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	MV Television District To Hold Hearing

	By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Submitted Mar. 26, 2008 The Moapa Valley Television District will hold a hearing on Tuesday, April 1, to allow for public input on a property tax assessment it proposes to place in next year’s tax rolls. The $24 per household annual assessment would pay for necessary updates and maintenance to Television District equipment at its Beacon Hill facility. Federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital format by February of 2009. Much of the TV District equipment is over twenty years old and is not equipped to receive digital signals. But updating the equipment is an expensive proposition. The district, which has survived up to now on voluntary assessments from community members, could not afford the updates on current revenues. Thus, after the February deadline, without the proposed general assessment, the district would no longer be able to provide its services to the community. Many households in the community no longer use airwave antennas, having subscribed to satellite or cable TV services instead. Some of these Moapa Valley residents complain that, because they no longer need the TV district services, it is unfair to be forced to pay a tax for services they say they will never use. “Recently we were asked what an individual can do if they can’t get or don’t want free TV from the Television Maintenance District, and, therefore, don’t want to be included in the tax base,” said Victoria Coston of the Clark County Northeast Office staff. “The answer we were given is that, in order to protest that they don’t have the receiver mentioned in the NRS statute, they MUST show up at the April 1 meeting and put it on record.” Television district officials maintain that they aren’t necessarily trying to replace subscription TV service. District Chairman, Daniel Pray, points out that to get local Las Vegas stations with satellite TV, subscribers must pay $5-8 per month to add the local package to their subscription. “We will be able to offer all of that, plus KSL and KBYU out of Utah for only $2 per month,” Pray said. “Plus we have plans to provide a local public access station that will cover local community events. At the least, we can provide a better local supplementary package to satellite customers at a much lower cost.” In addition, the TV District holds significant assets that are community assets, Pray said. “We have 11 licensed broadcast frequencies and a long term lease with the BLM on the Beacon Hill property,” Pray said. “These are valuable assets that belong to this community and are still under local control. It seems to us that it is worth this minor investment to maintain them as such.”