HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Consulting Assoc.TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTING ASSOCIATES
101 Flat Rock Gap Road
Waynesville, NC 28785
munihelp@bellsouth.net
828-627-8415(0) 828-627-8505(F)
January 6, 2011
Debbie Dunlap, Accountant
Finance Department
City of Central Point
140 South Third Street
Central Point, OR 97502
Dear Debbie,
I enjoyed emailing with you about conducting a cable television audit of Charter in the
City of Central Point. I just completed an audit in Grants Pass and early last year settled
audits with Charter for Hood River, Milton-Freewater and Sandy, Oregon. While I can
never promise that I will find underpayments during an audit, I am confident that we will
discover some level of discrepancies in the City of Central Point based on my past
experience with them. I am including in this correspondence a detailed description of my
Scope of Work, an agreement and a list of my references. Included in my Scope of Worlc
are the following activities:
• Review the City's existing enabling ordinance, if one exists, and make
recommendations to enhance it to be in compliance with recent FCC and
legislative directives as well as typical municipal protections.
• Review all riansfer and assignment documents.
• Review the existing franchise agreements with Charter, and other companies
and make recommendations for changes either at a renewal interval or
transfer.
• Conduct anon-compliance audit relating to any cable company's record and
report requirements in the current franchises. This review will include a
review of all terms and conditions included in the current franchises.
• Review the correspondence file between Charter, and others and the City to
understand any initiatives or agendas the cable companies may have
undertaken.
• I will conduct a franchise fee audit for Charter and others as far back as we
can based on any limiting language in either the franchise agreements or the
City's code of ordinances. At the very least we will go back to July 1, 2001. I
will make this determination after I have reviewed these documents, and
spoke with you. This process will commence with my drafting letters for you
to place on your letterhead to Charter and others requesting certain documents
heretofore unavailable to the City. Once the fee audit is completed, the data
will be presented in spreadsheet form and will detail any payment
discrepancies and penalties.
• I will provide you with apre-approved franchise agreement that we used in a
dozen communities last year with Charter.
• Finally, I will draft all correspondence to each company for you to cut and
paste to your letterhead. This correspondence will detail the findings and
make demand for any restitution or submission of additional data, such as
secondary address research.
After this work is complete, I will draft a Summary Report detailing all of my findings.
This report generally is 7-10 pages and includes all spreadsheet documentation. The fee
for providing all of the above items is a 50% contingency fee basis. For only the past
funds that you are paid. You keep 100% of all future funds found as a result of my audit.
This places 100% of the risk on our firm. If we find nothing, you pay nothing and if we
are successful in getting a recovery for the City, then we split it. The City will keep
100% of all future fees that we identify during the audit. I have attached a contingency
fee proposal at the end of this letter.
I do not audit hotels and motels. My specialty is cable franchise fee audits since I ran
cable companies for over 30 years. I look forward to hearing from you and please call if
you have any questions. I have attached a list of my references from across the country.
Please let me know if you need additional references.
Sincerely,
John C. Howell
TCA Clients Include:
Oregon Clients: Grants Pass, Hood River, Milton-Freewater and Sandy.
Tennessee Cities our firm works for:
Jackson, Cleveland, Elizabethton, Fayetteville, Lenoir City, Parsons, Loudon,
Knoxville, Alcoa, Maryville, Clinton, Johnson City, Bristol, Bolivar, Lavergne,
Morristown, Waynesboro, Kingston, Madisonville, Sweetwater, Church Hill,
Dandridge, Rogersville, Tellico, Collinwood, Crossville, Cornersville, Watauga,
Ashland City, Kingsport, Surgoinsville, Paris, Milan, Savannah, Sparta, Mount
Carmel, Manchester, McMinnville, Pulaski, Goodlettsville, Clarksville, Newport,
Tullahoma, Dover, Decaturville, Mount Pleasant, Lebanon, Whitwell, Powells
Crossroads, Kimball, Henderson, Spencer, Cookeville, McKenzie, Martin,
Crump, Monterey, Alamo, Bluff City, Selmer, Tracy City, Pigeon Forge, South
Pittsburg, Loretto, Dayton, Jefferson City, Sevierville and Shelbyville;
Tennessee Counties our firm works for:
Counties of Henry, Cheatham, Sullivan, Carter, Bedford, Cocke, Blount, Gibson,
Loudon, Decatur, Montgomery, Hawkins, Monroe, Putnam, Marshall, Johnson,
Hardin, Wayne, Hamblen, Washington, Weakley, Bradley, Grainger, Lake,
Cumberland, Hickman, Maury, Warren, Lawrence, McMinn, White, Marion,
Obion, Madison and Coffee.
