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90_SB0272
55 ILCS 5/5-1095 from Ch. 34, par. 5-1095
65 ILCS 5/11-42-11 from Ch. 24, par. 11-42-11
Amends the Counties Code and the Illinois Municipal Code.
Provides that before the county board or the corporate
authorities may authorize the transfer of a cable TV
franchise, they shall require the transferee to agree to
provide, for one year after the transfer, all services and
options provided by the franchise at the time of the
transfer. Effective immediately.
LRB9000504JSpk
LRB9000504JSpk
1 AN ACT concerning the transfer of cable television
2 franchises, amending named Acts.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
6 Section 5-1095 as follows:
7 (55 ILCS 5/5-1095) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-1095)
8 Sec. 5-1095. Community antenna television systems;
9 satellite transmitted television programming.
10 (a) The County Board may license, tax or franchise the
11 business of operating a community antenna television system
12 or systems within the County and outside of a municipality,
13 as defined in Section 1-1-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
14 When an area is annexed to a municipality, the annexing
15 municipality shall thereby become the franchising authority
16 with respect to that portion of any community antenna
17 television system that, immediately before annexation, had
18 provided cable television services within the annexed area
19 under a franchise granted by the county, and the owner of
20 that community antenna television system shall thereby be
21 authorized to provide cable television services within the
22 annexed area under the terms and provisions of the existing
23 franchise. In that instance, the franchise shall remain in
24 effect until, by its terms, it expires, except that any
25 franchise fees payable under the franchise shall be payable
26 only to the county for a period of 5 years or until, by its
27 terms, the franchise expires, whichever occurs first. After
28 the 5 year period, any franchise fees payable under the
29 franchise shall be paid to the annexing municipality. In any
30 instance in which a duly franchised community antenna
31 television system is providing cable television services
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1 within the annexing municipality at the time of annexation,
2 the annexing municipality may permit that franchisee to
3 extend its community antenna television system to the annexed
4 area under terms and conditions that are no more burdensome
5 nor less favorable to that franchisee than those imposed
6 under any community antenna television franchise applicable
7 to the annexed area at the time of annexation. The
8 authorization to extend cable television service to the
9 annexed area and any community antenna television system
10 authorized to provide cable television services within the
11 annexed area at the time of annexation shall not be subject
12 to the provisions of subsection (e) of this Section.
13 (b) "Community antenna television system" as used in
14 this Section, means any facility which is constructed in
15 whole or in part in, on, under or over any highway or other
16 public place and which is operated to perform for hire the
17 service of receiving and amplifying the signals broadcast by
18 one or more television stations and redistributing such
19 signals by wire, cable or other means to members of the
20 public who subscribe to such service except that such term
21 does not include (i) any system which serves fewer than 50
22 subscribers or (ii) any system which serves only the
23 residents of one or more apartment dwellings under common
24 ownership, control or management, and commercial
25 establishments located on the premises of such dwellings.
26 (c) The authority hereby granted does not include the
27 authority to license or franchise telephone companies subject
28 to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission or
29 the Federal Communications Commission in connection with
30 furnishing circuits, wires, cables or other facilities to the
31 operator of a community antenna television system.
32 The County Board may, in the course of franchising such
33 community antenna television system, grant to such franchisee
34 the authority and the right and permission to use all public
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1 streets, rights of way, alleys, ways for public service
2 facilities, parks, playgrounds, school grounds, or other
3 public grounds, in which such county may have an interest,
4 for the construction, installation, operation, maintenance,
5 alteration, addition, extension or improvement of a community
6 antenna television system.
7 Any charge imposed by a community antenna television
8 system franchised pursuant to this Section for the raising or
9 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from a
10 street shall not exceed the reasonable costs of work
11 reasonably necessary to safely permit such passage. Pursuant
12 to subsections (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
13 Constitution of the State of Illinois, the General Assembly
14 declares the regulation of charges which may be imposed by
15 community antenna television systems for the raising or
16 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from
17 streets is a power or function to be exercised exclusively by
18 the State and not to be exercised or performed concurrently
19 with the State by any unit of local government, including any
20 home rule unit.
21 The County Board may, upon written request by the
22 franchisee of a community antenna television system, exercise
23 its right of eminent domain solely for the purpose of
24 granting an easement right no greater than 8 feet in width,
25 extending no greater than 8 feet from any lot line for the
26 purpose of extending cable across any parcel of property in
27 the manner provided for by the law of eminent domain,
28 provided, however, such franchisee deposits with the county
29 sufficient security to pay all costs incurred by the county
30 in the exercise of its right of eminent domain.
