CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the Seattle Channel; stating the City Council's intent to establish dedicated and ongoing funding sources for the operating and capital costs of the Seattle Channel; and requesting that the Executive submit a funding plan by September 3, 2025.
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WHEREAS, responsibility for The City of Seattle's municipal television station, which would later become the Seattle Channel, was transferred from the Seattle Public Library to the Executive group responsible for the City's website in 1997; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Channel remains administratively within the City department known as Seattle Information Technology; and
WHEREAS, beginning in 1996, the City entered into franchise agreements with cable television providers that included new franchise fees as compensation for the right to locate equipment in the public right-of-way; and
WHEREAS, in 2001, the City Council adopted Resolution 30379 that established financial policies for General Fund Subfunds, including a subfund that received the cable franchise fee revenues; and
WHEREAS, one of the eligible uses for the franchise fee revenues was support for the City's government access television channel, including both operations and capital equipment; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, the City Council, via Ordinance 125492, created the Cable Television Franchise Fund and specified that all revenues from cable franchise fees shall be deposited into the fund; and
WHEREAS, cable franchise fee revenues have been declining for a number of years and are predicted to continue declining in future years; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Channel is in need of dedicated funding sources to ensure that the station's governmental, arts, cultural, and community programming can continue uninterrupted; and
WHEREAS, the Council intends to collaborate with the Executive to establish an advisory workgroup to explore alternative financing and operating mo...
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