No increase in phone fees for 911 under PUC renewal
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The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Thursday in Harrisburg reauthorized the telephone charge residents in Washington County pay for their local 911 service.
Washington County did not request a change to its current contribution rate of $1.25 per telephone landline per month. The county’s 911 service area has an approximate population of 207,820.
Verizon Pennsylvania Inc., Verizon North LLC, Marianna and Scenery Hill Telephone Co., Bentleyville Telephone Co., Windstream Pennsylvania LLC, Armstrong Telephone Co., AT&T Inc., Hickory Telephone Company, Level 3 Communications Inc. and various competitive local exchange carriers serve the county.
Jeff Yates, Washington County public safety director, said he submitted to the PUC information in June about the 911 center’s call volume, expenses and income. If what it cost to process a call was less than $1.25, the PUC could have decreased the county’s allocation.
The surcharge generates almost $1.3 million and the local 911 center also receives $1.4 million from wireless communications, which first goes to the state. Counties apply for the money, “almost like a grant,” Yates said.
Washington County’s total 911 budget is about $3.8 million.
“The surcharges weren’t designed to pay for 100 percent,” he explained. “The county used to pay between $300,000 and $400,000. Now, we’re up to $800,000 because the funding has dropped off.” The 911 center also receives a relatively small amount of funding from federal taxpayers.
The Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act of 1990 provides for a statewide 911 emergency communication system to be administered by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. The law allows the counties to recover the cost for 911 systems by accessing a fee on every telephone line.
Washington is a fourth-class county, and local phone companies collect the fee for the counties. Under the act, the maximum fee that can be collected per telephone line per month is $1 for first- and second-class counties; $1.25 for third- through fifth-class counties; and $1.50 for sixth- through eighth-class counties.
The PUC reviews the contribution rates to ensure they do not exceed the allowable amount. The PUC then forwards a decision to PEMA. The PUC has 90 days to submit its recommendation to PEMA as to whether a proposed contribution rate should be approved or modified. The plan and the surcharge are effective from the date of the PUC order for a period of three years.