31 Except as specifically provided otherwise in this
32 Section, this Section is not a limitation on any home rule
33 county.
34 (d) The General Assembly finds and declares that
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1 satellite-transmitted television programming should be
2 available to those who desire to subscribe to such
3 programming and that decoding devices should be obtainable at
4 reasonable prices by those who are unable to obtain
5 satellite-transmitted television programming through duly
6 franchised community antenna television systems.
7 In any instance in which a person is unable to obtain
8 satellite-transmitted television programming through a duly
9 franchised community antenna television system either because
10 the municipality and county in which such person resides has
11 not granted a franchise to operate and maintain a community
12 antenna television system, or because the duly franchised
13 community antenna television system operator does not make
14 cable television services available to such person, any
15 programming company that delivers satellite-transmitted
16 television programming in scrambled or encrypted form shall
17 ensure that devices for decryption of such programming are
18 made available to such person, through the local community
19 antenna television operator or directly, for purchase or
20 lease at prices reasonably related to the cost of manufacture
21 and distribution of such devices.
22 (e) The General Assembly finds and declares that, in
23 order to ensure that community antenna television services
24 are provided in an orderly, competitive and economically
25 sound manner, the best interests of the public will be served
26 by the establishment of certain minimum standards and
27 procedures for the granting of additional cable television
28 franchises.
29 Subject to the provisions of this subsection, the
30 authority granted under subsection (a) hereof shall include
31 the authority to license, franchise and tax more than one
32 cable operator to provide community antenna television
33 services within the territorial limits of a single
34 franchising authority. For purposes of this subsection (e),
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1 the term:
2 (i) "Existing cable television franchise" means a
3 community antenna television franchise granted by a
4 county which is in use at the time such county receives
5 an application or request by another cable operator for a
6 franchise to provide cable antenna television services
7 within all or any portion of the territorial area which
8 is or may be served under the existing cable television
9 franchise.
10 (ii) "Additional cable television franchise" means
11 a franchise pursuant to which community antenna
12 television services may be provided within the
13 territorial areas, or any portion thereof, which may be
14 served under an existing cable television franchise.
15 (iii) "Franchising Authority" is defined as that
16 term is defined under Section 602(9) of the Cable
17 Communications Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549.
18 (iv) "Cable operator" is defined as that term is
19 defined under Section 602(4) of the Cable Communications
20 Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549.
21 Before granting an additional cable television franchise,
22 the franchising authority shall:
23 (1) Give written notice to the owner or
24 operator of any other community antenna television
25 system franchised to serve all or any portion of the
26 territorial area to be served by such additional
27 cable television franchise, identifying the
28 applicant for such additional franchise and
29 specifying the date, time and place at which the
30 franchising authority shall conduct public hearings
31 to consider and determine whether such additional
32 cable television franchise should be granted.
33 (2) Conduct a public hearing to determine the
34 public need for such additional cable television
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1 franchise, the capacity of public rights-of-way to
2 accommodate such additional community antenna
3 television services, the potential disruption to
4 existing users of public rights-of-way to be used by
5 such additional franchise applicant to complete
6 construction and to provide cable television
7 services within the proposed franchise area, the
8 long term economic impact of such additional cable
9 television system within the community, and such
10 other factors as the franchising authority shall
11 deem appropriate.
12 (3) Determine, based upon the foregoing
13 factors, whether it is in the best interest of the
14 county municipality to grant such additional cable
15 television franchise.
16 If the franchising authority shall determine that it is
17 in the best interest of the county municipality to do so, it
18 may grant the additional cable television franchise, provided
19 that no such additional cable television franchise shall be
20 granted under terms or conditions more favorable or less
21 burdensome to the applicant than those required under the
22 existing cable television franchise, including but not
23 limited to terms and conditions pertaining to the territorial
24 extent of the franchise, system design, technical performance
25 standards, construction schedules, performance bonds,
26 standards for construction and installation of cable
27 television facilities, service to subscribers, public
28 educational and governmental access channels and programming,
29 production assistance, liability and indemnification, and
30 franchise fees.
31 No county shall be subject to suit for damages based upon
32 the refusal to grant an additional cable television
33 franchise, provided that a public hearing as herein provided
34 has been held and the franchising authority has determined
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1 that it is not in the best interest of the county to grant
2 such additional franchise.
3 It is declared to be the law of this State, pursuant to
4 paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
5 Illinois Constitution, that the establishment of minimum
6 standards and procedures for the granting of additional cable
7 television franchises as provided in this subsection (e) is
8 an exclusive State power and function that may not be
9 exercised concurrently by a home rule unit.
