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| [ Introduced ] | [ Enrolled ] | [ Senate Amendment 002 ] |
| [ Senate Amendment 003 ] |
91_SB1141eng SB1141 Engrossed SRS91S0045PMcb 1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Municipal Code by changing 2 Section 11-42-11. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by 6 changing Section 11-42-11 as follows: 7 (65 ILCS 5/11-42-11) (from Ch. 24, par. 11-42-11) 8 Sec. 11-42-11. Community antenna television systems; 9 satellite transmitted television programming. 10 (a) The corporate authorities of each municipality may 11 license, franchise and tax the business of operating a 12 community antenna television system as hereinafter defined. 13 In municipalities with less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, the 14 corporate authorities may, under the limited circumstances 15 set forth in this Section, own (or lease as lessee) and 16 operate a community antenna television system; provided that 17 a municipality may not acquire, construct, own, or operate a 18 community antenna television system for the use or benefit of 19 private consumers or users, and may not charge a fee for that 20 consumption or use, unless the proposition to acquire, 21 construct, own, or operate a cable antenna television system 22 has been submitted to and approved by the electors of the 23 municipality in accordance with subsection (f). Before 24 acquiring, constructing, or commencing operation of a 25 community antenna television system, the municipality shall 26 comply with the following: 27 (1) Give written notice to the owner or operator of 28 any other community antenna television system franchised 29 to serve all or any portion of the territorial area to be 30 served by the municipality's community antenna television 31 system, specifying the date, time, and place at which the SB1141 Engrossed -2- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 municipality shall conduct public hearings to consider 2 and determine whether the municipality should acquire, 3 construct, or commence operation of a community antenna 4 television system. The public hearings shall be 5 conducted at least 14 days after this notice is given. 6 (2) Publish a notice of the hearing in 2 or more 7 newspapers published in the county, city, village, 8 incorporated town, or town, as the case may be. If there 9 is no such newspaper, then notice shall be published in 10 any 2 or more newspapers published in the county and 11 having a general circulation throughout the community. 12 The public hearings shall be conducted at least 14 days 13 after this notice is given. 14 (3) Conduct a public hearing to determine the means 15 by which construction, maintenance, and operation of the 16 system will be financed, including whether the use of tax 17 revenues or other fees will be required. 18 (b) The words "community antenna television system" 19 shall mean any facility which is constructed in whole or in 20 part in, on, under or over any highway or other public place 21 and which is operated to perform for hire the service of 22 receiving and amplifying the signals broadcast by one or more 23 television stations and redistributing such signals by wire, 24 cable or other means to members of the public who subscribe 25 to such service; except that such definition shall not 26 include (i) any system which serves fewer than fifty 27 subscribers, or (ii) any system which serves only the 28 residents of one or more apartment dwellings under common 29 ownership, control or management, and commercial 30 establishments located on the premises of such dwellings. 31 (c) The authority hereby granted does not include 32 authority to license, franchise or tax telephone companies 33 subject to jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission 34 or the Federal Communications Commission in connection with SB1141 Engrossed -3- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 the furnishing of circuits, wires, cables, and other 2 facilities to the operator of a community antenna television 3 system. 4 The corporate authorities of each municipality may, in 5 the course of franchising such community antenna television 6 system, grant to such franchisee the authority and the right 7 and permission to use all public streets, rights of way, 8 alleys, ways for public service facilities, parks, 9 playgrounds, school grounds, or other public grounds, in 10 which such municipality may have an interest, for the 11 construction, installation, operation, maintenance, 12 alteration, addition, extension or improvement of a community 13 antenna television system. 14 Any charge imposed by a community antenna television 15 system franchised pursuant to this Section for the raising or 16 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from a 17 street shall not exceed the reasonable costs of work 18 reasonably necessary to safely permit such passage. Pursuant 19 to subsections (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the 20 Constitution of the State of Illinois, the General Assembly 21 declares the regulation of charges which may be imposed by 22 community antenna television systems for the raising or 23 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from 24 streets is a power or function to be exercised exclusively by 25 the State and not to be exercised or performed concurrently 26 with the State by any unit of local government, including any 27 home rule unit. 28 The municipality may, upon written request by the 29 franchisee of a community antenna television system, exercise 30 its right of eminent domain solely for the purpose of 31 granting an easement right no greater than 8 feet in width, 32 extending no greater than 8 feet from any lot line for the 33 purpose of extending cable across any parcel of property in 34 the manner provided by the law of eminent domain, provided, SB1141 Engrossed -4- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 however, such franchisee deposits with the municipality 2 sufficient security to pay all costs incurred by the 3 municipality in the exercise of its right of eminent domain. 