A franchisee shall publish and file with the City Manager schedules of all rates and charges for all services offered to the subscribing public. Such schedules shall plainly state the cost of each particular service or combination of services, together with all rules, regulations and requirements affecting the installation, maintenance and provision of service or which otherwise affect the quality or cost of such service to the subscriber. The manner and form by which such schedules are published shall be reviewed and approved by the City Manager. Copies of all such schedules shall be available to the public upon payment of a reasonable fee equal to the cost of reproduction.
A. 
The franchisee shall not, in its rates or charges or in making available the services or facilities of its system or in its rules or regulations or in any other respect, make or grant a preference or advantage to any subscriber or potential user of the cable television system or to any user or potential user of the cable television system and shall not subject any such person to any prejudice or disadvantage.
B. 
This provision shall not be deemed to prohibit promotional campaigns to stimulate subscriptions to the cable television system or other legitimate uses thereof. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, this provision shall not prohibit the franchisee's establishment of special rates or charges for subscribers eligible and participating in the City's real estate tax relief for the elderly program or handicapped persons, as eligible to receive a tax exemption pursuant to the City's ordinance authorizing such for the elderly and handicapped.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. See Ch. 137, Tax Exemptions.
A. 
A franchisee's initial rates for both basic subscriber service and special services shall not exceed the rates submitted in the franchisee's application as a part of its proposal for a cable television system franchise for a minimum period of one year. Thereafter, future rate increases throughout the term of the franchise shall be governed by the procedures set out in the franchise agreement between the City and franchisee. Calculation of the time period that initial rates are valid will begin following the first subscriber connection.
B. 
Notwithstanding the above, the City reserves the right to regulate cable installation and service fees for all cable services upon the finding that monthly service charges for one or more services or one or more installation charges exceed, by 10%, the average charges in use by cable firms in other jurisdictions within a one-hundred-mile radius of the City. Upon notice of this finding to the franchisee, the franchisee shall reduce the offending charges to within the ten-percent limit prescribed within 30 days from said notice, or the City shall implement permanent rate regulation procedures for the life of the franchise. The City shall have the sole authority to develop procedures and methodology for rate regulation to ensure reasonable rate regulation and a fair return on investment by the franchisee in the cable system. In determining a franchisee's rate base for reviewing proposed rate increases, the City shall not in any event take into account any value beyond the net book value of a cable plant then in existence and devoted to cable television service. The regulation procedure, at a minimum, shall include hearings and 60 days' notice from the effective date of any rate increase requested.
A. 
Complaints by any subscriber may be filed with the franchisee in writing or delivered to the franchisee orally, in person or by telephone.
B. 
Any complaints received from subscribers shall be investigated by the franchisee and acted upon as soon as possible within one business day of the receipt.
C. 
The franchisee shall keep a maintenance service log that will indicate the nature of each complaint, the name of the employee of the franchisee receiving the complaint, the date and time it was received, the disposition of the complaint and the time and date thereof. The log shall also indicate specific steps taken by the franchisee to remedy the complaint. This log shall be made available for inspection upon request by the City Manager.
D. 
Notwithstanding the above, the franchisee shall advise the City Manager, in writing, on a quarterly basis of all unresolved complaints. The nature and number of unresolved complaints shall be considered by the City Council during any subsequent renegotiations for the extension of any cable television system franchise.