Fees and Rates Preceding Collocation; Annual Increases; Rate Changes After Changes in Federal Law; Removal; Penalty

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Local Government
  4. Streamlining Wireless Facilities and Antennas
  5. Fees and Rates Preceding Collocation; Annual Increases; Rate Changes After Changes in Federal Law; Removal; Penalty

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  1. As a condition to the issuance of a permit to collocate a small wireless facility or to install, modify, or replace a pole or a decorative pole for collocation of a small wireless facility in a right of way, the applicant shall pay the following fees and rates:
    1. A fee for each application for the collocation of each small wireless facility on an existing pole assessed by the authority not to exceed $100.00 per small wireless facility;
    2. A fee for each application for each replacement pole with an associated small wireless facility assessed by the authority not to exceed $250.00;
    3. A fee for each application for each new pole with an associated small wireless facility assessed by the authority not to exceed $1,000.00 per pole with an associated small wireless facility;
    4. An annual right of way occupancy rate assessed by the authority for nonexclusive occupancy of the right of way by the applicant not to exceed:
      1. One hundred dollars per year for each small wireless facility collocated on any existing or replacement pole, including an existing or replacement authority pole; or
      2. Two hundred dollars per year for each new pole, other than a replacement pole, with an associated small wireless facility;
    5. An annual attachment rate for collocations on authority poles not to exceed $40.00 per year per small wireless facility, which shall be nondiscriminatory regardless of the services provided by the collocating wireless provider;
    6. A fee for make-ready work, as provided in subsection (n) of Code Section 36-66C-7; and
    7. Generally applicable nondiscriminatory fees for any permit required under generally applicable law; provided, however, that an applicant shall not be required to obtain or pay any fees for a building permit, as the permit issued pursuant to this chapter serves as a building permit for the applicable poles and small wireless facilities.
  2. The monetary caps provided in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (a) of this Code section shall increase 2.5 percent annually beginning January 1, 2021.
  3. If, in a final adjudication not subject to further appeal or to review by the United States Supreme Court, a federal court reviewing Accelerating Wireless Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment, et al., Declaratory Ruling and Third Report and Order, WT Docket No. 17-79 and WC Docket No. 17-84, FCC 18-133 (released September 27, 2018), or a related FCC order, or a Georgia federal district court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, or the United States Supreme Court interpreting 47 U.S.C. Section 253(c) as it existed on January 1, 2019, determines that fair and reasonable compensation includes not only cost based charges but also market based charges with respect to application fees or right of way occupancy rates for the installation of small wireless facilities or poles, or to authority pole attachment rates for small wireless facilities, then:
    1. Beginning on July 1 of the calendar year following the date that the final adjudication is no longer subject to further appeal or to review by the United States Supreme Court, the monetary caps provided in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (a) of this Code section for the fees or rates to which the determination applies, excluding any increases that have been made under subsection (b) of this Code section, shall double; and
    2. Beginning on July 1 of the second calendar year following the date that the final adjudication is no longer subject to further appeal or to review by the United States Supreme Court, the monetary caps in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (a) of this Code section for the fees or rates to which the determination applies shall terminate. In place of any monetary caps that terminate pursuant to this subsection, applicants shall pay fees or rates, as each may be applicable, that constitute the fair and reasonable compensation due to the authority under applicable law.
  4. An applicant shall not be subject to any fees or rates other than those expressly provided for by this Code section or as may be otherwise voluntarily negotiated between an applicant and the authority in accordance with Code Section 36-66C-4.
  5. The applicant, or the person that owns or operates the small wireless facility collocated in the right of way, may remove its small wireless facilities at any time from the right of way upon not less than 30 days' prior written notice to the authority and may cease paying to the authority any applicable fees and rates for such use, as of the date of the actual removal of the small wireless facilities. In the event of such removal, the right of way shall be, to the extent practicable in the reasonable judgment of the authority, restored to its condition prior to the removal. If the applicant fails to return the right of way, to the extent practicable in the reasonable judgment of the authority, to its condition prior to the removal within 90 days of the removal, the authority may, at the sole discretion of the authority, restore the right of way to such condition and charge the applicant the authority's reasonable, documented cost of removal and restoration, plus a penalty not to exceed $500.00. The authority may suspend the ability of the applicant to receive any new permits from the authority until the applicant has paid the amount assessed for such restoration costs and the penalty assessed, if any; provided, however, that the authority shall not suspend such ability of any applicant that has deposited the amount in controversy in escrow pending an adjudication of the merits of the dispute by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(Code 1981, §36-66C-5, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 236, § 1/SB 66.)

Editor's notes.

- For information as to the effective date of this Code section, see the effective date note at the beginning of this chapter.


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