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HomeMy WebLinkAbout22757 1 ORDINANCE NO. 22,757 2 3 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND AND CONFIRM SECTION 1 OF LITTLE 4 ROCK, ARK. ORDINANCE NO. 22,603 (APRIL 29, 2025) CONCERNING 5 FRANCHISE FEES TO BE PAID TO THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, 6 ARKANSAS BY CENTRAL ARKANSAS WATER; AND FOR OTHER 7 PURPOSES. 8 9 WHEREAS,the City passed Little Rock,Ark.Ordinance No. 18,508(June 12,2001)that,among other 10 things, granted a franchise to Central Arkansas Water for the use of the City's rights-of-way and set a 11 franchise fee therefor equal to six and nine-tenths percent (6.9%) of Central Arkansas Water's operating 12 revenues that are attributable to gross income from water sales to customers located within the City during 13 the applicable fiscal year; and, 14 WHEREAS, in December, 2007, the City raised this franchise fee to ten percent(10%) as part of its 15 annual budget process, and through Central Arkansas Water notice of this rate increase was sent to all 16 ratepayers within the City, and was included in the revenues shown for the 2008 Budget for the City 17 contained in Little Rock,Arkansas,Ordinance No. 19,898(December 21, 2007); and, 18 WHEREAS, the City intends to amend and confirm Section 1 of Little Rock,Ark., Ordinance No. 19 22,603 (April 29, 2025)to accurately represent the ten percent(10%) franchise fee in effect on that date; 20 and, 21 WHEREAS,this ordinance is not intended to amend the franchise fee percentage in effect for Central 22 Arkansas Water,but merely to confirm the franchise that has been in effect since January 1, 2008; and, 23 WHEREAS, the purpose of Little Rock,Ark., Ordinance No. 22,603 (April 29, 2025)was merely to 24 exclude certain revenues of Central Arkansas Water from the franchise fee calculation; 25 NOW, THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY 26 OF LITTLE ROCK,ARKANSAS. 27 Section 1. Section 1 of the Ordinance No. 22,603 is hereby amended to read as follows: 28 Setting of Franchise Fee. Pursuant to the authority contained in the Consolidated 29 Waterworks Authorization Act and Section 5.02 of the Consolidation Agreement, and as 30 set out in the revenue provisions of Little Rock,Ark., Ordinance No. 19,898 (December 31 21,2007),and has been collected annually since January 1,2008,the City hereby confirms 32 that an annual franchise fee, equal to ten percent (10%) of Central Arkansas Water's 33 operating revenues that are attributable to gross income from water sales to customers Page 1 of 3 1 located within the City during the applicable fiscal year (the "Franchise Fee"), shall be 2 imposed upon Central Arkansas Water as compensation for the franchise granted by the 3 Franchise Agreement. Operating revenues on which the Franchise Fee is based, however, 4 shall not include operating revenues derived from any user with demand exceeding 1.0 5 MGD on an annual average provided that the City and the user have entered an agreement 6 that provides for the City from the user alternative consideration for Central Arkansas 7 Water's use of the City's rights-of-way. The Franchise Fee shall be payable to the City in 8 monthly installments, each such installment being due not less than thirty (30) days 9 following the end of the month to which it applies. Installments of the Franchise Fee may 10 be remitted on an estimated basis,subject to periodic reconciliation,on such terms as may 11 be acceptable to the City's Finance Director and Treasurer. The Franchise Fee shall 12 continue in effect during the term of the Franchise Agreement, unless revised or repealed 13 by subsequent ordinance. 14 Section 2.The purpose of this ordinance is to amend and confirm prior ordinances,and other legislation 15 such as Little Rock,Ark. Resolution No. 17,018(April 7, 2026), and to any ordinance or resolution which 16 refers to the amount of an annual franchise fee for Central Arkansas Water as in accordance with agreement 17 between the City and Central Arkansas Water and Little Rock,Ark.,Ordinance No. 18,898 (December 21, 18 2007) 19 Section 3. Severability. In the event any title, section, paragraph, item, sentence, clause, phrase, or 20 word of this ordinance is declared or adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional, such declaration or 21 adjudication shall not affect the remaining portions of the ordinance which shall remain in full force and 22 effect as if the portion so declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional was not originally part of the 23 ordinance. 24 Section 4. Repealer. All ordinances and parts of ordinances that conflict herewith are hereby 25 repealed; provided, however, only to the extent that the same are in direct conflict herewith. Except as 26 provided,nothing herein shall be construed to alter or change the terms or conditions of the present franchise 27 under which Central Arkansas Water is operating as set forth in Ordinance No. 22,603 (April 29, 2025). 28 PASSED: April 14,2026 29 // 30 // 31 // 32 // 33 // 34 // Page 2 of 3 1 ATTEST: APPROVED: 2 3 • 4 AtflUDI 1 5 Allison Segars,Ci' irk Frank Scott,Jr., ayor 6 APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM: 7 8 9 11 -2/1". . 10 Thomas M. Carpenter,City A orney 11 // 12 // 13 // 14 // 15 // 16 // 17 // 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // 29 // 30 // 31 // 32 // 33 // 34 // Page 3 of 3