[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Crystal Lake
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-18-2007 by Ord. No. 6304]
A.
Adoption. The regulations of 220 ILCS 5/70-501 are hereby
adopted by reference and made applicable to the cable or video providers offering
services within the City's boundaries.
B.
Amendments. Any amendment to the Cable and Video Customer
Protection Law that becomes effective after the effective date of this article
shall be incorporated into this article by reference and shall be applicable
to cable or video providers offering services within the municipality's
boundaries. However, any amendment that makes its provisions optional for
adoption by municipalities shall not be incorporated into this article by
reference without formal action by the corporate authorities of the City.
The City does hereby pursuant to law declare its intent to enforce all
of the customer service and privacy protection standards of the Cable and
Video Protection Law with respect to complaints received from residents within
the City.
The City, pursuant to 220 ILCS 5/70-501(r)(1), does hereby provide for
a schedule of penalties for any material breach of the Cable and Video Protection
Law by cable or video providers in addition to the penalties provided in the
law. The monetary penalties shall apply on a competitively neutral basis and
shall not exceed $750 for each day of the material breach, and shall not exceed
$25,000 for each occurrence of a material breach per customer.
A.
"Material breach" means any substantial failure of a
cable or video provider to comply with service quality and other standards
specified in any provision of the law.
B.
The City shall give the cable or video provider written
notice of any alleged material breaches of the law and allow such provider
at least 30 days from the receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material
breach.
The City hereby adopts the schedule of customer credits for violations.
Those credits shall be as provided for in the provisions of 220 ILCS 5/70-501(s)
and applied on the statement issued to the customer for the next billing cycle
following the violation or following the discovery of the violation. The cable
or video provider is responsible for providing the credits, and the customer
is under no obligation to request the credit.
[Adopted 12-18-2007 by Ord. No. 6305]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following
meanings:
That term as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 522(6).
The Illinois Commerce Commission.
All consideration of any kind or nature, including, without limitation,
cash, credits, property, and in-kind contributions received by the holder
for the operation of a cable or video system to provide cable service or video
service within the holder's cable service or video service area within
the City.
Gross revenues shall include the following:
Recurring charges for cable or video service.
Event-based charges for cable service or video service, including, but
not limited to, pay-per-view and video-on-demand charges.
Rental of set-top boxes and other cable service or video service equipment.
Service charges related to the provision of cable service or video service,
including but not limited to activation, installation, and repair charges.
Administrative charges related to the provision of cable service or
video service, including but not limited to service order and service termination
charges.
Late payment fees or charges, insufficient funds check charges, and
other charges assessed to recover the costs of collecting delinquent payments.
A pro rata portion of all revenue derived by the holder or its affiliates
pursuant to compensation arrangements for advertising or for promotion or
exhibition of any products or services derived from the operation of the holder's
network to provide cable service or video service within the City. The allocation
shall be based on the number of subscribers in the City divided by the total
number of subscribers in relation to the relevant regional or national compensation
arrangement.
Compensation received by the holder that is derived from the operation
of the holder's network to provide cable service or video service with
respect to commissions that are received by the holder as compensation for
promotion or exhibition of any products or services on the holder's network,
such as a "home shopping" or similar channel, subject to Subsection A(9).
In the case of a cable service or video service that is bundled or integrated
functionally with other services, capabilities, or applications, the portion
of the holder's revenue attributable to the other services, capabilities,
or applications shall be included in the gross revenue unless the holder can
reasonably identify the division or exclusion of the revenue from its books
and records that are kept in the regular course of business.
The service provider fee permitted by 220 ILCS 5/21-801(b).
Gross revenues do not include any of the following:
Revenues not actually received, even if billed, such as bad debt, subject
to 220 ILCS 5/21-801(c)(1)(vi).
Refunds, discounts, or other price adjustments that reduce the amount
of gross revenues received by the holder of the state-issued authorization
to the extent the refund, rebate, credit, or discount is attributable to cable
service or video service.
Regardless of whether the services are bundled, packaged, or functionally
integrated with cable service or video service, any revenues received from
services not classified as cable service or video service, including, without
limitation, revenue received from telecommunications services, information
services, or the provision of directory or Internet advertising, including
yellow pages, white pages, banner advertisement, and electronic publishing
or any other revenues attributed by the holder to noncable service or nonvideo
service in accordance with the holder's books and records and records
kept in the regular course of business and any applicable laws, rules, regulations,
standards, or orders.
