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Council amends municipal code to credit state video franchise fees against street damage fee; IBA warns of lost trench-fund revenue
Summary
The council adopted a municipal code amendment allowing state-franchised video providers to receive a credit against the city's street damage fee, a move staff said reduces litigation risk but that the Independent Budget Analyst warned will remove about $470,000 a year from the trench-cut fund unless state law is changed.
The City Council voted to amend the municipal code to permit state-franchised video service providers to receive a credit against the Street Damage Fee (SDF), a change staff and the city attorney said is intended to avoid potential litigation under state and federal law governing state franchises.
In the presentation, the Transportation Department said the annual credit is forecast at about $470,000 based on recent activity and the increase to the street damage fee that took effect Jan. 1. "These excavators have argued that the fee is duplicative," the presenter said, and the proposal creates a mechanism so that the general fund will make the trench cut fund whole in the same way similar credits are handled for SDG&E under negotiated franchise agreements.
Independent Budget Analyst Jordan Moore…
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