee revenue obtained by the City. [BC 4.08.230, added by Ordinance No. 4203, 5/6/02; amended by Ordinances No. 4613, 4/2/13, Ordinance No. 4794, 12/1/20]