|
FY 2006 FCC Regulatory Fees Due by
Sept. 19, 2006
By David D. Oxenford and Brendan Holland
[August 2006]
It is that time of year again. September is the month that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensees, including radio and television broadcasters, get to pay the federal government for the privilege of being a regulated industry. The FY 2006 Annual Regulatory Fees are due to the FCC by Sept. 19, 2006. Payment may be made by check, credit card, or wire transfer, and can be submitted either in paper or electronically. Payments not made by 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 19 will face the addition of a 25 percent late fee.
On July 17, 2006, the FCC released its Order adopting the rules for regulatory fees and establishing the fees that broadcasters and other licensees must pay this year. For AM stations, these fees range from $400 to $7,375, depending on the Class of station and the population that the FCC estimates the station serves. For FM stations, the rates range from $575 to $9,750. UHF television stations must pay between $1,775 and $20,750, while VHF stations will pay between $3,400 and $64,775. Satellite television stations, which simply rebroadcast the signal of another station, need pay only $1,150. A copy of the relevant portion of the Commission’s Order detailing the specific fees for the different types of broadcast facilities is attached hereto as Attachment 1.
Please note the current licensee of a broadcast station is responsible for the payment of this year’s regulatory fee. So if you just recently acquired a station, it is your responsibility to pay the 2006 regulatory fee, even though the fee covers the fiscal year that runs from Oct. 1, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2006. Furthermore, fees are based on the status of the station as of Oct. 1, 2005. So stations that have upgraded and received a license for their new facilities since Oct. 1, 2005, still pay for the facility as it was licensed on Oct. 1, 2005. New stations that were constructed and licensed after Oct. 1, 2005 pay only for the construction permit that was in place as of Oct. 1, 2005.
The FCC has a helpful web page (located at http://www.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html), which includes instructions for submitting the regulatory fees and a “look-up” database to allow stations to confirm the amount owed for their stations. Please note as of the date this memo was prepared, the look-up database did not yet reflect the 2006 fees, but we are told that this database should be updated in the near future. The site also contains a Frequently Asked Questions section and links to the database where you can submit the fees electronically. In addition, for those needing more detail, the Commission’s full Order detailing the fees for all types of licensees is available on the Commission’s website at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-102A1.pdf.
In recent years, the FCC has become very aggressive in enforcing the regulatory fee filing requirement. Being even one day late with a fee payment will result in a 25 percent penalty. And, if the fees and penalties are not paid after the FCC gives the licensee notice, no applications for the licensee will be accepted or processed until the fees have been paid. That requirement has delayed the processing of innumerable applications in the last few years.
The FCC should be mailing notices to each licensee in the coming weeks, setting out how much each station owes. However, in recent years not every station has received a notice, and not every notice has been accurate. Be sure that the FCC has the correct address for the station licensee, because the FCC places the obligation on the licensee to ensure that addresses in the Commission's database are accurate. If the address is not accurate, or the mailing goes to the wrong place, or is not even sent in the first place, the FCC will not view that as an excuse for a late payment. The bottom line is that licensees are responsible for paying their annual regulatory fees, regardless of whether or not the FCC sends a timely reminder.
Licensees are warned to submit their fees on time and to make certain the payments are accurate. Be sure to keep a copy of all correspondence or electronic confirmations. Historically, the FCC’s recordkeeping regarding regulatory fees has not been optimal, and the process now seems to be conducted by a third-party contractor, further complicating communications in the event of errors. It is better in the long-run to take some extra time to ensure these fees are paid properly, than to deal with the headache later.
For more information, please contact:
This advisory is a publication of the Broadcast Group of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Our purpose in publishing this advisory is to inform our clients and friends of recent developments in the broadcasting industry. It is not intended, nor should it be used, as a substitute for specific legal advice as legal counsel may only be given in response to inquiries regarding particular situations.
Copyright © 2006, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
return to
broadcast group main page
|
