Voters to decide fate of fees

Thursday, March 4, 2010

MILFORD – Milford voters go to the polls on March 9 to decide on a myriad of issues ranging from land purchases to sewer upgrades to fireworks displays on the Fourth of July, but one of the most contentious issues can be found in Article 28, an article which would put cable access franchise fees into a revolving fund for public access television channels.

In 1984, Congress passed the Cable Franchise Policy Act, which mandates cable companies give 3 percent of their revenues to towns in exchange for the right to be the sole cable provider in a particular town. Milford co-mingles these funds along with other tax appropriations and uses them to help fund all town communications, from the public access channels to the town Web site.

Article 28 on the town warrant would place these fees in the fund to be used to solely fund cable access channels.

Selectman Gary Daniel, as a state representative, sponsored HB 1247 in 2008, a bill that allows towns to make revolving funds for public access channels.

“This (article) protects cable subscribers and cable non-subscribers,” he said.“I think it’s unfair that cable subscribers pay a tax that no one else does that the selectmen authorized and the money right now just goes into the general fund, which can be used for anything.”

But resident Faye Richey, in a joint letter to the Cabinet with Community Facilities Committee Chairman Rodny Richey, cited a $25,000 annual net loss to the general fund if the cable user fees went into the revolving fund.

“I think we’re a community that often pays for things that we don’t share direct access to,” she wrote, “and I think when we start dividing money into small amounts that we lose the functioning as a community.”

She said a “comprehensive communication policy needs to be developed that takes into consideration the town’s Web site and cable channels which are both providers of information to the community.”

Selectman Nate Carmen says the town should spend the next year looking at the issue, and selectmen recommended the Article 4 to 1, with Carmen dissenting, and both Carmen and Daniels said there would be no change in the upkeep of the town’s Web site and the delivery of any other town communication needs.

The Budget Advisory Committee was split on the issue, not recommending the article with a 4-5 vote.

If passed, the article would have an estimated tax impact of 1.6 cents after its commencement on Jan. 1.