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SOV -�PACE <br />MOK 0 <br />91993 <br />ordinance, we can notify the cable companies that they have 30 days <br />to submit their rates to the County for review. The ordinance will <br />not enable us to regulate premium channels, but at least we can <br />regulate the basic service. If the cable companies submit a basic <br />benchmark rate increase, we have 30 days to respond. A rate <br />increase based on increased costs of service would have to be <br />audited, and we would have 90 days to respond. <br />Chairman Bird recalled that when he first served on the BCC it <br />was difficult to regulate cable rates. The amount of information <br />submitted by cable companies to justify proposed rate increases was <br />overwhelming. Staff did not have the expertise to determine <br />whether the increases were justified, which made it necessary to <br />hire outside consultants to analyze the information. When the <br />Federal government took over the responsibility of regulating cable <br />television, none of us lost any sleep over it. Chairman Bird hoped <br />we do not get ourselves into a situation where we place a <br />tremendous burden on our staff or spend considerable amounts of <br />money on outside consultants. <br />Commissioner Macht felt that county residents need to have <br />their interests represented. People are unhappy with the fact that <br />cable companies have arranged "tiers" whereby they take channels <br />off the basic package and charge extra for them. Adopting this <br />ordinance does not confer anything on us, but it gives us the <br />ability to regulate rates if necessary. He pointed out that we now <br />have a benchmark rate to guide us. <br />Attorney Vitunac commented that this bill did not result in <br />substantial decreases in cable rates. In some areas rates actually <br />increased. The cable companies are always a step ahead of <br />government by rearranging the tiers. The only benefit of the bill <br />is that basic rates have gone down. <br />The Chairman opened the public hearing and asked if anyone <br />wished to be heard in this matter. <br />James Staub, director of cable and government relations, WPEC <br />Channel 12 in West Palm Beach, urged the Board to adopt the <br />proposed ordinance. He was not optimistic that competition would <br />keep rates down, and he predicted that mergers will result in <br />monopolies in the Cable TV industry. He felt that counties and <br />municipalities should have the ability to regulate the rates <br />charged by the cable television industry as well as customer <br />service standards. <br />36 <br />