Title
Resolution authorizing the City to assess and collect fees for public, educational and government access channels from all applicable cable and video service providers as authorized by Florida Statute §610.109(11); and providing for an effective date.
Body
Public, Educational and Government (PEG) channels play a significant role in the City of Coral Gables. They televise local government meetings and serve as a unique and valuable resource for local information and discourse for the residents of the City of Coral Gables. It is important to preserve PEG channels and funding for PEG channels, and to ensure that the channels continue to be available to the entire community to serve the residents of the City of Coral Gables.
Recently Comcast paid the City of Coral Gables ("City") $300,000 in public, educational and government (PEG) fees pursuant to its existing franchise agreement with the City. Fl. Stat. §610.109(11) authorizes a municipality to require other cable or video service providers to remit PEG support contribution on an equivalent per subscriber per month basis. Therefore, the City can assess such PEG fees to non-incumbent cable and video service providers that have been certified by the Florida Department of State to operate within the City. The attached resolution authorizes the City staff to pursue the appropriate action to require that all cable and video service providers within the City remit PEG support fees as authorized by Fl. Stat. §610.109(11).