Taxes and Fees

A portion of the amount paid to local broadcast stations so we may retransmit their signals to you.

The Carrier Access Fee includes multiple fees associated with voice services. These include: Federal Access Charges, the Administration Fee, the Access Recovery Charge, the Local Number Portability Fee, and the Presubscribed Carrier Charge. This does not reflect a direct government charge.

The Network Access Charge allows carriers to recoup charges to support access and maintenance of the data network and costs associated with government assessments for the support of speech and hearing-impaired programs. This does not reflect a direct government charge.

These are charges proposed and authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for providing access to, and maintenance of, the local network.

All carriers providing interstate telecommunications must support relay services, which enables telephone conversations between people with speech/hearing impairments and those without.

The Access Recovery Charge (ARC) is a telephone fee related to changes in FCC rules. This monthly fee is a way to recover the costs of providing access to the telephone network.

This charge is for selecting and routing calls to a long-distance carrier.

The Federal Communications Commission permits phone companies to add this charge to all phone lines as compensation for creating systems that allow residential and business phone customers the ability to retain their existing local phone numbers (at the same location) when switching from one local phone service to another.

This tax is mandated by the federal government. They are imposed on local and wireless telephone services.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the Universal Service Fund (USF). This fee helps make voice and internet/data services affordable and available to all Americans, including low-income consumers and those living in areas where the costs of providing service are high. It also includes public and nonprofit schools and libraries serving low-income communities, as well as rural health care providers. Congress mandated that all telecommunications companies providing interstate service contribute to the USF. A carrier may include this contribution to customers’ monthly bills.

This state service charge helps to pay for the relay center which transmits and translates calls for hearing-impaired people.

This surcharge is mandated by local governments to help pay for emergency services such as fire and rescue.

This tax is on gross receipts derived from the furnishing of telephone services. The service provider collects the tax and reports the collections annually to the Department of Revenue.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fee helps fund federal government oversight and regulation of U.S. cable television operator.

The franchise fee on your statement is forwarded from Midco to your local city or township, which has allowed Midco access to the public rights of way for building and operating our cable TV system in that municipality. Rates vary by municipality. The local government sets the fee, which is a percentage of the cost of specific cable TV services.

Mandated by the local government, this fee helps support capital expenditure of a local channel, such as a city, government or school channel that often carries programming such as city council meetings, school board meetings, community history and so forth. This fee is also known as the PEG fee (public, education and government). In the Midco service area, this fee only applies in Minnesota. 

City taxes vary by community. For business customers, the following monthly taxes apply in each state:

• Kansas: Taxes on all services except internet services. Taxes will apply on equipment (i.e. modems).
• Minnesota: Taxes on all services except internet services.
• North Dakota: Taxes on all services except cable TV and internet services.
• South Dakota: Taxes on all services.

The Telephone Assistance Plan (TAP) charge helps provide discounted telephone service to qualified customers. In the Midco service area, this fee only applies in Minnesota and is applied to each phone line.

The transmit improvement tax supports transportation needs such as road improvements and mass transit. In the Midco service area, this fee only applies in Minnesota at a rate set by each city or township.