City Asks Cable TV Company to Pay Fee

The city doesn’t want its outgoing cable television company to leave town without leaving something behind--money.

Moorpark has notified Tele-Communications Inc. of Ventura County, the larger of two cable companies operating in the city, that it is expected to pay a $25,000 transfer fee before turning over local service to AT&T; as part of a nationwide $46.5-billion merger of the two companies.

Marian Jackson, a TCI franchise administrator, said such a fee would mean higher cable rates for Moorpark residents.

“That will probably happen,” agreed Moorpark Councilman Clint Harper. “Cable companies try and pass on as many expenses as they can to the consumer.”

Harper said he was unclear on whether the city could impose the fee under federal statutes.

“It seems to say we can charge a franchise fee, but not a transfer fee,” Harper said.

But city staffers say Moorpark’s municipal code allows a transfer fee in addition to a $2,760 franchise fee.

Assistant City Manager John Nowak said the city charged Entertainment Express Ltd., the city’s other cable provider, a similar $15,000 transfer fee last year.

Based on the number of TCI subscribers, Nowak said the city could have charged a $40,000 fee, but staff members “thought that would have been too excessive,” he said. “The staff felt $25,000 would have been more reasonable.”

TCI serves about 5,700 households in Moorpark under a license that expires in December 2000.

The company and the city will attempt to resolve the dispute before the merger is completed later this month.