Legislators - Cable Property Tax
City Manager's Office
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4864
(563) 589-4110 phone
(563) 589-4149 fax
ctymgr@cityofdubuque.org
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March 14, 2005
VIA Email and
1st Class Mail
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Re: HSB 205 Cable Property Tax
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Dear <<Title>> <<Last>>,
I am writing to ask you to vote no to HSB 205 regarding the taxation of facilities
operated by a city as a cable communication system. This bill is another attempt
by private telecommunication firms to block cities from creating a competitive
environment and insuring that cities and citizens are forced to accept
skyrocketing fees and inadequate service. Since the July 26, 1996 deregulation
of the cable industry Dubuque's Cable Television Rate has increased 107% for
the average homeowner. In that same time inflation has increased at
approximately 17.5%. In addition to high prices residents, businesses and
institutional consumers in Dubuque experience ordering delays, unavailability of
higher speed or capacity connections.
In response to this the city of Dubuque is considering the implementation of a
communications utility that could bring in firms to provide affordable, universal,
state of the art communication services. This is not a new concept and there are
successful cities across the country that have moved to facilitating provision of
these kinds of services to their citizens because they were experiencing a
situation similar to ours. Our ability to create a competitive environment and
pass along this savings to our citizens, will be significantly diminished by the
contents of HSB 205 which would impose a property tax on a city owned system.
Service
People
Integrity
Responsibility
Innovation
Teamwork
I encourage you to oppose HSB 205. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
MCVM:cms
cc: Mayor Terry Duggan
Dubuque City Council
Susan Judkins, Director of Governmental Affairs, Iowa League of Cities
Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Randy Gehl, Public Information Officer
Merrill Crawford, Cable Franchise Administrator
Rick Dickinson, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
Steward Sandstrom, Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce
The Honorable Mike Connolly
Iowa State Senator
2600 Renaissance Dr #3
Dubuque, IA 52001
The Honorable Pam Jochum
Iowa State Representative
2368 Jackson
Dubuque, IA 52001
The Honorable Steven Lukan
Iowa State Representative
7365 Columbus Street
New Vienna IA 52065
The Honorable Tom Hancock
Iowa State Senator
310 E Main Street
Epworth, lA, 52045
The Honorable Pat Murphy
Iowa State Representative
155 N. Grandview Avenue
Dubuque, IA 52001
The Honorable Ray Zirkelbach
Iowa State Representative
637 W. First Street
Monticello, IA 52310
The Honorable Roger Stewart
Iowa State Senator
3936317 Avenue
Preston, IA 52069
The Honorable Thomas
Schueller
Iowa State Representative
503 W. Platt Street
Maquoketa, IA 52060