Agenda - Charter Commission - 10/21/2013

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This sentence authorizes the Council to set franchise fee rates. More generally, section 7.1 of the Charter grants the Council "full authority" over the City's financial affairs. Note also that section 1.2 grants the City all statutory powers unless otherwise indicated in the Charter, and as stated above, the City has statutory authority to enact franchise fees. There are no provisions in the Charter that prevent or restrict the Council from imposing such fees. 3. A reference to any present City ordinances pertaining to franchise fees. We are not aware of any current City ordinances that directly pertain to franchise fees. 4. A summary of metro area and a few outstate charter provisions and ordinances that pertain to the establishment or amendment of franchise fees. 5. Indicate whether there are any distinctions between charter cities and other cities when it comes to enacting franchise fees upon its residents. The only distinction would be if a city's charter contained some sort of limitation or regulation of franchise fees. Absent such provisions, there are no differences between charter and non - charter cities. 6. Please address the effect of the Charter Commission amending the Charter on October 21, 2013, on the present ordinance proposal by the City pertaining to franchise fees. The Charter Commission cannot amend the Charter on October 21st. Almost all charter amendments must be approved by the voters at an election. The exception is if the Commission proposes an amendment and the Council enacts it by ordinance by unanimous vote. Even then, due to notice and hearing requirements and a 90 -day delay for the effective date, it takes months for the amendment to take effect. See Minn. Stat. § 410.12. In the meantime, any franchise fee ordinance approved by the Council will remain in effect. 7. Address whether there has been any legal challenges to franchise fees established for repairing roadways. Does there have to be any correlation between the fee and the right -of -way use by a utility? Could a franchise fee exceed the cost of road repair? The franchise statute, section 216B.36, does not mandate any correlation between the amount of the fee and the utility's use of the right -of -way. The statute