Simi Orders Comcast to Cut Rates, Pay Refunds : Cable TV: City officials approve rollback of 20 cents a month. Company has 30 days to renegotiate.

After a long and complex debate, the Simi Valley City Council ordered Comcast Cable Monday night to lower its basic rate by 20 cents a month and pay refunds to customers for overcharges during the past year, but agreed to renegotiate the rate with the company during the next 30 days.

The City Council voted 4 to 1 to cut cable rates from $21.90 to about $21.70 after delaying the vote for a week to give Comcast more time to bolster its argument that its basic rate should be increased, not cut.

Councilwoman Sandi Webb voted against the resolution, saying she was philosophically against regulating cable television.

Comcast officials asked council members to delay their decision while the two sides work on a new rate structure.

“They basically want us to forgive the sins of the past . . . and press on with a new rate schedule,” said Mayor Greg Stratton.

Both sides said they felt confident that a mutually agreeable rate could be decided on by the time the council meets again in two weeks. “We’re very close,” said Jeff Carlson, regional vice president for Comcast.

The City Council relied primarily on a consultant’s review of Comcast’s rates.

This will be the third rate rollback since the council was given authority to regulate local cable service charges under the federal Cable Act of 1992. The law only allows cities and counties to regulate the charges for basic rates and services. The city is not allowed to set rates for premium channels such as HBO and Cinemax.

But the council’s decision Monday night will also lower the cost of several other services and change which channels are included in basic service. Comcast will have to charge less for an optional service called CableGuard, which provides a warranty for cable equipment in homes.

Comcast was charging 27 cents per month for the service, and will have to lower the fee to 4 cents per month.

The company will also have to pay back some overcharges made in the past year to its 28,000 Simi Valley customers, said Joe Hreha, who oversees the utility for the city.

Carlson told the council the retroactive rebates would be too expensive. “It just starts adding up,” he said.

In an interview, Carlson said he wished the city had included the company in the review of its rate structure before deciding on the appropriate price.

“They did not consult us on this report,” he said. “I think they would have had a better understanding if we could have gone through this before. We thought we explained our position and were upfront about it.”

Some subscribers said they were confused by the different tiers of service charges. “I don’t mind paying for the service, I just don’t want to pay more for the same service that someone (else) is paying at a lower rate,” resident Michael Murphy told council members.

At last week’s council meeting, Comcast was sharply criticized for charging three different prices for the same service. The so-called Preferred Service cost $21.90, the Enchanted Service cost $26.95 and the Preferred Premium service cost $37.52 per month. But all three services showed the same 43 channels.

Despite charging the different rates for more than seven months, Comcast company officials argued that those receiving the Preferred and Enchanted services were being offered a special preview to lure customers to purchase premium channels.

“They were arguing that this was a little seven-month preview,” Hreha said. “But we were saying that if it looks like basic service and it acts like basic service, then it should cost the same as basic service.”