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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 11051991 - IO.6 ` I .O.-6 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ` Costa October 28, 1991 0 .� County DATE: SrA chi K REPORT ON A PROPOSED STATEMENT FROM THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. SUBJECT: RELATING TO VIACOM.'S RECENT RATE INCREASE SPECIFIC REOUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Approve the attached draft letter as a possible response to Viacom customers who complain about the recently announced rate increase resulting from the reassessment of Viacom' s property and make the letter available to each Board member for his or her use if and to the extent each Board member wishes to use this draft to respond to such complaints.. 2. Request the Cable TV Franchise Administrator to write to Viacom and Televents asking that they discontinue sending their customers letters which inaccurately blame the "County" or the "Board of Supervisors" for the reassessment of their property which has caused the cable companies to increase their rates. 3 . Request the Cable TV Franchise Administrator to prepare a letter to the editor summarizing the Board of Supervisors' position in this matter and emphasizing that the County Assessor is using a valuation methodology developed by the State Board of Equalization and that the Board of Supervisors has no control whatever over the assessments. made of cable TV property. . 4. Remove this item as a referral to our Committee. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: Ye S YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE T SIGNATURE(S): CHRODER I.N. WRIGHT MCPEAK ACTION OF BOARD ON November• , APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER I I VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE XX UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: Please see Page 2. ATTESTED November 5, 1991 PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY e' O `'A -� DEPUTY M382 (10/88) i .o. -6 BACKGROUND: on September 24, 1991, on the recommendation of Supervisor Torlakson, the Board of Supervisors referred to our Committee the. question of drafting. a letter which could. be.. sent to individuals. who complain to their County Supervisor about the rate increase being imposed by Viacom as a result of having had their property reassessed as is provided for by Proposi.tion. 13 . On October 28, 1991 our Committee met with Pat Burke, Assistant Cable TV Franchise Administrator and Jack Kennedy from the. County Assessor' s Office. We reviewed the attached draft letter which has been prepared by staff for use by Board members to respond to complaints they may receive from constituents who are upset by the rate increase and the accompanying letter they have !received from Viacom. We do . not intend that any effort be made to send this letter to all Viacom customers.. However, we are suggesting that. the letter be made available to each Board member and. his or her staff- to use in responding to complaints from Viacom customers. Viacom serves Hercules., Pinole, El Sobrante:, Pittsburg and Antioch and. the surrounding unincorporated areas. of the County. Thus, this letter will be of use primarily to the Supervisors from Districts I , II and V. The attached draft letter has been reviewed and approved by the County Counsel.' s Office. We would suggest that this draft. be used and that any modifications to the letter be cleared with the County Counsel' s Office before being made since Viacom is. undertaking an appeal. to the reassessment. Board members' staff can contact Pat Burke at 6-2948 if they would like to get the letter on a computer disk which they can then use to personalize the letter. We have also been advised that Televents. is apparently similarly sending letters to its customers blaming the County and the Board of Supervisors for rate increases resulting from increased property tax assessments. We are, therefore:, suggesting that a letter to the Editor be sent to the newspapers in the County setting forth the Board position in this matter. In addition, we are asking that a letter be prepared for the Chair' s signature asking Viacom and Televents to discontinue sending their customers letters which inaccurately blame the County and/or the. Board. of Supervisors. for these- rate increases... cc: County Administrator Sara Hoffman, Cable. TV Franchise Administrator Pat Burke, ,Assistant Cable TV Franchise Administrator County Counsel Viacom (Via Pat Burke) Televents (Via Pat Burke) I i The Board of Supervisors ' Phil Batchelor Contra Clerk of the Board and County Administration Building Costa County Administrator 651 Pine St., Room 106 (415)646-2371 Marti nez,.Calitornia 94553 County Tom Powers,1st District Nancy C.Fanden,2nd District _ -- Robert 1.Schroder,3rd District Sunne Wright McPeak 4th District O. Nn9 Tom Torlakson,5th District :* sry�•..orf'; Bear Concerned Citizen: f Recently, Viacom announced a $1 . 25 per month rate increase and attributed the increase. to a tax reappraisal by the ICounty Assessor. Many citizens have questioned the rate increase and the reason for it. Under Prop 13, a property is reassessed upon change of ownership or, in the case of corporations, a change of corporate control. The appraisal and assessment methodology used by the County Assessor' s office reflected professional real estate appraisal practices in. use by many California Counties and the State Board of Equalization. The Board of Supervisors has no control. over these assessments.. .. I Viacom has filed an appeal of their assessed values with the County Assessment Appeals Board, and the appeal is now pending. Viacom also has. challenged. the assessment in. court. If Viacom is successful, then the Board believes that rebates and la rate rollback is warranted. ! I Viacom' s reappraisal resulted in a substantial tax increase.. This is not unusual under the reappraisal guidelines. created.. by Prop 13. In this case, however, the cable industry is attacking: the appraisal. methodology__ in an attempt to reduce their tax obligation. When you or I buy a new home, we expect to pay taxes based on the sales price. Corporate value is more complex. and difficult.. to measure. Property taxes provide revenue. to school. districts, cities,, special districts and. the. County. The ' Assessor' s methodology is designed . to ensure that Viacom pays their fair share. Can Viacom raise its rates because of the tax reassessment? Unfortunately, yes they can. In 1984, the federal government de-regulated the cable industry. The Board of Supervisors believes that this utility should be rate-regulated and joined. in a lawsuit to overthrow the 1984 decision. It was not successful. However, federal legislators are beginning to take notel.of the high rates. Your support of returning rate-regulation to local government would be helpful. In granting cable franchises for unincorporated areas., (cities also franchise) , the Board has taken steps to provide citizen protection to the extent. permitted. by federal law, primarily through . customer service standards. For example, the Board recently adopted regulations to prevent late fees from being charged prior to the end of the month' s service. Please call your City Manager's office or county Administrator's office at 646-2948 for further information. Sincerely, (SUPERVISOR)