S.B. 568


Senate Bill No. 568--Committee on Government Affairs

                   June 19, 1995
                 _____________


    Referred to Committee on Government Affairs


SUMMARY--Makes various changes concerning fees 
          charged by cities and counties to public 
          utilities. (BDR 31-2044)

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: Yes.
              Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.



EXPLANATION--Matter in italics is new; matter in bra
ckets [ ] is material to be omitted.

AN ACT relating to local governmental financial administration; 
        limiting the amount of fees a city or county may charge 
        certain public utilities; requiring certain reports from 
        public utilities; authorizing the collection of certain fees 
        from customers of public utilities; revising the limitation on 
        fees for business licenses; and providing other matters 
        properly relating thereto.

     THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE
                AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:



  Section 1.  Chapter 354 of NRS is hereby 
amended by adding thereto the provisions set forth as 
sections 2 to 11, inclusive, of this act.
  Sec. 2.  \As used in sections 2 to 11, 
inclusive, of this act, unless the context otherwise 
requires, the words and terms defined in sections 3 to 7, 
inclusive, of this act have the meanings ascribed to them in 
those sections.
  \\Sec. 3.  \"Customer" does not include any 
customer of a provider of a telecommunication service other 
than a retail customer.\\
  Sec. 4.  \"Fee" means a charge imposed upon a 
public utility for a business license, a franchise or a 
right of way over streets or other public areas, except any 
paid pursuant to the provisions of NRS 709.110, 709.230 or 
709.270.\\
  Sec. 5.  \"Jurisdiction" means:
  1.  In the case of a city, the corporate limits of the 
city.
  2.  In the case of a county, the unincorporated area of 
the county.\\
  Sec. 6.  \"Public utility" means a person or 
local government, whether or not subject to regulation by 
the public service commission of Nevada, that provides:
  1.  Electric energy or gas; or
  2.  A telecommunication service, and that derives 
intrastate revenue from the provision of that service to 
retail customers.\\
  Sec. 7.  \"Revenue" does not include:
  1.  Any proceeds from the interstate sale of natural gas 
to a provider of electric energy which holds a certificate 
of public convenience and necessity issued by the public 
service commission of Nevada.
  2.  Any revenue of a provider of a telecommunication 
service other than intrastate revenue.\\
  Sec. 8.  \A city or county shall not adopt an 
ordinance imposing or increasing a fee:
  1.  If that ordinance would alter the terms of any 
existing franchise agreement between the city or county and 
a public utility.
  2.  That applies to any public utility which does not 
derive revenue from customers located within the 
jurisdiction of the city or county.
  3.  If, after the adoption of the ordinance:
  (a) Any part of a fee to which the ordinance applies will 
be based upon any revenue of a public utility other than its 
revenue from customers located within the jurisdiction of 
the city or county.
  (b) The total amount of all fees the city or county 
imposes upon a public utility to which the ordinance applies 
will exceed:
    (1) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (2), 5 
percent of the utility's gross revenue from customers 
located within the jurisdiction of the city or county.
    (2) For a public utility that provides a commercial 
mobile radio service, 5 percent of its gross revenue from 
the first $15 charged monthly for each line of access for 
each of its customers located within the jurisdiction of the 
city or county. For the purposes of this subparagraph, 
"commercial mobile radio service" has the meaning ascribed 
to it in Part 20 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations.\\
  Sec. 9.  \If a city or county adopts an 
ordinance imposing or increasing a fee:
  1.  Each public utility to which the ordinance applies or 
which intends to derive revenue from customers located 
within the jurisdiction of the city or county shall, not 
later than 60 calendar days after the effective date of the 
ordinance or 30 calendar days before the public utility 
begins to provide electric energy, gas or a 
telecommunication service to those customers, whichever 
occurs later, provide to the city or county:
  (a) An acknowledgment that the public utility is operating 
or intends to operate within the jurisdiction of that city 
or county; and
  (b) The date when the public utility began or intends to 
begin to derive revenue from customers located within the 
jurisdiction of the city or county.
  2.  In addition to the requirements of subsection 1, each 
public utility to which the ordinance applies shall, not 
later than 30 calendar days after the end of each calendar 
