CABLE TV – WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?

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Under federal and state law the Town of Dryden is authorized to grants franchises to cable television companies to operate a cable television network within the boundaries of the Town. The Villages of Dryden and Freeville have their own franchise agreements with Time Warner Cable.

At the present time the only cable company that has a franchise in the Town of Dryden is Time Warner Cable. The existing franchise agreement Time Warner has with the Town has been in effect since approximately 1988 and officially expired several years ago. Because of automatic renewals that occur approximately every six months pursuant to State law Time Warner Cable has been operating under the original franchise agreement with the Town of Dryden. Since approximately 2005 Time Warner Cable and the Town of Dryden have been discussing franchise renewal.

While the Town does not set rates that are charged for cable television service, the Town does have the power to levy a franchise fee on the amount of your cable bill. Presently, that fee is 3% of the cable bill. That amount is collected by Time Warner Cable and is used to fund Town general operations. Although many towns and villages impose a 5% fee, which is the maximum allowed by federal law, in Dryden the fee has traditionally remained at 3%.

Under federal and state law, as part of franchise renewal process, the Town is encouraged to reach out to seek input as to the needs of the community for cable television service. To that end, the Town of Dryden is seeking your opinion regarding the present cable television service provided by Time Warner.

Please take the survey so that the Town can better understand the needs of the community as we consider renewing Time Warner’s franchise.

If you have questions about how the cable franchise system works, more information is available at the NYS Department of Public Service website or you can call 473-2939.

Thank you for taking the time to provide the Town with your views about this important matter.

Jason Leifer, Dryden Town Board

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