Section 8-1-17-20 - Rates and charges; revenues and receipts not needed; REA borrowers; rates sufficient to repay financial assistance(a) A local cooperative corporation shall be required to furnish reasonably adequate communications services and facilities. The charge made by any local cooperative corporation for any service rendered or to be rendered, either directly or in connection with the service, shall be nondiscriminatory, reasonable, and just, and every discriminatory, unjust, or unreasonable charge for communications service is prohibited and declared unlawful. Reasonable and just charges for communications service within the meaning of this section are those charges that produce sufficient revenue to pay all legal and other necessary expense incident to the operation of the local cooperative corporation's system, including maintenance costs, operating charges, upkeep, repairs, interest charges on bonds or other obligations, to provide a sinking fund for the liquidation of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, to provide adequate funds to be used as working capital, as well as funds for making extensions and replacements, and also for the payment of any taxes that may be assessed against the cooperative corporation or its property. Charges described in this section must produce an income sufficient to maintain the local cooperative corporation's property in sound physical and financial condition to render adequate and efficient service. Any rate too low to meet the foregoing requirements is unlawful. Revenues and receipts not needed for the purposes described in this section, or not needed in reserves for those purposes, shall be returned to the patrons on a pro rata basis according to the amounts paid by them for communications service. Amounts returned under this section shall be either in cash or in abatement of current charges for communications service, as the board may decide.(b) As used in subsection (d), "financial assistance" means:(1) a loan or loan guarantee; or(2) a lien accommodation provided to secure a loan made by another lender; including loans made by the Rural Electrification Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture (REA) or by the Rural Telephone Bank.
(c) As used in subsections (d) and (e), "REA borrower" means a corporation created under this chapter that is the recipient of financial assistance.(d) In determining rates under this section, an REA borrower must charge rates sufficient to enable the REA borrower to: (1) satisfy its reasonable expenses and obligations; and(2) repay the full amount of any financial assistance and the interest thereon.(e) So long as there remains any unpaid portion of any financial assistance associated with the property of an REA borrower, the rates of the REA borrower shall be set at a level sufficient to repay the financial assistance, regardless of the full or partial retirement of the property or any other change in the status of the property.Amended by P.L. 81-2020,SEC. 12, eff. 7/1/2020.(Formerly: Acts 1951, c.193, s.20.) As amended by P.L. 74-1991, SEC.3; P.L. 97-1993, SEC.9; P.L. 27-2006, SEC.48.