Assembly Bill No. 508-Committee on Government Affairs
May 19, 1997
____________
Referred to Committee on Government Affairs
SUMMARY--Revises provisions for certain fees charged by local governments. (BDR 31-909)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Yes.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to local governmental financial administration; requiring a city or county that imposes certain fees upon a public utility to provide to the public utility information concerning the identification of its customers; requiring a public utility to pay certain fees in legal tender of the United States; prohibiting a public utility from collecting certain delinquent fees from its customers; authorizing a city or county to provide by ordinance that certain fees imposed on a public utility may be collected from a governmental entity of the state if that entity is a customer of the public utility; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1 Chapter 354 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 2 "Customer" does not include any customer of a provider of a telecommunication service other than a retail customer.
Sec. 3 "Delinquent amount" means any portion of a fee collected from a customer by a public utility that is not paid to the city or county by the public utility within 30 days after the last day of the quarter in which the fee is due.
Sec. 4 "Fee" means a charge imposed by a city or county upon a public utility for a business license, franchise or right of way over streets or other public areas, except any charge paid pursuant to the provisions of NRS 709.110, 709.230 or 709.270.
Sec. 5 "Jurisdiction" means:
1. In the case of a city, the corporate limits of the city.
2. In the case of a county, the unincorporated area of the county.
Sec. 6 "Personal wireless service" has the meaning ascribed to it in 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7)(C) as that provision exists on the effective date of this act.
Sec. 7 "Public utility" means a person or local government that:
1. Provides electric energy or gas, whether or not the person or local government is subject to regulation by the public service commission of Nevada;
2. Is a telecommunication carrier as that term is defined in 47 U.S.C. § 153 on the effective date of this act, if the person or local government holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public service commission of Nevada and derives intrastate revenue from the provision of telecommunication service to retail customers; or
3. Sells or resells personal wireless services.
Sec. 8 "Revenue" does not include:
1. Any proceeds from the interstate sale of natural gas to a provider of electric energy that holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public service commission of Nevada; or
2. Any revenue of a provider of a telecommunication service other than intrastate revenue that the provider collects from retail customers.
Sec. 9 NRS 354.59881 is hereby amended to read as follows:
354.59881 As used in NRS 354.59881 to 354.59889, inclusive, unless the context otherwise requires [:
1. "Customer" does not include any customer of a provider of a telecommunication service other than a retail customer.
2. "Fee" means a charge imposed upon a public utility for a business license, a franchise or a right of way over streets or other public areas, except any paid pursuant to the provisions of NRS 709.110, 709.230 or 709.270.
3. "Jurisdiction" means:
(a) In the case of a city, the corporate limits of the city.
(b) In the case of a county, the unincorporated area of the county.
4. "Public utility" means a person or local government that provides:
(a) Electric energy or gas, whether or not the person or local government is subject to regulation by the public service commission of Nevada;
(b) A telecommunication service, if the person or local government holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public service commission of Nevada and derives intrastate revenue from the provision of that service to retail customers; or
(c) A commercial mobile radio service as that term is defined in 47 C.F.R. § 20.3 on July 5, 1995.
5. "Revenue" does not include:
(a) Any proceeds from the interstate sale of natural gas to a provider of electric energy which holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public service commission of Nevada.
(b) Any revenue of a provider of a telecommunication service other than intrastate revenue.] , the words and terms defined in sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this act have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
Sec. 10 NRS 354.59883 is hereby amended to read as follows:
354.59883 A city or county shall not adopt an ordinance imposing or increasing a fee:
1. If that ordinance would alter the terms of any existing franchise agreement between the city or county and a public utility.
2. That applies to any public utility which does not derive revenue from customers located within the jurisdiction of the city or county.
3. If, after the adoption of the ordinance:
(a) Any part of a fee to which the ordinance applies will be based upon any revenue of a public utility other than its revenue from customers located within the jurisdiction of the city or county.
(b) The total amount of all fees the city or county imposes upon a public utility to which the ordinance applies will exceed:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (2), 5 percent of the utility's gross revenue from customers located within the jurisdiction of the city or county.
(2) For a public utility that [provides a commercial mobile radio service,] sells or resells personal wireless services, 5 percent of its gross revenue from the first $15 charged monthly for each line of access for each of its customers who has a billing address located within the jurisdiction of the city or county. [For the purposes of this subparagraph, "commercial mobile radio service" has the meaning ascribed to it in Part 20 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.]
