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Comcast pays other municipalities handsomely – why not Hillsborough?

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To the editor:

After seeing numerous complaints online about Comcast cable service and prices, and the lack of a serious alternate service provider, I decided to attend the township meeting in August at which the Comcast 10-year license renewal for Hillsborough was introduced. When it came to the fees section, Township Attorney William Willard stated that Hillsborough receives “the same fees they [Comcast] pay every municipality….it’s set forth by regulators”

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The fees collected are based on subscriptions with some modifications made for school and emergency channels/services, and are income to the township. Hillsborough received $53,000 last year, and anticipates $60,000 this year. We are one of the largest townships in the county, and have a very high rate of Comcast subscription compared to other towns that may have alternate services. But according to municipal budgets all over Somerset County, we receive less than almost any other town. Bridgewater receives almost ten times as much, $590K from Cablevision. Even Manville, which has FIOS and is a much smaller town, gets $77K from Comcast. Little North Plainfield gets $200K!

Since this is regulated at the state level, not at the county level, I also looked at other towns who might have had more recently signed contracts. Medford, a town of about 24,000 people, just renegotiated with Comcast for a 15-year contract for which they have been collecting approximately $395,000 per year.

At the September committee meeting, where this ordinance was up for public comment and committee vote, a couple of residents noted that the copy of the ordinance distributed was modified from the one introduced in August. When one of us asked the township committee about it, Mr. Willard started to answer. He explained he needed to answer because he had made the change and the township committee was unaware of it. I am not sure how he can modify ordinances without the township committee’s knowledge, since the committee votes. Last time I checked the fiduciary responsibility belongs to the township committee, not the township lawyer.

The township committee always lauds itself about their “fiscal responsibility” but if you raise a serious question regarding a calculation for township income that does not appear to be in line with other towns, you get pushback, never resolution. You must be talking about contracts that were re-negotiated a long time ago, or “call the BPU and talk to so-and-so,” or these other towns must not have the extra educational and emergency channel services that we get. Maybe they should actually take a look. Shouldn’t they want to get to the bottom of why we are paid less than other towns, especially. if it’s so “regulated,” as they say?

I recommended that the committee table the vote until they are provided more information to determine if the problem was in the contract itself or in the execution of it, either way. But by the time I sat down, the ordinance passed 5-0, as usual. So much for the importance of finding savings, and making your tax dollars count.

Meryl Bisberg

Hillsborough

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