By Janice Podsada
Herald Writer
BOTHELL — The city of Bothell and AT&T Broadband are trying to figure out how to refund at least $200,000 in fees to the cable company’s customers.
But the city is not at fault, said Cecelia Duncan, Bothell’s senior administrative analyst.
Even though it wasn’t their error, officials are preparing to trim the city’s 2002 budget by $200,000. The money owed AT&T accounts for about 1 percent of the city’s total revenues.
For the past two years, AT&T Broadband had been overcharging Bothell customers for taxes on cable television services. Now the company is trying to figure out how to pay back customers who paid too much.
Each customer’s bill reflects the company’s cable service charges, plus a 6 percent tax the city charges on a portion of those services. The amount was set four years ago by a Bothell city ordinance that only allows a cable company to charge a total of 6 percent for a utility tax and a franchise fee.
But AT&T had been charging 11 percent — the amount of the combined taxes.
"They collected these fees from city residents within city boundaries, and that was much too much," said Bothell spokeswoman Joyce Goedecke.
It is up to AT&T to refund two years of overcharges to its customers. But that may be difficult, Duncan said. "In the last two years, a lot of people have moved, and it’s impossible to get it back to everyone."
The $200,000 error was discovered this summer when AT&T conducted an internal audit, Duncan said.
"They let us know right away," Duncan said.
Now AT&T and the city are trying to figure out how to return the money — the overcharges and the taxes — to cable customers.
Steve Kipp, AT&T spokesman, said it was up to the city to decide how to pursue refunding the $200,000 to consumers.
"We’ll work with them whatever they decide," Kipp said.
You can call Herald Writer Janice Podsada at 425-339-3029 or send e-mail to podsada@heraldnet.com.
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