Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board weighs revenue ideas and hires counsel to renegotiate Comcast franchise
Summary
Supervisors discussed a range of revenue-generation ideas (renting township space, billboards, gateway signs, solar, trailhead parking, food-truck events) and approved engaging counsel to renegotiate the township's Comcast franchise agreement to clarify revenue definitions and potentially raise franchise receipts.
Board members reviewed multiple proposals to increase nonproperty-tax revenues and voted to engage outside counsel to renegotiate the township's cable-franchise agreement.
Supervisor Jeremy Smell outlined options including leasing underused township space, pursuing billboard leases, installing gateway signage, expanding trailhead parking and pursuing solar grants. He said the ideas are intended to generate revenue without imposing new taxes on residents or small businesses. The board asked staff to investigate feasibility, grants and legal constraints; several supervisors cautioned about limits on municipal fees and the requirement that certain fees only cover administrative costs.
Separately, the board approved engaging a legal firm to negotiate the township's upcoming franchise agreement with Comcast. As one supervisor summarized the statutory limit, "We are allowed to get a flat 5%. That's that. That's federal law," a point raised in the discussion about what the township can reasonably capture from franchise revenue. Supervisors said the engagement is meant to refine the franchise definition of reportable revenue and seek increased receipts where legally available.