The sale of cable services or video services for resale in which the
purchaser is required to collect the service provider fee from the purchaser's
subscribers to the extent the purchaser certifies in writing that it will
resell the service within the City and pay the fee permitted by 220 ILCS 5/21-801(b)
with respect to the service.
Any tax or fee of general applicability imposed upon the subscribers
or the transaction by a city, state, federal, or any other governmental entity
and collected by the holder of the state-issued authorization and required
to be remitted to the taxing entity, including sales and use taxes.
Security deposits collected from subscribers.
Amounts paid by subscribers to "home shopping" or similar vendors for
merchandise sold through any home shopping channel offered as part of the
cable service or video service.
Revenue of an affiliate of a holder shall be included in the calculation
of gross revenues to the extent the treatment of the revenue as revenue of
the affiliate rather than the holder has the effect of evading the payment
of the fee permitted by 220 ILCS 5/21-801(b) which would otherwise be paid
by the cable service or video service.
A person or entity that has received authorization to offer or provide
cable or video service from the Commission pursuant to 220 ILCS 5/21-401.
The provision of cable service or video service to subscribers and
the interaction of subscribers with the person or entity that has received
authorization to offer or provide cable or video service from the Commission
pursuant to 220 ILCS 5/21-401.
The amount paid under this article and 220 ILCS 5/21-801 by the holder
to a City for the service areas within its territorial jurisdiction.
Video programming and subscriber interaction, if any, that is required
for the selection or use of such video programming services, and which is
provided through wireline facilities located at least in part in the public
right-of-way without regard to delivery technology, including Internet protocol
technology. This definition does not include any video programming provided
by a commercial mobile service provider defined in 47 U.S.C. § 332(d)
or any video programming provided solely as part of, and via, service that
enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services
offered over the public Internet.
A.
Fee imposed. A fee is hereby imposed on any holder providing
cable service or video service in the City.
B.
Amount of fee. The amount of the fee imposed hereby shall
be 5% of the holder's gross revenues.
C.
Notice to the City. The holder shall notify the City
at least 10 days prior to the date on which the holder begins to offer cable
service or video service in the City.
D.
Holder's liability. The holder shall be liable for
and pay the service provider fee to the City. The holder's liability
for the fee shall commence on the first day of the calendar month following
30 days after receipt of the ordinance adopting this article by the holder.
The ordinance adopting this article shall be sent by mail, postage prepaid,
to the address listed on the holder's application notice sent pursuant
to 220 ILCS 5/21-401(b)(6) to the City.
E.
Payment date. The payment of the service provider fee
shall be due on a quarterly basis, 45 days after the close of the calendar
quarter. If mailed, the fee is considered paid on the date it is postmarked.
Each payment shall include a statement explaining the basis for the calculation
of the fee.
F.
Exemption. The fee hereby imposed does not apply to existing
cable service or video service providers that have an existing franchise agreement
with the City in which a fee is paid.
All determinations and calculations under this article shall be made
pursuant to generally accepted accounting principles.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to exempt a holder
from any tax that is or may later be imposed by the City, including any tax
that is or may later be required to be paid by or through the holder with
respect to cable service or video service. A state-issued authorization shall
not affect any requirement of the holder with respect to payment of the City's
simplified municipal telecommunications tax or any other tax as it applies
to any telephone service provided by the holder. A state-issued authorization
shall not affect any requirement of the holder with respect to payment of
the local unit of government's 911 or E911 fees, taxes or charges.
A.
Audit requirement. The City will notify the holder of
the requirements it imposes on other cable service or video service providers
to submit to an audit of its books and records. The holder shall comply with
the same requirements the City imposes on other cable service or video service
providers in its jurisdiction to audit the holder's books and records
and to recompute any amounts determined to be payable under the requirements
of the City. If all local franchises between the City and cable operator terminate,
the audit requirements shall be those adopted by the City pursuant to the
Local Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, 50 ILCS 45/1 et seq.
No acceptance of amounts remitted should be construed as an accord that the
amounts are correct.
B.
Additional payments. Any additional amount due after
an audit shall be paid within 30 days after the municipality's submission
of an invoice for the sum.
All fees due and payments which are past due shall be governed by ordinances
adopted by this municipality pursuant to the Local Government Taxpayers'
Bill of Rights Act, 50 ILCS 45/1 et seq.