quarter, provide to the city or county a statement of the 
amount of revenue the public utility derived during that 
calendar quarter from the sale of electric energy, gas or a 
telecommunication service to each of its customers located 
within the jurisdiction of that city or county.\\
  Sec. 10.  \If a city or county adopts an 
ordinance imposing or increasing a fee:
  1.  The entire amount of any fee to which the ordinance 
applies must be imposed at the same rate upon each public 
utility that provides similar services within the 
jurisdiction of the city or county.
  2.  The city or county:
  (a) Shall require the quarterly payment of all fees 
imposed upon each public utility to which the ordinance 
applies.
  (b) May, to the extent it determines that it is 
impracticable to collect from a public utility to which the 
ordinance applies any of the fees it imposes upon the public 
utility, collect any of those fees directly from the 
customers of the public utility located within the 
jurisdiction of the city or county in proportion to the 
amount of revenue the public utility derives from each of 
those customers.
  (c) May, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, 
assess combined penalties and interest of not more than 2 
percent per month of the delinquent amount of any fee to 
which the ordinance applies. If a city annexes any land, it 
may not assess any penalties or interest pursuant to this 
paragraph regarding any fee imposed for the operation of a 
public utility within the annexed land during any period:
    (1) Before the effective date of the annexation; or
    (2) More than 30 days before the city provides the 
public utility with notice of the annexation,
whichever occurs later.
  3.  A public utility to which the ordinance applies shall, 
except for any fees collected by the city or county pursuant 
to paragraph (b) of subsection 2, collect the aggregate of 
all its fees imposed by the city or county directly from its 
customers located within the jurisdiction of the city or 
county in proportion to the amount of revenue the public 
utility derives from each of those customers. The fees may 
be shown on a customer's bill individually or 
collectively.\\
  Sec. 11.  \Except as otherwise provided by 
agreement with all the affected public utilities:
  1.  A city or county shall not change any of its fees 
except through the adoption of an ordinance which provides 
that the change does not become effective until at least 60 
days after the effective date of the ordinance.
  2.  The cumulative amount of any increases in fees imposed 
by a city or county during any period of 24 months must not 
exceed 1 percent of the gross revenue of any public utility 
to which the increase applies from customers located within 
the jurisdiction of that city or county.\\
  Sec. 12.  NRS 354.5989 is hereby amended to 
read as follows:
  354.5989  1.  A local government shall not increase any 
fee for a business license or adopt a fee for a business 
license issued for revenue or regulation, or both, except as 
permitted by this section. This prohibition does not apply 
to fees:
  (a) Imposed by hospitals, county airports, airport 
authorities, convention authorities, the Las Vegas Valley 
Water District or the Clark County Sanitation District;
  (b) Imposed on public utilities for the privilege of doing 
business pursuant to a franchise;
  (c) For business licenses which are calculated as a 
fraction or percentage of the gross revenue of the business; 
[or]
  (d) Imposed pursuant to NRS 244.348, 268.0973, 268.821 or 
269.182 [.] \; or
  (e) Regulated pursuant to sections 2 to 11, inclusive, of 
this act.\\
  2.  The amount of revenue the local government derives or 
is allowed to derive, whichever is greater, from all fees 
for business licenses except those excluded by subsection 1, 
for the fiscal year ended on June 30, 1991, is the base from 
which the maximum allowable revenue from such fees must be 
calculated for the next subsequent year. To the base must be 
added the sum of the amounts respectively equal to the 
product of the base multiplied by the percentage increase in 
the population of the local government added to the 
percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the year 
ending on December 31 next preceding the year for which the 
limit is being calculated. The amount so determined becomes 
the base for computing the allowed increase for each 
subsequent year.
  3.  A local government may not increase any fee for a 
business license which is calculated as a fraction or 
percentage of the gross revenue of the business if its total 
revenues from such fees have increased during the preceding 
fiscal year by more than the increase in the Consumer Price 
Index during that preceding calendar year. The provisions of 
this subsection do not apply to a fee imposed pursuant to 
NRS 244.348, 268.0973, 268.821 or 269.182 [.] \, or 
regulated pursuant to sections 2 to 11, inclusive, of this 
act.\\
  4.  A local government may submit an application to 