North Carolina: Counties of Avery, Catawba, Buncombe, Stokes, Rockingham,
Haywood, Cherokee, Caldwell, Mitchell, McDowell, Pender, Polk, Wayne,
Wilkes, Franklin, Stanly, Alexander, Craven, Burlce, Harnett, Camden, Watauga
and Henderson. Cities of Asheville, Laurinburg, Sylva, Spruce Pine, Scotland
Neck, Bakersville, Washington, Waynesville, Winston-Salem, Belmont, Mount
Holly, Fletcher, West Jefferson, Tryon, Marion, Wilkesboro, North Wilkesboro,
Carolina Beach, Boone, Seven Devils, Laurinburg, Beech Mountain, Sugar
Mountain, Banner Elk, Black Mountain, Hickory, Conover, Newton, Maiden,
Long View, Claremont, Catawba, Lenoir, Granite Falls, Blowing Rock, Concord,
Holly Ridge, Lincolnton, Hildebran, Montreat, Morganton, Spring Lake,
Taylorsville, Roxboro, Hendersonville, Laurel Park, Flat Rock, Mills River
Valdese and Thomasville.
Georgia: Woodstock, Peachtree City, Watkinsville, Ringgold, Grovetown, Dalton
and Athens; The Counties of Clarke, Polk, Crisp, Troup, Dougherty, Cherokee,
Whitfield, Fayette, Rabun, Habersham, Haralson, Barrow, Baldwin, Bullock,
Coffee, Pike, Pierce, Pickens, Thomas, Lanier, Walker, Columbia, Floyd,
Jackson, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lowndes, Oconee, Sumter, Murray, Union, Dade,
Lee, Dawson and Upson.
South Carolina: Gray Cow•t, Greenwood, Camden, Greer, Lyman, Simpsonville,
Spartanburg, Greenville, Mauldin, Seneca, Mount Pleasant, Hartsville, Clemson
Gaffney, Pickens, Sumter, Travelers Rest, Rock Hill, Clinton and Central; The
Counties of Dorchester, Georgetown, Cherokee, Spartanburg, Union, Greenville,
Laurens, Orangeburg, Pickens, Abbeville, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Clarendon,
Jasper, Kershaw, Marlboro and Horry.
Alabama and Virginia: Daphne, AL, Alexander City, AL, Sylacauga AL,
Etowah County, AL, Bristol, VA, Wytheville, VA, Franklin, VA, Windsor, VA,
Smithfield, VA, Wythe County, VA, Washington County, Isle of Wight County,
VA, Accomack County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Mecklenburg County,
VA.
The Howell Group, LLC. dba
Telecommunications Consulting Associates
Service Agreement
The City of Cental Point, Oregon (Local Franchising Authority, City) hereby agrees to hire
Telecommunications Consulting Associates (TCA) for the purposes set forth below in the
attached letter and incorporated herein.
Scope of Work-Included in my Scope of Work are the following activities:
• Review the enabling ordinance, if one exists, and existing fianchise
agreement(s) with Charter Communications and any other mutually selected
cable companies.
• I will conduct a franchise fee audit of Charter and any other mutually selected
cable company for six (6) gems, unless prohibited by the City's franchise
agreement. Once the fee audit is completed, the data will be presented in
spreadsheet form and will detail any payment discrepancies and penalties.
• I will draft all correspondence to Charter and any other mutually selected
cable company for you to place on your letterhead. This correspondence will
detail the findings and make demand for any restitution, including a
Settlement Agreement.
• After this work is complete, I will draft a Summary Report detailing all of my
findings.
Terms of Payment
Audit Fee: This audit Scope of Work will be billed at 50% of any past funds that are
recovered by the City as a result of our audit. This audit scope of work is delineated in a
letter from John Howell, which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference.
Payment to TCA of the Percentage Compensation shall be due 20 days following City's
receipt of any monies recovered either as settlement, refund, credit, trade out, service in
kind or as an award from the franchised cable operator.
~~~ /~ DATE//~~~
On behalf of the City of Central Point, Oregon
DATE January 6, 2011
!/ ,~. C ~evr.Q~
John C. Howell, TCA
TCA, 101 Flat Rock Gap Road, Waynesville, NC 28785 (PHONE) 828-627-8415 (FAX) 828-627-8505