H.
B.
4457
(By Delegates Brown and Browning)
[Introduced February 14, 1994; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article eighteen, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section thirty-one, relating to the West Virginia cable television systems act; cable franchising authority; when the West Virginia cable television advisory board may become the franchise authority; and providing for late fees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article eighteen, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section thirty-one, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 18. WEST VIRGINIA CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEMS ACT.
§
5
-
18
-
4. Cable franchise required; franchising authority.
(a) No person may construct, operate or acquire a cable system, or extend an existing cable system outside its designated service area, without first obtaining a cable franchise from a franchising authority as provided in this article.
(b) Any person operating a cable system on the effective date of this article without a franchise shall, within sixty days of the effective date of this article, notify the board in writing setting forth: (1) The name, business address and telephone number of the cable operator; (2) the principals and ultimate beneficial owners of the cable system or systems; (3) the geographic location and service area of any cable system operated by such person; and (4) the number of subscribers within the cable system or systems. If the board shall not have been appointed and organized within sixty days of the effective date of this article, then such filing shall be made with the public service commission where such documents shall be retained for delivery to the board following the appointment and organization of its members.
(c) The board shall, upon receipt of such information, determine the appropriate franchising authority or authorities for the purposes of the consideration of the issuance of a franchise to such cable operator or operators and shall notify the appropriate franchising authority or authorities and any such cable system operator of the franchise application procedures to be followed by the respective parties. Any such cable operator shall, within sixty days of receipt of such notice from the board, make formal application to the appropriate franchising authority or authorities for a franchise in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(d) The franchising authority shall be the municipality in which a cable system is to be constructed, operated, acquired or extended, or if there be no such municipality or if the municipality so elects not to act as a franchising authority, then the franchising authority shall be the county commission of the county in which such cable system is to be constructed, operated, acquired or extended:
Provided,
That nothing herein shall prohibit any county commission of a county in which a municipality acting as a franchising authority is located from also acting as a franchising authority for any cable system to be constructed, operated, acquired or extended within the jurisdiction of such county commission, nor prohibit any county commission of a county acquiring the franchise authority from a municipality from electing to transfer such authority to the board.
(e) If a county commission elects not to act as the franchise authority, the board shall become the franchise authority. A county commission acting as a franchise authority for unincorporated areas of the county may elect separately to transfer to the board any franchise authority acquired from a municipality. If any municipality or county commission so elects not to be the franchise authority, the mayor or president of the county commission shall certify such delegation in writing to the presiding officer of the board. Such election shall be promptly made upon written request of the board or the cable operator.
(e) If any municipality or county commission elects not to act as the franchise authority on or before the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the board shall become the franchise authority. The election not to act as the franchise authority, shall be deemed to have been made by a municipality or county if by the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, no valid franchise agreement exists between any municipality or county commission and any cable operator operating a cable system within said municipality's or county commission's jurisdiction. Where more than one cable system is in operation in a municipality or county, this subsection applies only to the municipality's or county commission's authority to be the franchise authority for any cable system not having a franchise agreement on the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, and, this subsection will not otherwise invalidate an existing franchise. Further, when the board acts as franchising authority following a municipality's or county commission's election not to act as the franchising authority, the board shall remit to the municipality or county commission the amount of any franchise fee allowed under 47 U.S.C. §542, and paid by the cable operator, except that the board may retain a portion of the franchise fee not to exceed one percent of such cable operator' gross revenues derived from the operation of the cable system:
Provided,
That to be eligible to receive the payment of any excess franchise fee the municipality or county commission must, within ninety days following receipt of written notice from the board that the board will be acting as franchise authority, pass an ordinance or enter an order establishing the franchise fee to be imposed on the cable operator. The board shall give thirty days written notice to a cable operator for whom the board becomes the franchise authority under this section to file an application for franchise with the board. Failure of a cable operator to file an application for franchise with the board is a violation of this article.
§
5-18-31. Late fees.
(a) For the purpose of this section, "late fees" includes any fee, assessment or charge levied by a cable operator for the purpose of recovering the costs of billing and processing balances unpaid by the scheduled due date of a delinquent subscriber's monthly bill.
(b) Cable operators that elect to charge late fees must use one of the following methods:
(1) A fixed rate fee not to exceed five dollars may be charged on the unpaid balance after the scheduled due date;
(2) A percentage fee not to exceed five percent may be charged on the unpaid balance after the scheduled due date.
(c) Cable operators must provide written notice to cable subscribers of the operator's late fee policy prior to charging any late fees. One of the following methods shall be used:
(1) For companies with monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly billing periods, notice shall be printed on or supplied with each billing statement detailing the scheduled due date and the amount or percentage rate of any possible late fee;
(2) For companies with annual or coupon book billing systems, a written notice must be supplied to each subscriber at least annually detailing the due date and amount or percentage rate of any possible late fee. This information may be included with any notice required by this article or by federal law to be delivered to subscribers.
(d) Any late fee charged by a cable operator may be collected only once on any individual billing statement for a billing period, however long it remains unpaid.
(e) A late fee may not be imposed unless the scheduled due date of a payment is at least fifteen days following the date the bill or statement for such payment is mailed to the subscriber by placing the same, postage prepared, in the United States mail.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the West Virginia Cable Television Advisory Board to become the franchising authority for a cable television system if a county commission or municipality has failed to act as a franchising authority by September 1, 1994. The bill authorizes the advisory board to collect the franchise fee and remit it to the county or municipality while retaining 1%. And, it authorizes a late fee charge and requires written notice to cable subscribers of the operator's policy, prior to charging late fees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
Section 31 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.