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July 10, 1987 TO: Jim Andre FROM: Ron Moorse The Cable Commission has proposed a change in the way votes are allocated to the member cities. Currently, votes are allocated based on the number of dwelling units in each city. The proposal would allocate votes on the basis of each city's percentage of the total revenue generated by the cable system. The immediate result of the change would be an increase in. Roseville's percent of the total votes from 25.81 percent to 27.19 percent. Although this appears to give Roseville more voting power, this is not necessarily the case. Because the total number of votes has been increased from 31 to 100, the ratios of votes among cities are a little different. Without going through every combination of votes, it is difficult to determine whether the change will have a significant impact positively or negatively. It appears that the change will not have a significant impact on Roseville's voting power. Looking at this issue with a longer term view, the change will benefit cities who are able to increase their cable subscriptions relative to the other cities. Under the current system, which is based on the number of dwelling units, Roseville would gradually lose some of its voting power as cities such as Shoreview continue to develop and add housing units. Although the addition of housing units also means additional potential cable subscribers, Roseville will continue to have the largest potential pool of subscribers for some time in the future. Under the proposed system, it would be possible for Roseville to retain its voting power in the face of residential development in other cities by taking steps to increase the cable subscription rate in Roseville relative to the rate in other cities. The second part of the proposal is a change in the basis of calculating the cities' contribution to the Cable Commission budget. Because the contribution level is tied to the number of votes, it is currently based on number of dwelling units. Under the new proposal, the contribution level would now be based on each city's percentage of the total annual revenues generated by the cable system. The initial result of this change would be a $797.60, or 4.6 percent increase in Roseville's contribution toward the budget.