§ 217 — Costs and expenses of the commission and department and assessment thereof related to the regulation of cable television companies

§ 217. Costs and expenses of the commission and department and\nassessment thereof related to the regulation of cable television\ncompanies. 1. All costs and expenses of the department and commission\nrelated to cable television companies shall be paid pursuant to\nappropriation in the first instance from the state treasury, on the\ncertification of the chairman of the department and upon the audit and\nwarrant of the comptroller. The state treasury shall be reimbursed\ntherefor by payments to be made thereto from moneys collected pursuant\nto this article.\n 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,\nby February first of each year, the chairman of the department shall\nestimate the total direct and indirect costs and expenses necessary to\noperate and administer the powers and duties of the commission and\ndepartment relating to cable television companies for the ensuing state\nfiscal year. The chairman shall, prior to March first, bill and collect\nfrom each cable television company an amount computed by multiplying\nsuch total estimated operating expenses of the commission by a fraction\nthe numerator of which is the gross annual receipts of such cable\ntelevision company during the last preceding calendar year or other\ntwelve month period as determined by the chairman, and the denominator\nof which is the total gross annual receipts of all cable television\ncompanies operating in the state during such period. A cable television\ncompany may elect to make partial payments equal to one quarter of the\ntotal amount billed, by March tenth of the preceding fiscal year and\nJune tenth, September tenth, and December tenth of the fiscal year to\nwhich the billing relates, or on such other dates as the director of the\nbudget may require. On or before September thirtieth of each year, the\nchairman shall compute the actual direct and indirect costs and expenses\nof the commission for cable television regulation for the preceding\nstate fiscal year and shall compute the amount actually received as\nreimbursement for the preceding state fiscal year. If such amount\ncollected by the department as reimbursement for the preceding fiscal\nyear is less than the direct and indirect costs and expenses incurred by\nthe commission and the department for cable television regulation during\nsuch preceding fiscal year, the chairman shall, on or before October\nfifteenth of each year, bill each cable television company for its\nproportionate share of the deficit. Any amount owing by any cable\ntelevision company shall be payable not later than thirty days following\nthe date of such bill. Any amount owing by any cable television company\nwhich remains unpaid by May first of the following year shall be\nincluded in the estimate of the total direct and indirect costs and\nexpenses necessary to operate and administer the powers and duties of\nthe commission and the department related to cable television regulation\nfor the current state fiscal year. If the amount collected for a fiscal\nyear is more than the direct and indirect costs and expenses related to\ncable television regulation incurred by the commission and department\nduring such fiscal year, the chairman shall, on or before October\nfifteenth of the following fiscal year, refund or credit each cable\ntelevision company for its proportionate share of the surplus. Any\namount standing to the credit of any cable television company shall be\napplied as a credit against any succeeding payment due. In no event\nshall the amount billed to or collected from any cable television\ncompany pursuant to this section exceed two percent of the gross annual\nreceipts of such company during the twelve month period designated by\nthe commission.\n