10 (f) Before approving the transfer of a cable television
11 franchise, the county board shall require the transferee to
12 agree to provide, for a period of one year after the
13 transfer, all services and options provided by the franchise
14 at the time of the transfer.
15 (Source: P.A. 86-962; 86-1410.)
16 Section 10. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
17 changing Section 11-42-11 as follows:
18 (65 ILCS 5/11-42-11) (from Ch. 24, par. 11-42-11)
19 Sec. 11-42-11. Community antenna television systems;
20 satellite transmitted television programming.
21 (a) The corporate authorities of each municipality may
22 license, franchise and tax the business of operating a
23 community antenna television system as hereinafter defined.
24 In municipalities with less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, the
25 corporate authorities may own (or lease as lessee) and
26 operate a community antenna television system. Before
27 acquiring, constructing, or commencing operation of a
28 community antenna television system, the municipality shall
29 comply with the following:
30 (1) Give written notice to the owner or operator of
31 any other community antenna television system franchised
32 to serve all or any portion of the territorial area to be
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1 served by the municipality's community antenna television
2 system, specifying the date, time, and place at which the
3 municipality shall conduct public hearings to consider
4 and determine whether the municipality should acquire,
5 construct, or commence operation of a community antenna
6 television system. The public hearings shall be
7 conducted at least 14 days after this notice is given.
8 (2) Publish a notice of the hearing in 2 or more
9 newspapers published in the county, city, village,
10 incorporated town, or town, as the case may be. If there
11 is no such newspaper, then notice shall be published in
12 any 2 or more newspapers published in the county and
13 having a general circulation throughout the community.
14 The public hearings shall be conducted at least 14 days
15 after this notice is given.
16 (3) Conduct a public hearing to determine the means
17 by which construction, maintenance, and operation of the
18 system will be financed, including whether the use of tax
19 revenues or other fees will be required.
20 (b) The words "community antenna television system"
21 shall mean any facility which is constructed in whole or in
22 part in, on, under or over any highway or other public place
23 and which is operated to perform for hire the service of
24 receiving and amplifying the signals broadcast by one or more
25 television stations and redistributing such signals by wire,
26 cable or other means to members of the public who subscribe
27 to such service; except that such definition shall not
28 include (i) any system which serves fewer than fifty
29 subscribers, or (ii) any system which serves only the
30 residents of one or more apartment dwellings under common
31 ownership, control or management, and commercial
32 establishments located on the premises of such dwellings.
33 (c) The authority hereby granted does not include
34 authority to license, franchise or tax telephone companies
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1 subject to jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission
2 or the Federal Communications Commission in connection with
3 the furnishing of circuits, wires, cables, and other
4 facilities to the operator of a community antenna television
5 system.
6 The corporate authorities of each municipality may, in
7 the course of franchising such community antenna television
8 system, grant to such franchisee the authority and the right
9 and permission to use all public streets, rights of way,
10 alleys, ways for public service facilities, parks,
11 playgrounds, school grounds, or other public grounds, in
12 which such municipality may have an interest, for the
13 construction, installation, operation, maintenance,
14 alteration, addition, extension or improvement of a community
15 antenna television system.
16 Any charge imposed by a community antenna television
17 system franchised pursuant to this Section for the raising or
18 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from a
19 street shall not exceed the reasonable costs of work
20 reasonably necessary to safely permit such passage. Pursuant
21 to subsections (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
22 Constitution of the State of Illinois, the General Assembly
23 declares the regulation of charges which may be imposed by
24 community antenna television systems for the raising or
25 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from
26 streets is a power or function to be exercised exclusively by
27 the State and not to be exercised or performed concurrently
28 with the State by any unit of local government, including any
29 home rule unit.
30 The municipality may, upon written request by the
31 franchisee of a community antenna television system, exercise
32 its right of eminent domain solely for the purpose of
33 granting an easement right no greater than 8 feet in width,
34 extending no greater than 8 feet from any lot line for the
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1 purpose of extending cable across any parcel of property in
2 the manner provided by the law of eminent domain, provided,
3 however, such franchisee deposits with the municipality
4 sufficient security to pay all costs incurred by the
5 municipality in the exercise of its right of eminent domain.
6 (d) The General Assembly finds and declares that
7 satellite-transmitted television programming should be
8 available to those who desire to subscribe to such
9 programming and that decoding devices should be obtainable at
10 reasonable prices by those who are unable to obtain
11 satellite-transmitted television programming through duly
12 franchised community antenna television systems.
