pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
 ·Comcast
|  Huh?
quote:
What it wasn’t supposed to do was cost the local and state governments in the area over 25% of their revenue.
How is the state being deprived of revenue of the video franchise money is now going to the state's Department of revenue?
Did customers get a break on the video franchise tax?
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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chemaupr
join:2005-06-06
Alexandria, VA | because now the county or city does not collect the money. now it goes to the state central fund and that does not mean that the county will get back dollar per dollar of their residents. the state will decide what to do with the money. |
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nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD | reply to pnh102
local is the operative word here, as in
"local governments have received 27.8 percent less across the board under the new system" |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by nasadude  :local is the operative word here, as in The summary clearly states that the state government has lost money too. Since the state now collects the franchise fees which would have gone to the local government, how can the state be "losing" money? The only explanation I can think of is if the state gave customers a break on franchise fees.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
Premium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
| Well, on the local level, local municipalities have the burden of proving how much the franchisee has to pay. This normally aggressively pursuing records and essentially delivering a documented invoice to the cable company. The franchisees always submit an initial lower revenue level than they eventually agree to (which any company should be expected to do in the same situation).
I suspect the state is not being nearly as aggressive and just accepting the revenue figures submitted by the franchisees without double checking against subscriber numbers. While franchisees almost always count full revenue when collecting the franchise fee, they will take any feasible deduction when paying the fee.
That could easily result in a shortfall in the new system, though 25% seems awful high.
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