2012-009 Council Ordinances - Laserfiche WebLink

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SECTION 6. CHANGE IN FORM OF GOVERNMENT Any change in the form of government of the City shall not affect the validity of this Ordinance. Any governmental unit succeeding the City shall, without the consent of Company, succeed to all of the rights and obligations of the City provided in this Ordinance. SECTION 7. FRANCHISE FEE 7.1. Right and Form. A franchise fee shall be imposed by the City upon adoption of this ordinance in an amount equal to two percent of the Company's gross revenue within the City for interruptible customers and four percent of the Company's gross revenue for non - interruptible customers ("Franchise Fee"). The Franchise Fee may be based on the following methods: (i) a percentage of gross revenues received by the Company for its operations within the City, or (ii) a flat fee per customer based on metered service to retail customers within the City or on some other similar basis, or (iii) a fee based on units of energy delivered to any class of retail customers within the corporate limits of the City, or (iv) a fee based on a customer meter charge or other rate design, but not to exceed the percentages specified above. The Franchise Fee shall be effective as of October 1, 2012, and shall apply to all gross revenue earned on or after that date. In the event that all other natural gas providers in the City are required to pay a franchise fee of one percent or more, the City may increase the Franchise Fee paid by the Company by one percent for non -interruptible customers, but in no case will the franchise fee exceed five percent of the Company's gross revenue within the City for non -interruptible customers. 7.2. Collection of Fee. The City acknowledges that the Company may collect the Franchise Fee from customers in the City. The City reserves the right to establish and modify from time to time, the rate design of the fee collected from customers of different classes. Fees shall be payable not less than quarterly during complete billing months of the period for which payment are to be made. The Franchise Fee formula may be changed from time to time; however, the change shall meet the same notice requirements and the fee may not be changed more often than annually, and must comply with the terms of this Ordinance. The Company agrees to make available for inspection by the City at reasonable times all records necessary to audit the Company's Franchise Fee records. 7.3. Continuation of Franchise Fee. If the City and the Company are unable to agree on the terms of a new franchise by the expiration of the term set forth in Section 2.1, the Franchise Fee shall automatically continue based on the same terms for a period of no more than one year unless the Franchise is terminated earlier pursuant to Section 2.5 of this Franchise. SECTION 8. ABANDONED FACILITIES The Company shall comply with City ordinances, Minnesota Statutes, Sections 216D.01 et seq. and Minnesota Rules, Part 7819.3300, as they may be amended from time to time. The Company shall maintain records describing the exact location of all abandoned and retired Facilities within the City, produce such records at the City's request, and comply with the location requirements of Minnesota Statutes, Section 216D.04 with respect to all Gas Facilities, including abandoned and retired Gas Facilities. 5