4 (d) The General Assembly finds and declares that 5 satellite-transmitted television programming should be 6 available to those who desire to subscribe to such 7 programming and that decoding devices should be obtainable at 8 reasonable prices by those who are unable to obtain 9 satellite-transmitted television programming through duly 10 franchised community antenna television systems. 11 In any instance in which a person is unable to obtain 12 satellite-transmitted television programming through a duly 13 franchised community antenna television system either because 14 the municipality and county in which such person resides has 15 not granted a franchise to operate and maintain a community 16 antenna television system, or because the duly franchised 17 community antenna television system operator does not make 18 cable television services available to such person, any 19 programming company that delivers satellite-transmitted 20 television programming in scrambled or encrypted form shall 21 ensure that devices for description of such programming are 22 made available to such person, through the local community 23 antenna television operator or directly, for purchase or 24 lease at prices reasonably related to the cost of manufacture 25 and distribution of such devices. 26 (e) The General Assembly finds and declares that, in 27 order to ensure that community antenna television services 28 are provided in an orderly, competitive and economically 29 sound manner, the best interests of the public will be served 30 by the establishment of certain minimum standards and 31 procedures for the granting of additional cable television 32 franchises. 33 Subject to the provisions of this subsection, the 34 authority granted under subsection (a) hereof shall include SB1141 Engrossed -5- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 the authority to license, franchise and tax more than one 2 cable operator to provide community antenna television 3 services within the corporate limits of a single franchising 4 authority. For purposes of this subsection (e), the term: 5 (i) "Existing cable television franchise" means a 6 community antenna television franchise granted by a 7 municipality which is in use at the time such 8 municipality receives an application or request by 9 another cable operator for a franchise to provide cable 10 antenna television services within all or any portion of 11 the territorial area which is or may be served under the 12 existing cable television franchise. 13 (ii) "Additional cable television franchise" means 14 a franchise pursuant to which community antenna 15 television services may be provided within the 16 territorial areas, or any portion thereof, which may be 17 served under an existing cable television franchise. 18 (iii) "Franchising Authority" is defined as that 19 term is defined under Section 602(9) of the Cable 20 Communications Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549, but 21 does not include any municipality with a population of 22 1,000,000 or more. 23 (iv) "Cable operator" is defined as that term is 24 defined under Section 602(4) of the Cable Communications 25 Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549. 26 Before granting an additional cable television franchise, 27 the franchising authority shall: 28 (1) Give written notice to the owner or operator of 29 any other community antenna television system franchised 30 to serve all or any portion of the territorial area to be 31 served by such additional cable television franchise, 32 identifying the applicant for such additional franchise 33 and specifying the date, time and place at which the 34 franchising authority shall conduct public hearings to SB1141 Engrossed -6- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 consider and determine whether such additional cable 2 television franchise should be granted. 3 (2) Conduct a public hearing to determine the 4 public need for such additional cable television 5 franchise, the capacity of public rights-of-way to 6 accommodate such additional community antenna television 7 services, the potential disruption to existing users of 8 public rights-of-way to be used by such additional 9 franchise applicant to complete construction and to 10 provide cable television services within the proposed 11 franchise area, the long term economic impact of such 12 additional cable television system within the community, 13 and such other factors as the franchising authority shall 14 deem appropriate. 15 (3) Determine, based upon the foregoing factors, 16 whether it is in the best interest of the municipality to 17 grant such additional cable television franchise. 18 (4) If the franchising authority shall determine 19 that it is in the best interest of the municipality to do 20 so, it may grant the additional cable television 21 franchise. Except as provided in paragraph (5) of this 22 subsection (e), no such additional cable television 23 franchise shall be granted under terms or conditions more 24 favorable or less burdensome to the applicant than those 25 required under the existing cable television franchise, 26 including but not limited to terms and conditions 27 pertaining to the territorial extent of the franchise, 28 system design, technical performance standards, 29 construction schedules, performance bonds, standards for 30 construction and installation of cable television 31 facilities, service to subscribers, public educational 32 and governmental access channels and programming, 33 production assistance, liability and indemnification, and 34 franchise fees. SB1141 Engrossed -7- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 (5) Unless the existing cable television franchise 2 provides that any additional cable television franchise 3 shall be subject to the same terms or