Council OKs Hike in Cable TV Rates
Cable television subscribers will see their monthly bills increase up to $1.92 under a rate increase that won City Council approval this week.
Households with an expanded package of 21 extra channels from Cox Communications will receive the full increase of $1.92. Homes that subscribe to basic service will have their monthly bills rise by 94 cents.
The increases will take effect Oct. 15. The council passed the rate adjustment without comment on its consent calendar.
Joanne Corey, the city administrator in charge of the cable franchise, said the higher rates were requested because of an increase in equipment costs.
“Their increases were legitimate,” said Corey. “It was not the highest increase that Cox could have requested of us.”
Allowed only one rate adjustment per year, the cable company will not be able to request increases in fees again until October 1997.
Mission Viejo had previously joined several other South County cities in a lawsuit filed last year against the FCC for allowing Cox Communication to allegedly overcharge local cable subscribers.
The lawsuit is pending, and a decision is expected in about 60 days.
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