On July 27, 2020, the City of Beaverton was sued by Comcast of Oregon II, a local subsidiary of Comcast.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington County Circuit Courts, challenges the City of Beaverton’s authority to assess and collect rights-of-way (ROW) fees.
According to the City of Beaverton, ROW fees, which have been in-effect since the 1970’s, are used to maintain services intended for public use, such as communications and cable services. The City of Beaverton passed a law in 2016 to include telecommunications and cable companies.
Although Comcast appears to be paying ROW fees as of July 2019, the City of Beaverton responded to Comcast’s lawsuit by filing a counterclaim that is aimed at recovering past due fees for the years between 2016 (when the ROW fees law went into effect) and 2019 (when Comcast started first paying the fees).
The counterclaim, filed on September 8th, asserts the city’s right to asses and collect ROW fees, claiming that Comcast has skipped the bill on $3.25 million dollars in past-due fees over the course of approximately 4-years.
In a press release issued by the City of Beaverton last month, Beaverton Finance Director Patrick O’Claire is quoted as saying, “This is a principle of fairness … No corporation, no matter their size and status, is above the law.”
According to the docket, Comcast is required to submit a response to the counterclaim by October 16th.
