Lawmakers pass bill to increase emergency call fee - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

Lawmakers pass bill to increase emergency call fee

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By Jamel Lanee' - bio | email
Many call centers are suffering because of lack of funding. Many call centers are suffering because of lack of funding.
MONTGOMERY, AL (WAFF) -

Lawmakers want to charge a statewide fee for 911 calls made from devices other than a land line.

They said because of growing technology, people are using other ways to contact 911 and not being charged a fee, which the state loses revenue on.

House legislatures passed a bill Monday which would increase the revenue for emergency call centers. If signed into law, the bill would establish a statewide, level fee on all devices capable of reaching emergency call centers. Currently, there are statewide fees on post paid wireless devices and local fees on traditional land line phone service, but no fees on pre paid cell phones or voice over Internet calls.

Lawmakers said 88 local districts set their own rates. Madison county commissioner Bob Harrison supported the bill, but has some concerns. He said it would definitely help bring in money to the county, but at the same time said there's some terminology in the bill that could hurt larger counties in the state like Madison. He's not sure how the money would be divided up once the state collects the fees and if Madison county taxpayers would get their fare share because they most likely will be charged more. Some of the money may go to smaller counties to help keep their 911 services running.

"How will they be disbursed, that's the issue. Who will be made whole, who will receive what," said Harrison. "Those are some of the questions that we have, that I have personally about the bill and what significance will be to the taxpayers of Madison county."

During a 15 month process, officials will establish a flat rate that will apply to traditional land line phones, wireless phones, pre-paid wireless service, voice over Internet service and any other technology that can access the service. A statewide panel will collect data on the 911 revenue collected by each district, establish a rate on October 1, 2013 and distribute the resulting revenue to ensure all districts maintain their current level of funding.

The bill now goes before Governor Bentley.

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