South Hutchinson finalizes Black Hills Energy franchise fee deal; city announcement gives no terms
The city had earlier posted notice on its website that franchise fee negotiations with Black Hills Energy were beginning.
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Sign up freeSouth Hutchinson has finalized its franchise fee agreement with Black Hills Energy through Ordinance #26-16, but the city's announcement disclosed no rate, term or effective date for a charge utilities typically pass to customers. The city posted the announcement on its website Thursday, Sept. 17.
A franchise fee is what a utility pays a city for the right to run its lines and pipes through public rights-of-way. It is generally set as a share of what the utility collects from customers inside city limits. The announcement does not say which Black Hills Energy service the franchise covers — natural gas, electric or both — or how many South Hutchinson accounts it affects.
The announcement gives no date for the City Council's passage of Ordinance #26-16 or the vote tally, no length for the franchise term, no figure for the annual revenue the city expects the fee to produce, and no identification of the earlier agreement the ordinance replaces.
The ordinance text is attached to the Sept. 17 announcement in the news section of the city's website, and readers can request copies of city ordinances from City Clerk Katie Marcum's office. Reno County municipal ordinances and franchise actions also appear in the weekly public notices Citizen Journal publishes.
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