VILLA PARK : Council Asks Rebate for Cable Subscribers

A check won’t be in the mail any time soon, but the City Council has acted to get cable-TV subscribers a small rebate.

The council last week voted unanimously to direct MultiVision Cable TV to rebate about $19 to each of Villa Park’s 1,200 subscribers. The council acted after city-hired professional consultants said MultiVision charged its customers $1.87 a month too much from Sept. 1 to July 15.

MultiVision officials have said they will appeal the city’s action to the Federal Communications Commission, City Manager Fred Maley said. Villa Park subscribers to the cable service thus should not expect a rebate soon. There is also the possibility there will be no rebate if the FCC rules in favor of MultiVision, he said.

During a public hearing on the issue, consultants told the City Council that MultiVision has done nothing deliberately wrong. The consultants said the alleged overcharge to subscribers is simply a matter of interpretation of FCC regulations.

William Marticorena, an attorney who was part of the city’s consulting team on cable TV, told the council: “We are not saying that what MultiVision has done is evil. Rather, this is a good-faith dispute.”

Donald R. Granger, regional vice president for MultiVision, said the cable firm had not overcharged for any of its services and had strictly obeyed FCC regulations. He also charged that Villa Park’s consultants had erred by 19 cents a month in computing the proposed rebate.

The City Council directed its staff to lower the proposed rebate if a recheck of figures shows a lesser amount is due to subscribers. The reduced rebate would be about $17.