IV. Beginning Point for True-Up

Parties indicate conflicting interpretations concerning the point in time when the true up of DA rates is to take effect. We disagree with Verizon that once a true up is ultimately made, it should only apply to revenues collected subsequent to January 1998, the issuance date of D.98-01-042. Verizon claims that rates in effect at the time that D.97-01-042 was issued in January 1997 are "presumptively reasonable" and cannot be subject to refund now. Yet, in D.97-01-042, we provided no basis to infer that then-existing DA rates were deemed presumptively reasonable. Instead, we noted that ADP had raised questions concerning the reasonableness of Pacific's tariffed rate for directory access. We expressly stated that by permitting Pacific's tariff to become effective, we had not ruled out the opportunity for the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) to pursue any remaining reasonableness issues over the tariff. We then provided an opportunity for parties to file comments on this issue. The fact that the actual decision adopting memorandum accounting was not issued until January 1998 did not resolve the reasonableness issues that had previously been raised by ADP. In OP 4, of D.98-01-042, we expressly authorized the memorandum accounts to apply retroactively to the effective date of Pacific's directory access tariffs. Because Verizon (then GTEC) did not have tariff rates then in effect, we directed it to track quantities of usage from which a subsequent true up could be made. Therefore, we agree with the Petitioners that the true-up was intended to be applied retroactively to the date that the DA rates went into effect, rather than the effective date of D.98-01-042.