Ordinance - 2492ORDINANCE NO.2492
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA AMENDING ARTICLE
II (VIDEO FRANCHISES) OF CHAPTER 11 (FRANCHISES)
OF THE WEST COVINA MUNICIPAL CODE TO
ESTABLISH A PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL, AND
GOVERNMENTAL FEE ON STATE VIDEO FRANCHISEES
OPERATING WITHIN THE CITY OF WEST COVINA
WHEREAS, the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (Pub. Util. Code
§§ 5800 et seq., "DIVCA") went into effect on January 1, 2007; and
WHEREAS, Public Utilities Code section 5870(n) ("Section 5870(n)") indicates that a
city may to adopt an ordinance establishing a fee on state -franchised video service providers to
support public, educational, and governmental ("PEG") channel facilities; and
WHEREAS, Section 5870(n) states that such ordinance shall expire, and may be
reauthorized, upon the expiration of the state franchise; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to establish a fee to support PEG channel facilities at the rate
of one percent (1 %) of the video franchise holder's gross revenues ("PEG Fee"); and
WHEREAS, the City intends to require every state video franchise holder operating now
or in the future in the City to pay the PEG Fee; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance does not establish a "tax" within the meaning of Article XIII
C, section 1, subdivision (e) of the California Constitution.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA,
CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Municipal Code Amendment. Sections 11-20 and 11-21 of Article II of
Chapter 11 of the West Covina Municipal Code shall be deleted in their entirety and replaced with
the following:
"Sec. 11-20. — Public, educational and governmental (PEG) channel access fee.
(a) In addition to the franchise fee required pursuant to Section 11-18, a state video franchise
holder operating in the city shall pay to the city a fee that is equal to one (1) percent of the
gross revenues of that state video franchise holder, which fee shall be used to support PEG
channel facilities. The term "gross revenues" shall be defined as set forth in Public Utilities
Code section 5860.
(b) To the extent legally required by Public Utilities Code section 5870(n), the city's PEG fee
shall automatically be reauthorized upon the expiration of any existing or future state video
franchise(s) held by any state -franchised video service provider operating within the city.
This PEG fee shall so renew until such time that the city council takes formal affirmative
action to cease the renewals.
(c) The PEG fee shall be remitted to the city on a quarterly basis within forty-five (45) days
after the end of each quarter for that calendar year. Each payment shall be accompanied by
a detailed summary explaining the basis for the calculation of the PEG fee.
(d) If a state video franchise holder fails to pay the fees when due, or underpays the proper
amounts due, the state video franchise holder shall pay a late payment charge at the annual
interest rate equal to the highest prime lending rate during the period of delinquency, plus
one (1) percent. If the state video franchise holder has overpaid the PEG fee, it may deduct
the overpayment from its next quarterly payment.
See. 11-21—Audit authority.
Not more than once annually, the city manager or the city manager's designee may examine and
perform an audit of the business records of a state video franchise holder to ensure compliance
with Public Utilities Code section 5860.
SECTION 2. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence,
clause or phrase in this Ordinance or any part thereof is for any reason held to be unconstitutional
or invalid or ineffective by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the
validity or effectiveness of the remaining portions of this Ordinance or any part thereof. The City
Council hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision,
paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more
subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared unconstitutional,
or invalid, or ineffective, provided the basic purposes of this Ordinance and the benefits to the City
and the public are not substantially impaired.
SECTION 3. CEQA. The City Council finds the approval of this Ordinance is not subject
to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections
15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical
change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section
15378 because under (b)(4) funding mechanisms are exempt from CEQA) of the CEQA
Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for
resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. Alternatively, the City
Council finds the approval of this Ordinance is not a project under CEQA Regulation Section
15061(b)(3) because it has no potential for causing a significant effect on the environment.
SECTION 4. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days after its
adoption.
SECTION 5. Certification. The City Cleric shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance
and shall cause this Ordinance to be published or posted as required by law.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 16th day of November, 2021.
I:rIWI� 7.911E
Lisa SherriN
Assistant (W, Clerk
—1 loh
6.4900
Mayor
APPROVE —AS TO FORM
Thomas P. D •te
City Attorney
I, LISA SHERRICK, Assistant City Clerk of the City of West Covina, California, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2492 was introduced at a regular meeting of the
City Council held on the 2nd day of November, 2021, and adopted at a regular meeting of the City
Council held on the 16th day of November, 2021, by the following vote of the City Council:
AYES:
Castellanos, Diaz, Lopez-Viado, Tabatabai, Wu
NOES:
None
ABSENT:
None
ABSTAIN:
None
Lisa S rick
Assist t City Clerk