The General Assembly has approved legislation to alter the surcharge on landlines, cell phones, and pre-paid devices to fund 911 emergency communications and the proposal awaits the Governor’s signature to become law. What was a collection of $1 to $1.50 per landline per month (varying by class of county) and $1 on cell phones per month will now become a $1.65 “uniform surcharge…on each 911 communication service or prepaid wireless devices providing 911 communications as required under Federal law“. As we pointed out in a 2013 Brief unless there was a big increase in the number of communication devices or a shift to another type of funding mechanism it would be hard to see how a surcharge hike could be ruled out.
