Nevada County Grand Jury
• 2002-2003
Truckee Cable Franchise Review Reason for Investigation The Nevada County Grand Jury received a citizen complaint
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 11 findings
F1
Truckee’s Ordinance is incorporated by reference into its Agreement with USA Media.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Section 8.5 of the Ordinance deals with subscriber complaints and disputes. If a customer complaint about cable company service remains unresolved, this section allows the subscriber to request the appointment of a hearing officer selected by the Town Manager. The costs of the hearing, if any, are to be paid by USA Media.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Review procedures relative to resolving customer complaints to make sure they are consistent with the Ordinance and Agreement. REQUIRED RESPONSE Town of Truckee, Town Council
F3
Section 15.2 of the Ordinance, dealing with the procedure to remedy franchise violations, refers to an administrative public hearing to be held before a hearing officer designated by the Town Council. Section 2.7 of the Agreement also deals with the procedure to remedy franchise violations, and would prevail if any conflict exists between it and the Ordinance. The Agreement, while specifically calling for consistency with the procedures called for in section 15 of the Ordinance, states: “Breaches of customer service requirements shall not be considered on an individual basis.”
No recommendations for this finding
F4
In November 2002, the Town of Truckee established rules of procedure for conduct of an informal hearing regarding a cable television subscriber complaint.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Section 9.1 of the Ordinance gives Truckee the right to conduct an independent financial audit. Should the audit indicate a franchise fee underpayment of two percent or more, USA Media shall pay for the audit.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Conduct independent financial audits to assure that it is receiving all franchise fees due.
F6
Section 11.1 of the Ordinance gives Truckee the right to request a copy of the proof of performance tests conducted by USA Media. These tests establish that the cable system meets minimum Federal Communication Commission (FCC) technical standards.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Section 13 of the Ordinance requires USA Media to maintain a complete set of records including a record of all service calls for the preceding two years, a set of cable system drawings, and a complaint record. The Town of Truckee has the right to request: a) a summary of service calls, either on a one-time basis or monthly, identifying the number, general nature, and disposition of such calls; b) a semi-annual report of customer complaints including number and classification of such complaints; c) an annual written report summarizing the previous year’s Cable System development activities; d) a full set of drawings showing locations of Cable System installations within the Town and updated portions when applicable.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Section 13.4 of the Ordinance allows Truckee to require that USA Media conduct a Subscriber Satisfaction Survey as often as once every two years.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Section 14.1 of the Ordinance allows Truckee to call for a public Biannual Review of system performance and quality of service.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Strengthen its commitment to ensure that cable system subscribers are receiving the service and performance promised in the Agreement by more actively utilizing the powers granted to Truckee in the Ordinance.
F10
The effective date of the Agreement is February 1999. The Town of Truckee conducted their first Biannual Review on April 3, 2003.
No recommendations for this finding
F11
Prior to March 2003, Truckee did not avail itself of any of the rights specified in findings 5 through 8, above. CONCLUSIONS
No recommendations for this finding
Conclusions 4
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CL1 Page 3Neither Section 15.2 of the Ordinance nor Section 2.7 of the Agreement, which deal with procedures to remedy franchise violations, appear in any way to modify Section 8.5 of the Ordinance dealing with subscriber complaints. Therefore, it is concluded that Truckee’s detailed rules of procedure regarding set up and conduct of the hearing to resolve a subscriber complaint should logically comply with Section 8.5 of the Ordinance.
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CL2 Page 2The Town of Truckee failed to call for a Biannual Review at its first opportunity in 2001 nor has it availed itself of the various cable system reports it had the right to request. Without this information, Truckee cannot fully substantiate that cable system subscribers are receiving the high standard of service and performance called for by the Ordinance and Agreement.
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CL3 Page 3Truckee’s relative inaction in implementing the Ordinance makes it difficult to evaluate the validity of individual subscriber complaints.
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CL4 Page 3The results of Nevada County’s investigation referenced in this report’s Background, make it prudent for the Town of Truckee to conduct an independent audit to assure that it is receiving all cable franchise fees generated within the Town’s boundaries.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Town of Truckee
Town