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CABLE TELEVISION RATE REVIEW FINDINGS SUMMARY <br /> Prepared by Centralina Council of Governments <br /> <br />Franchise: CABARRUS COUNTY <br />Cable Operator: TIME WARNER - CItARLOTTE <br /> <br />Tier Reviewed: CPS Tl~R- 1997 (Revised) <br />Channels: 34 <br />Subscribers in 1997: 34,400 on entire headend including 8 communities and counties <br />Date Findings Prepared: 1-23-98 <br /> <br />SUMMARY REVIEW STATEMENT: <br /> The Cable Programming Service (CPS) Tier Rate has been reviewed and is ACCEPTABLE under <br /> required Federal Communications Commission guidelines. Comments follow. <br /> <br />COMMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS: <br />· The Cable Programming Service (CPS) Tier consists of 34 channels. The Social Contract negotiated <br /> between Time Wamer and the FCC sets guidelines in the amount that can be charged per year for this <br /> tier. Although the Cabarrus County Franchise Authority does not regulate this tier, information is <br /> provided on this revision to the 1997 Form. <br /> <br />Each year a cable operator is able to compare their actual costs in 1997 to the costs they projected for the <br />year. An operator whose actual 1997 costs exceeded its projections may adjust or "true-up" its rates, <br />with interest, to reflect underestimates. Operators must correct overestimates of permitted costs, with <br />interest, when overestimates are made. In most cases, the operator was conservative in calculating <br />projecting costs. <br /> <br />A revision of the fo,m will have the net result of revising the "Maximum Permitted Rate", not adjusting <br />the amount actually charged for the twelve months in 1997. <br /> <br />A review of revised FCC Form 1240 for the year 1997 establishes the revised maximum permitted CPS <br />tier rate at $21.74 (excluding the franchise fee), compared to $21.81 in the original 12~0 form. The <br />monthly rate for the year (1997) remains unchanged at $21.05, which is lower than both maximum <br />permitted rates: <br /> <br />TIER 1997 MAXIMUM 1997 REVISED 1997 ACTUAL RATE <br /> RATE AS OF 1-97 MAXIMUM RATE (without franchise fee) <br /> (without franchise (without franchise fee) <br /> fee) <br />CPS $21.81 $21.74 $21.05 <br /> <br />The purpose of this revision was to adjust the maximum benchmark rate for 1997. Each year Time <br />Warner files their FCC 1240 Form, they must insert figures from the past form, one of which is the <br />allowable maximum permitted rate. Thus, this lower maximum permitted rate is used as a "base" from <br />which they calculate their new figures for 1998. <br /> <br /> <br />