A news article today stated that 16 counties in the state are bringing a lawsuit against phone companies over discounts and non-collection of the surcharge that funds 911 emergency services handled at the county level in Pennsylvania. The surcharge is tacked on to phone bills and was recently increased to help fund the emergency operations.
As we wrote in a 2013 Brief, the surcharge covered around 70 percent of the overall cost of 911 operations in a majority of counties. Allegheny County was one of the counties in this group (i.e. it did not fully cover 911 expenses through the surcharge) and its average cost per call at the time (2010) was $22.
