(a) The following are the maximum fees and rates that may be charged to an applicant by a local authority for deployment of a small wireless facility:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 13-24-407

  • Applicant: means any person who submits an application pursuant to this part. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Application: means a request submitted by an applicant to an authority:
    (A) For a permit to deploy or colocate small wireless facilities in the ROW. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Authority: means :
    (i) Within a municipal boundary, the municipality, regardless of whether such municipality is a metropolitan government. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Fee: means a one-time, nonrecurring charge. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Local authority: means an authority that is either a municipality, regardless of whether the municipality is a metropolitan government, or a county, and does not include an authority that is the state. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Micro wireless facility: means a small wireless facility that:
    (A) Does not exceed twenty-four inches (24") in length, fifteen inches (15") in width, and twelve inches (12") in height. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • new PSS: means a PSS that does not exist at the time the application is submitted, including, but not limited to, a PSS that will replace an existing pole. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • PSS: means a pole or other structure used for wireline communications, electric distribution, lighting, traffic control, signage, or a similar function, including poles installed solely for the colocation of a small wireless facility. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Rate: means a recurring charge. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • ROW: means the space, in, upon, above, along, across, and over all public streets, highways, avenues, roads, alleys, sidewalks, tunnels, viaducts, bridges, skywalks under the control of the authority, and any unrestricted public utility easement established, dedicated, platted, improved, or devoted for utility purposes and accepted as such public utility easement by the authority, but excluding lands other than streets that are owned by the authority. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Small wireless facility: includes a micro wireless facility. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Wireless facility: includes small wireless facilities. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
(1) For small wireless facility colocations on existing or replacement PSSs, the maximum application fee is five hundred dollars ($500) for a single application of up to five (5) small wireless facilities and one hundred dollars ($100) each for additional small wireless facilities included in a single application. For a new PSS, other than a replacement PSS, together with the colocation of an associated small wireless facility, the maximum application fee is one thousand dollars ($1,000); and
(2) The maximum annual rate for colocation of a small wireless facility on a local authority-owned PSS is two hundred seventy dollars ($270).
(b) In addition to the maximum fees and rates described in subsection (a), a local authority shall not require applicants:

(1) To pay fees or reimburse costs for the services or assistance provided to the authority by a consultant or third party retained by the authority relative to deployment of small wireless facilities; or
(2) To file additional applications or permits for regular maintenance, replacement of, or repairs made to an applicant’s own facilities. In no event shall replacement of a PSS constitute regular maintenance.
(c) This section does not prohibit an authority from requiring generally applicable work or traffic permits, or from collecting the same applicable fees for such permits, for deployment of a small wireless facility or new PSS as long as the work or traffic permits are issued and associated fees are charged on the same basis as other construction activity in a ROW.
(d) This section does not prohibit an authority from retaining any consultant or third party when the fees and costs for the consultant or third party are paid by the authority, using the authority’s own funds, rather than requiring applicants to reimburse or pay for the consultants or third parties.
(e)

(1) Except for the application fees, permit fees, and colocation rates set out in this section, no local authority shall require additional rates or fees of any kind, including, but not limited to, rental fees, access fees, or site license fees for the initial deployment or the continuing presence of a small wireless facility.
(2) No local authority shall require approval, or any applications, fees, or rates, for:

(A) Routine maintenance of a small wireless facility, which maintenance does not require the installation of a new PSS or the replacement of a PSS;
(B) The replacement of a small wireless facility with another small wireless facility that is the same size or smaller than the size conditions set out in the definition of “small wireless facility” in § 13-24-402; or
(C) The installation, placement, maintenance, operation, or replacement of a micro wireless facility that is suspended on cables that are strung between existing PSSs, in compliance with the National Electrical Safety Code as set out in § 68-101-104.
(3) No local authority shall require execution of any access agreement or site license agreement as a condition of deployment of a small wireless facility in a ROW.
(4) A local authority shall not directly or indirectly require an applicant to perform services for the authority or provide goods to the authority such as in-kind contributions to the authority, including, but not limited to, reserving fiber, conduit, or pole space for the authority in exchange for deployment of small wireless facilities. The prohibition in this subdivision (e)(4) does not preclude the approval of an application to colocate a small cell in which the applicant chooses, in its sole discretion, a design that accommodates other functions or attributes of benefit to the authority.
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