ADRIAN — The city of Adrian filed a complaint Sept. 20 with the Michigan Public Service Commission against cable provider Comcast, city officials said.

City administrator Dane Nelson said the city is asking Comcast to pay its franchise fee — which is 5 percent of its fee from subscribers — and an appropriate fee for the public, education and government access channel. The city is also asking for Comcast to pay all appropriate fines, penalties, costs and attorney fees associated with the case.

The state legislature passed a bill Jan. 1 removing the requirement that cable companies negotiate with municipalities for franchise fees. The law also gives cable companies the right to use all city rights of way for their operations.

Nelson said the law does not relieve Comcast of its obligation to fund public, educational and government access programming. But the cable company has not been funding those programs since Jan. 1, he said.

Comcast also notified the city about a month ago that it will discontinue cable service to all government buildings except the fire and police departments, schools and the city library, Nelson said. Comcast has signaled its intention to stop paying the franchise fee, but he said he does not know when the payments will stop. The current agreement does not address the issue of franchise fees. Comcast also is now using city rights of way without paying for them, he said.

In a prepared statement, Patrick Paterno, Comcast’s director of communications for the Midwest region said, “Comcast continues to pay its franchise fees to the city of Adrian. As to the proceedings initiated by the city of Adrian, Comcast does not comment on ongoing legal matters.”

The city could lose $180,000 per year in franchise fees, including fees for using the rights of way, Nelson said.

“That is a lot of money, especially nowadays when we’re in a crunch,” he said.

Because of the new legislation, the city cannot push for other things like high-definition programming or exclusive channels like the Big Ten games channel, Nelson said.

Resolving the dispute will be a lengthy process, he said.