Page 62 - Grapevine Budget FY21

Franchise fees represent those revenues collected from utilities operating within the City that use
the City’s rights-of way to conduct their business. The City Council has authorized a 4% fee for
the electric utility, 4% for the natural gas utility, 5% for the cable TV utility and a 2% of gross
receipts fee for refuse collection. A flat rate is charged to both telephone operators [adjusted
annually] based on the number of access lines. The City anticipates franchise fee collections of
$6.9 million, no change from the previous year. Actual FY20 collections were $5,887,742 and
represent a 9% decrease from the previous year.

The bill effectively slashes right-of-way fees that telecom providers pay cities to supply cable and
phone service. For years, companies paid cities two separate fees to run phone and cable TV lines
in right-of-ways — even when delivered over the same line. The bill changes that practice, and
allows providers to only pay the higher of the two fees. This action cost the city $500,000 in lost
revenue for FY 2020.

FRANCHISE FEE FY-2015 FY-2016 FY-2017 FY-2018 FY-2019 FY-2020
COLLECTIONS

Electric 3,702,232 3,647,708 3,543,123 3,543,334 3,554,552 3,403,965
Telephone 694,080 715,703 656,114 586,796 489,057 283,779
Natural Gas 690,654 540,056 654,037 951,886 719,834 492,731
Cable Television 945,245 900,671 786,666 694,023 549,183 643,405
Refuse Collection 792,271 857,387 962,542 1,117,112 1,122,845 1,063,862

Collections $6,824,481 $6,661,525 $6,602,482 $6,893,151 $6,435,472 $5,887,742
Gain / (Loss) $39,331 ($162,956) ($59,043) $290,669 ($457,679) ($547,730)
% Change 1% -2% -1% 4% -7% -9%

License and permit revenue includes fees charged by the City for certain types of operator licenses
and permits for construction and other items regulated by City ordinances. Total revenue from
licenses and permits is budgeted at $1.6 million, a decline of 16% from the previous year’s budget.
Total license & permit revenue in FY20 was down $601,909 (-30%) from FY19.

LICENSES & FY-2015 FY-2016 FY-2017 FY-2018 FY-2019 FY-2020
PERMITS

Collections $1,562,406 $1,769,496 $1,910,170 $1,631,113 $1,987,404 $1,385,495
Gain / (Loss) $192,646 $207,090 $140,674 ($279,057) $356,291 ($601,909)
% Change 14% 13% 8% -15% 22% -30%

Charges for services consist of revenue earned by the City in exchange for specific types of
services provided. Examples of services include ambulance service, mowing charges, engineering
inspection fees and parks and recreation fees. Revenues for FY21 are budgeted at $9 million and
represent a decline of 1% from the previous budget year.

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