Sec. 11 NRS 354.59885 is hereby amended to read as follows:
354.59885 If a city or county adopts an ordinance imposing or increasing a fee:
1. Each public utility to which the ordinance applies or which intends to derive revenue from customers located within the jurisdiction of the city or county shall, not later than 60 calendar days after the effective date of the ordinance or 30 calendar days before the public utility begins to provide electric energy, gas or a telecommunication service to those customers, whichever occurs later, provide to the city or county:
(a) An acknowledgment that the public utility is operating or intends to operate within the jurisdiction of that city or county; and
(b) The date when the public utility began or intends to begin to derive revenue from customers located within the jurisdiction of the city or county.
2. In addition to the requirements of subsection 1, each public utility to which the ordinance applies shall, not later than 30 calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter, provide to the city or county a statement of the amount of revenue the public utility derived during that calendar quarter from the sale of electric energy, gas or a telecommunication service to each of its customers located within the jurisdiction of that city or county.
3. The city or county shall, at no charge, provide to each public utility to which the ordinance applies any information that is necessary to identify each customer that is affected by the fee imposed or increased by the city or county, including the address of each customer. If the public utility requests the city or county to provide the information in a specific form, the city or county may charge a fee for the cost of providing the information in that form.
4. Upon receipt of the information that the city or county is required to provide pursuant to the provisions of subsection 3, the public utility may indicate on the bills that it sends to its customers the fee that is imposed or increased by the city or county.
5. A public utility that indicates the fee on the bills it sends to its customers pursuant to the provisions of subsection 4:
(a) Shall be deemed to have complied with the provisions of this section and NRS 354.59887; and
(b) Is not liable to the city or county for any damages for the failure to comply with the provisions of this section and NRS 354.59887,
if it reasonably relies upon the information that it receives from the city or county pursuant to the provisions of subsection 3.
Sec. 12 NRS 354.59887 is hereby amended to read as follows:
354.59887 If a city or county adopts an ordinance imposing or increasing a fee:
1. The entire amount of any fee to which the ordinance applies must be [imposed] :
(a) Imposed at the same rate upon each public utility that provides similar services within the jurisdiction of the city or county [.] ; and
(b) Paid by the public utility to the city or county in legal tender of the United States or in a check, draft or note that is payable in legal tender of the United States.
2. The city or county:
(a) Shall require [the quarterly payment of all fees imposed upon] each public utility to which the ordinance applies [.] to pay quarterly the fees imposed upon it that it has collected from its customers.
(b) May, to the extent it determines that it is impracticable to collect from a public utility to which the ordinance applies any of the fees [it imposes] imposed upon the public utility, collect any of those fees directly from the customers of the public utility located within the jurisdiction of the city or county in proportion to the amount of revenue the public utility derives from each of those customers.
(c) May, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, assess combined penalties and interest of not more than 2 percent per month of the delinquent amount of any fee to which the ordinance applies. If a city annexes any land, it may not assess any penalties or interest pursuant to this paragraph regarding any fee imposed for the operation of a public utility within the annexed land during any period:
(1) Before the effective date of the annexation; or
(2) More than 30 days before the city provides the public utility with notice of the annexation,
whichever occurs later.
(d) May provide, by ordinance, that the fees imposed upon the public utility may be collected from a governmental entity of the state if that entity is a customer of the public utility.
3. A public utility to which the ordinance applies shall, except for any fees collected by the city or county pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 2, collect the aggregate of all its fees imposed by the city or county directly from its customers located within the jurisdiction of the city or county in proportion to the amount of revenue the public utility derives from each of those customers. The fees may be shown on a customer's bill individually or collectively.
4. A public utility to which the ordinance applies shall not collect from a customer any penalties or interest assessed pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 2.
Sec. 13 NRS 354.59889 is hereby amended to read as follows:
354.59889 Except as otherwise provided by agreement with all the affected public utilities:
1. A city or county shall not change any of its fees except through the adoption of an ordinance which provides that the change does not become effective until at least [60 days after the effective date of the ordinance.] 90 days after the city or county complies with the provisions of subsection 3 of NRS 354.59885.
2. The cumulative amount of any increases in fees imposed by a city or county during any period of 24 months must not exceed 1 percent of the gross revenue of any public utility to which the increase applies from customers located within the jurisdiction of that city or county.
Sec. 14 This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.