Houlton cable fee to stay untouched

HOULTON – Town councilors heard testimony earlier this week regarding a cable franchise fee that some residents feel is a hardship for senior citizens to pay.

Councilors took no action on the matter at the meeting but said they will consider the issue when the board of budget review begins meeting later in the year.

Dorothy Donahue, a Houlton resident, first brought up the issue at a council meeting late in April. After hearing Donahue’s concerns and hearing from other residents, Councilor Gerald Adams put the item on the agenda for Monday’s meeting.

As part of Houlton’s contract with Polaris Cable Services, the council sets the franchise fee that individual subscribers pay to the town for receiving service. The current charge is $1.58 per month, or 5 percent of the subscriber revenues, the maximum allowed under the contract.

At a meeting earlier this year, Gordan Wark, president of Polaris Cable Services, presented the Town Council with a check for more than $25,000, which was revenue from 10 months of franchise fees.

“I don’t believe that we have ever had so expensive a fee,” Donahue told councilors at the recent meeting. “As part of the contract, you have control over the franchise fee, and you could change the [percentage]. I consider this an extra tax … you should lower it.”

Wark, who also addressed the council, acknowledged that “a lot of communities do not charge the full 5 percent fee,” but said that both the fee and what the town did with the revenues was up to them.

“That $25,000 is money that we have counted on for revenue,” Councilor Paul Cleary said. “We need it … Cable is one of those extras that we enjoy, and it is not a necessity. It’s an extra, and if I can’t afford it, I don’t buy it.”

Councilor John Fitzpatrick said that “$1.58 a month is the price of a cup of coffee. It’s not that much.”

Councilor Kent Good agreed that the money was needed by the town.

“It’s not a tax, it’s a fee,” Good countered. “It we lose that revenue, next year it will be a tax.”

Councilor Phil Bernaiche disagreed with his fellow councilors, saying that the fee was significant to many senior citizens in town.

“That could be a big percentage for senior citizens around here,” Bernaiche said. “The prices today for medication they may need is awful. If you are 67 years old, things are hard.”

Houlton resident Donald Dee said that the council should see that the people who are paying the franchise fee benefit from it.

“If you are going to charge a franchise fee,” Dee told councilors, “you should see that the people paying into the fund make use of it. While the money goes into the town’s general fund, it may be used to patch a pothole in front of someone’s home who does not have cable and does not pay the franchise fee.”

Wark told the council that Dee had “made a good point.”

“If the cable subscribers are paying for it, it should be going toward something that benefits them,” Wark agreed.

Town Manager Peggy Daigle said that officials were looking to enhance the local public access channel and could possibly use fee revenues for that.

“Government is a funny business,” Daigle said. “And the franchise fee is just one of those odd amalgamations that are pertinent to small communities.”