substantially 4 equivalent terms and conditions as those of the existing 5 cable television franchise, the franchising authority may 6 grant an additional cable television franchise under 7 different terms and conditions than those of the existing 8 franchise, in which event the franchising authority shall 9 enter into good faith negotiations with the existing 10 franchisee and shall, within 120 days after the effective 11 date of the additional cable television franchise, modify 12 the existing cable television franchise in a manner and 13 to the extent necessary to ensure that neither the 14 existing cable television franchise nor the additional 15 cable television franchise, each considered in its 16 entirety, provides a competitive advantage over the 17 other, provided that prior to modifying the existing 18 cable television franchise, the franchising authority 19 shall have conducted a public hearing to consider the 20 proposed modification. No modification in the terms and 21 conditions of the existing cable television franchise 22 shall oblige the existing cable television franchisee (1) 23 to make any additional payment to the franchising 24 authority, including the payment of any additional 25 franchise fee, (2) to engage in any additional 26 construction of the existing cable television system or, 27 (3) to modify the specifications or design of the 28 existing cable television system; and the inclusion of 29 the factors identified in items (2) and (3) shall not be 30 considered in determining whether either franchise 31 considered in its entirety, has a competitive advantage 32 over the other except to the extent that the additional 33 franchisee provides additional video or data services or 34 the equipment or facilities necessary to generate and or SB1141 Engrossed -8- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 carry such service. No modification in the terms and 2 conditions of the existing cable television franchise 3 shall be made if the existing cable television franchisee 4 elects to continue to operate under all terms and 5 conditions of the existing franchise. 6 If within the 120 day period the franchising 7 authority and the existing cable television franchisee 8 are unable to reach agreement on modifications to the 9 existing cable television franchise, then the franchising 10 authority shall modify the existing cable television 11 franchise, effective 45 days thereafter, in a manner, and 12 only to the extent, that the terms and conditions of the 13 existing cable television franchise shall no longer 14 impose any duty or obligation on the existing franchisee 15 which is not also imposed under the additional cable 16 television franchise; however, if by the modification the 17 existing cable television franchisee is relieved of 18 duties or obligations not imposed under the additional 19 cable television franchise, then within the same 45 days 20 and following a public hearing concerning modification of 21 the additional cable television franchise within that 45 22 day period, the franchising authority shall modify the 23 additional cable television franchise to the extent 24 necessary to insure that neither the existing cable 25 television franchise nor the additional cable television 26 franchise, each considered in its entirety, shall have a 27 competitive advantage over the other. 28 No municipality shall be subject to suit for damages 29 based upon the municipality's determination to grant or its 30 refusal to grant an additional cable television franchise, 31 provided that a public hearing as herein provided has been 32 held and the franchising authority has determined that it is 33 in the best interest of the municipality to grant or refuse 34 to grant such additional franchise, as the case may be. SB1141 Engrossed -9- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 It is declared to be the law of this State, pursuant to 2 paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the 3 Illinois Constitution, that the establishment of minimum 4 standards and procedures for the granting of additional cable 5 television franchises by municipalities with a population 6 less than 1,000,000 as provided in this subsection (e) is an 7 exclusive State power and function that may not be exercised 8 concurrently by a home rule unit. 9 (f) No municipality may acquire, construct, own, or 10 operate a community antenna television system unless the 11 corporate authorities adopt an ordinance. The ordinance must 12 set forth the action proposed; describe the plant, equipment, 13 and property to be acquired or constructed; and specifically 14 describe the manner in which the construction, acquisition, 15 and operation of the system will be financed. 16 The ordinance may not take effect until the question of 17 acquiring, construction, owning, or operating a community 18 antenna television system has been submitted to the electors 19 of the municipality at a regular election and approved by a 20 majority of the electors voting on the question. The 21 corporate authorities must certify the question to the proper 22 election authority, which must submit the question at an 23 election in accordance with the Election Code. 24 The question must be submitted in substantially the 25 following form: 26 Shall the ordinance authorizing the municipality to 27 (insert action authorized by ordinance) take effect? 28 The votes must be recorded as "Yes" or "No". 29 If a majority of electors voting on the question vote in 30 the affirmative, the ordinance shall take effect. 31 Not more than 30 or less than 15 days before the date of 32 the referendum, the municipal clerk must publish the 33 ordinance at least once in one or more newspapers published 34 in the municipality or, if no newspaper is published in the SB1141 Engrossed -10- SRS91S0045PMcb 1 municipality, in one or more newspapers of general 2 circulation within the municipality. 3 (Source: P.A. 89-657, eff. 8-14-96; 90-285, eff. 7-31-97.)