Orange Cable Company Wins Court Fight : Television: Judge’s ruling in favor of American Television in its case against assessor could impact taxes and subscriber bills.

A cable television company has won a court battle against the Orange County assessor’s office in a case that could impact cable taxes--and subscriber bills--across the state, it was disclosed Monday.

Superior Court Judge Jonathan Cannon ruled in favor of American Television and Communications Corp., which provides cable service in Orange, in its battle with the assessor’s office about how to calculate its taxable value.

The judge upheld the county assessment appeals board, which threw out the method of valuation favored by the assessor and ordered an alternative that will mean that American Television will probably pay lower taxes. The ruling was hailed by the cable industry.

“Orange County taxpayers and cable television subscribers have had to bear the burden of the assessor’s experimental assessments,” said John Gibbs, vice president and legal counsel of Continental Cablevision, one of 10 Orange County cable companies fighting the assessment.

The cable companies contend that they are being taxed on the basis of the value of their businesses, not just on the value of their property. The effect, they say, is double taxation. The 10 companies have collectively watched their tax bills rise to about $13 million a year in 1989, up from $2.5 million previously, as a result of the new method of assessment begun two years ago.

Last year, they launched a public campaign against the assessor’s office that included advertisements in Orange County newspapers and handbills in cable TV mailings. The companies said the added taxes would be passed through to cable subscribers, costing them an extra $1 or $2 a month on their basic service rate.

The county has contended that its method of assessment is legal and fair. Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs and his staff have asserted that they are simply trying to keep valuations in line with the skyrocketing worth of cable television franchises.

Deputy County Counsel Tom Agin, reached at home, had no comment on Cannon’s ruling, which came last Thursday.

In the case of American Television, the county and the cable company agreed that the entire company’s value was roughly $38 million. The court fight involved how much of that value should be included in the assessment.

Under its new system, the assessor values cable television franchises based on the amount of income produced by the companies, along with the selling price of similar cable operations.

The appeals board, however, ruled in July, 1990, that American Television should be assessed strictly on the value of its hardware--cable and broadcasting equipment--along with the estimated value of its right to use public streets and highways.