7.04.320 Franchise Fee

The franchisee shall pay to the Commission a Franchise fee each quarter under the terms stipulated in the Franchise Agreement.

(a) The Franchise fee shall be 2.5% of annual gross revenues derived from the operation of the Communication Services. Gross revenues shall include all revenue derived from the sale of Communications Service within the jurisdiction of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe subject to the exclusions listed below. Gross revenues shall not include revenue derived from capital costs of providing public, educational, or governmental programming required by Federal law, revenue derived from cable modem services, or revenue derived from telephone wireline or wireless services. The Commission may waive this fee or any portion of this fee if such waiver is not inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter.

(b) With each payment, the franchisee shall file a complete and accurate verified statement of all gross revenues within the Franchise area during the period for which said quarterly payment is made. Payments shall be made to the Commission no later than forty-five (45) days following the end of each calendar quarter. Quarterly computation dates are the last day in the months of March, June, September, and December.

(c) The Commission shall have the right to inspect the franchisee's income records and the right to conduct an audit at the Commission's expense. In the event that the audit concludes that the franchisee's payments were underpaid by an amount greater than 5% of the proper payment, then the franchisee shall reimburse the Commission for the costs of said audit, in addition to making any additional payments required to bring the franchisee into compliance with this Subsection. At the sole discretion of the Commission, the latter may collect interest from the grantee on the underpayment or any other late payment at a rate equal to the United States prime rate as of the due date plus 3.5% from the date the quarterly payment was due.

(d) In the event that any Franchise fee is not paid on or before the dates specified herein, the franchisee shall pay as additional compensation an interest charge, computed from such due date, at the annual rate equal to the United States prime rate as of the date of delinquency plus 3.5% from the date the quarterly payment was due.