increase its revenue from fees for business licenses beyond 
the amount allowable under this section to the Nevada tax 
commission, which may grant the application only if it finds 
that:
  (a) Emergency conditions exist which impair the ability of 
the local government to perform the basic functions for 
which it was created; or
  (b) The rate of a business license of the local government 
is substantially below that of other local governments in 
the state.
  5.  The provisions of this section apply to [any] 
\a\\ business license regardless of the fund to 
which the revenue from it is assigned. An ordinance or 
resolution enacted by a local government in violation of the 
provisions of this section is void.
  6.  As used in this section, "fee for a business license" 
does not include a tax imposed on the revenues from the 
rental of transient lodging.
  Sec. 13.  NRS 709.010 is hereby amended to 
read as follows:
  709.010  1.  Any person, company, corporation or 
association engaged in supplying electric light, heat or 
power to the inhabitants of any county or to the inhabitants 
of any town or city in any county in this state, [and] which 
filed its acceptance of the terms of the provisions of 
chapter 25, Statutes of Nevada 1901, with the county 
recorder of [such] \the\\ county, or which complied 
with the procedure authorized by chapter 190, Statutes of 
Nevada 1907, or which applied for and received a formal 
permit or franchise from the board of county commissioners 
of such county [prior to] \before\\ March 20, 1909, 
and has, since the filing of such \an\\ acceptance, 
or the receipt of such \a\\ franchise, or such 
compliance, been actually engaged in supplying electric 
light, heat or power to the inhabitants of any county or of 
any town or city therein [, shall have and there] is hereby 
granted [to such persons, company, association or 
corporation] the franchise, rights and privilege to supply 
electric light, heat and power to the inhabitants of [such] 
\the\\ county, and to the inhabitants of any town 
or city therein.
  2.  To carry out [such] \that\\ purpose, the 
right, privilege and franchise is hereby granted to [such] 
\that\\ person, association or corporation to 
construct and maintain poles and wires on the county roads 
and highways, and in the streets of [such] \those\\ 
cities and towns, together with all the necessary 
appurtenances, and to conduct electricity over [such] 
\those\\ wires and appurtenances to any part of the 
county, and to the towns and cities therein, for the purpose 
of furnishing electric heat, power and light, to the same 
extent as if the terms and provisions of NRS 709.010 to 
709.040, inclusive, had originally been fully complied with.
  3.  No person [, company, corporation or association 
shall] \may\\ have the benefits of the provisions 
of NRS 709.010 to 709.040, inclusive, until there has been 
paid to such town, city or county 2 percent of the net 
profits made in furnishing or supplying such electric light, 
heat or power, since the filing of its acceptance of the 
terms and provisions of chapter 25, Statutes of Nevada 1901, 
or since [such] \the\\ permit or franchise was 
received from the board of county commissioners, or since 
[such] compliance with the procedure authorized by chapter 
190, Statutes of Nevada 1907.
  4.  [Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to] 
\This section does not\\ enlarge the powers or [to] 
extend the term granted by any existing franchise.
  5.  Any person, company, association or corporation 
accepting the benefits of the provisions of NRS 709.010 to 
709.040, inclusive, shall pay [annually] 2 percent of its 
net profits, made in furnishing such electric light, heat 
and power, to the county or counties in which [such] 
\the\\ person, company, association or corporation 
is engaged in business.
  6.  NRS 709.010 to 709.040, inclusive, [shall not be held 
or construed to] \do not\\ relieve any such person, 
company, corporation, or association which has received a 
franchise from any board of county commissioners in this 
state [prior to] \before\\ March 20, 1909, from the 
full performance of the terms and conditions imposed by 
[such franchise;] \the franchise,\\ and compliance 
with the terms and provisions of NRS 709.010 to 709.040, 
inclusive, [shall be] \is\\ required in addition 
thereto.
  Sec. 14.  During the calendar year 1998, the 
executive director of the department of taxation shall 
convene a meeting of representatives of the Nevada 
Association of Counties, the Nevada League of Cities and 
providers of telecommunication services to discuss the 
desirability and feasibility of a statewide system for:
  1.  The collection of fees imposed by cities and counties 
upon providers of telecommunication services in this state; 
and
  2.  The distribution of the proceeds of those fees to the 
cities and counties imposing them.
  Sec. 15.  This act becomes effective upon 
passage and approval.

                     -30-