Rochester will be receiving a $1.3 million dollar settlement fee from Time Warner Cable. City Council on Tuesday night voted to formerly accept the money. The disputed franchise fee has been in place since 1992, when the city approved an agreement with Greater Rochester Cablevision, which Time Warner later acquired.
A franchise agreement between the city and Time Warner requires the cable company to pay a franchise fee based on its gross revenues. The city contended that the formula that was being used did not include all of the revenue that should have been part of the fee. The two parties agreed to settle the issue through negotiation.
Mayor Lovely Warren was able to bring up the issue over the fee when Time Warner and Comcast approached the city about the upcoming merger of the two companies. As part of the merger process, Comcast had to seek approval from each of the franchise jurisdictions.