13 In any instance in which a person is unable to obtain
14 satellite-transmitted television programming through a duly
15 franchised community antenna television system either because
16 the municipality and county in which such person resides has
17 not granted a franchise to operate and maintain a community
18 antenna television system, or because the duly franchised
19 community antenna television system operator does not make
20 cable television services available to such person, any
21 programming company that delivers satellite-transmitted
22 television programming in scrambled or encrypted form shall
23 ensure that devices for description of such programming are
24 made available to such person, through the local community
25 antenna television operator or directly, for purchase or
26 lease at prices reasonably related to the cost of manufacture
27 and distribution of such devices.
28 (e) The General Assembly finds and declares that, in
29 order to ensure that community antenna television services
30 are provided in an orderly, competitive and economically
31 sound manner, the best interests of the public will be served
32 by the establishment of certain minimum standards and
33 procedures for the granting of additional cable television
34 franchises.
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1 Subject to the provisions of this subsection, the
2 authority granted under subsection (a) hereof shall include
3 the authority to license, franchise and tax more than one
4 cable operator to provide community antenna television
5 services within the corporate limits of a single franchising
6 authority. For purposes of this subsection (e), the term:
7 (i) "Existing cable television franchise" means a
8 community antenna television franchise granted by a
9 municipality which is in use at the time such
10 municipality receives an application or request by
11 another cable operator for a franchise to provide cable
12 antenna television services within all or any portion of
13 the territorial area which is or may be served under the
14 existing cable television franchise.
15 (ii) "Additional cable television franchise" means
16 a franchise pursuant to which community antenna
17 television services may be provided within the
18 territorial areas, or any portion thereof, which may be
19 served under an existing cable television franchise.
20 (iii) "Franchising Authority" is defined as that
21 term is defined under Section 602(9) of the Cable
22 Communications Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549, but
23 does not include any municipality with a population of
24 1,000,000 or more.
25 (iv) "Cable operator" is defined as that term is
26 defined under Section 602(4) of the Cable Communications
27 Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549.
28 Before granting an additional cable television franchise,
29 the franchising authority shall:
30 (1) Give written notice to the owner or operator of
31 any other community antenna television system franchised
32 to serve all or any portion of the territorial area to be
33 served by such additional cable television franchise,
34 identifying the applicant for such additional franchise
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1 and specifying the date, time and place at which the
2 franchising authority shall conduct public hearings to
3 consider and determine whether such additional cable
4 television franchise should be granted.
5 (2) Conduct a public hearing to determine the
6 public need for such additional cable television
7 franchise, the capacity of public rights-of-way to
8 accommodate such additional community antenna television
9 services, the potential disruption to existing users of
10 public rights-of-way to be used by such additional
11 franchise applicant to complete construction and to
12 provide cable television services within the proposed
13 franchise area, the long term economic impact of such
14 additional cable television system within the community,
15 and such other factors as the franchising authority shall
16 deem appropriate.
17 (3) Determine, based upon the foregoing factors,
18 whether it is in the best interest of the municipality to
19 grant such additional cable television franchise.
20 If the franchising authority shall determine that it is
21 in the best interest of the municipality to do so, it may
22 grant the additional cable television franchise, provided
23 that no such additional cable television franchise shall be
24 granted under terms or conditions more favorable or less
25 burdensome to the applicant than those required under the
26 existing cable television franchise, including but not
27 limited to terms and conditions pertaining to the territorial
28 extent of the franchise, system design, technical performance
29 standards, construction schedules, performance bonds,
30 standards for construction and installation of cable
31 television facilities, service to subscribers, public
32 educational and governmental access channels and programming,
33 production assistance, liability and indemnification, and
34 franchise fees.
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1 No municipality shall be subject to suit for damages
2 based upon the refusal to grant an additional cable
3 television franchise, provided that a public hearing as
4 herein provided has been held and the franchising authority
5 has determined that it is not in the best interest of the
6 municipality to grant such additional franchise.
7 It is declared to be the law of this State, pursuant to
8 paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
9 Illinois Constitution, that the establishment of minimum
10 standards and procedures for the granting of additional cable
11 television franchises by municipalities with a population
12 less than 1,000,000 as provided in this subsection (e) is an
13 exclusive State power and function that may not be exercised
14 concurrently by a home rule unit.
15 (f) Before approving the transfer of a cable television
16 franchise, the corporate authorities shall require the
17 transferee to agree to provide, for a period of one year
18 after the transfer, all services and options provided by the
19 franchise at the time of the transfer.
20 (Source: P.A. 89-657, eff. 8-14-96.)
21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22 becoming law.