It has always been conventional wisdom that we do not receive franchise fees on a uniform basis from telecommunication companies (like we do from electric and gas ones) because the State has exempted them from this, and pre-empted cities from setting its own franchise fees on them. So, my questions for any and all who might know the answers or can offer some insight: o Is this conventional wisdom correct? o If yes, exactly who is exempted? o And more fundamentally (and the "driver" of this request): is there any way to get all of these new service and fiber providers who are tearing up our City streets (and using our right-of-way) to pay something for the cost and privilege? (We've thought about doing this via encroachment permit fees, but these are supposed to be set based on the cost of processing the permit, so we're not sure if this is a viable approach). Please let me know any thoughts you have by February 29. And any research, policies or "white papers" you may already have on this that you can easily send to me in an "e-format" will be especially valuable. I will summarize the results for all (and my guess is that there will be a lot of interest in this; I don't think the City of San Luis Obispo is alone in this problem). Thanx, Bill Bill Statler, Director of Finance City of San Luis Obispo 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 Phone: (805) 781-7125 Fax: (805) 781-7401 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
