Countywide

San Diego County supervisors agreed Tuesday to use cable television franchise fees to fund general county services, but they rejected a proposal by Chief Administrator Officer Clifford Graves to establish an office that would conduct research into telecommunications technology.

Citing the need for increased flexibility in the budget, the supervisors voted 5-0 to end the county’s policy of spending the cable TV fees only on projects designed to benefit cable subscribers. At the same time, the board began divvying up some of the approximately $1 million from what had been a reserve fund made up of cable TV fees.

In all, the board agreed to spend about $510,000 on five projects. They were:

- $261,019 for the Cable Review Commission to regulate the cable companies that operate in the county’s unincorporated areas.

- $102,000 for an expansion of the county’s public affairs efforts aimed at improving the county’s sagging public image.

- $75,000 for a private study to determine how best to combine the county’s telephone, computer and video technology. Graves had proposed an Office of Telecommunication and Information Technology at a cost of $262,000.

- $52,000 for a plan to provide cable TV service and teleconferencing capability at county facilities.

- $20,000 to study the possibility of interconnecting various cable television systems in the county.