H. B. 2642
(By Delegates Wells, Hatfield, Guthrie,
Brown, Spencer and Lane)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-6-6b of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to reverting the 911 fee on
wireless telephones from three dollars to seventy-five cents;
and reverting the distribution formula for 911 fees to a pro
rata share of total fee revenues.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-6-6b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. LOCAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
§24-6-6b. Wireless enhanced 911 fee.
(a) All CMRS providers as defined in section two of this
article shall, on a monthly basis or otherwise for good cause and
as directed by order of the Public Service Commission, collect from
each of their in-state two-way service subscribers a wireless
enhanced 911 fee. As used in this section "in-state two-way service subscriber" shall have the same meaning as that set forth
in the rules of the Public Service Commission. No later than June
1, 2006, the Public Service Commission shall, after the receipt of
comments and the consideration of evidence presented at a hearing,
issue an updated order which directs the CMRS providers regarding
all relevant details of wireless enhanced 911 fee collection,
including the determination of who is considered an in-state
two-way service subscriber and which shall specify how the CMRS
providers shall deal with fee collection shortfalls caused by
uncollectible accounts. The Public Service Commission shall
solicit the views of the wireless telecommunications utilities
prior to issuing the order.
(b) The wireless enhanced 911 fee is three dollars seventy-five
cents per month for each valid retail commercial mobile radio
service subscription, as that term is defined by the Public Service
Commission in its order issued under subsection (a) of this
section. Provided, That beginning Beginning on July, 1, 2005, the
wireless enhanced 911 fee shall include ten cents to be distributed
to the West Virginia State Police to be used for equipment upgrades
for improving and integrating their communication efforts with
those of the enhanced 911 systems. Provided, however, That for the
fiscal year beginning on the first day of July, two thousand five,
and for every fiscal year thereafter, one million dollars of the
wireless enhanced 911 fee shall be distributed by the Public Service Commission to subsidize the construction of towers. The
moneys shall be deposited in a fund administered by the West
Virginia Public Service Commission, entitled Enhanced 911 Wireless
Tower Access Assistance Fund, and shall be expended in accordance
with an enhanced 911 wireless tower access matching grant order
adopted by the Public Service Commission. The commission order
shall contain terms and conditions designed to provide financial
assistance loans or grants to state agencies, political
subdivisions of the state and wireless telephone carriers for the
acquisition, equipping and construction of new wireless towers,
which would provide enhanced 911 service coverage and which would
not be available otherwise due to marginal financial viability of
the applicable tower coverage area: Provided further, That the
grants shall be allocated among potential sites based on
application from county commissions demonstrating the need for
enhanced 911 wireless coverage in specific areas of this state.
Any tower constructed with assistance from the fund created by this
subdivision shall be available for use by emergency services, fire
departments and law-enforcement agencies communication equipment,
so long as that use does not interfere with the carrier's wireless
signal: And provided further, That the Public Service Commission
shall promulgate rules in accordance with article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to effectuate the provisions of this
subsection. The Public Service Commission is specifically authorized to promulgate emergency rules: And provided further,
That for the fiscal year beginning on the first day of July, two
thousand six, and for every fiscal year thereafter, five percent of
the wireless enhanced 911 fee money received by the Public Service
Commission shall be deposited in a special fund established by the
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to be used
solely for the construction, maintenance and upgrades of the West
Virginia Interoperable Radio Project and any other costs associated
with establishing and maintaining the infrastructure of the system.
Any funds remaining in this fund at the end of the fiscal year
shall automatically be reappropriated for the following year.
(c) Beginning in the year 1997, and every two years thereafter,
the Public Service Commission shall conduct an audit of the
wireless enhanced 911 fee and shall recalculate the fee so that it
is the weighted average rounded to the nearest penny, as of March
1 of the respecification year, of all of the enhanced 911 fees
imposed by the counties which have adopted an enhanced 911
ordinance. Provided, That the The wireless enhanced 911 fee may
never be increased by more than twenty-five percent of its value at
the beginning of the respecification year. Provided, however,
That However, the fee may never be less than the amount set in
subsection (b) of this section. Provided further, That Also,
beginning on July 1, 2005, the wireless enhanced 911 fee shall
include ten cents to be distributed to the West Virginia State Police to be used for equipment upgrades for improving and
integrating their communication efforts with those of the enhanced
911 systems. And provided further, That beginning on the first day
of July, two thousand five, one million dollars of the wireless
enhanced 911 fee shall be distributed by the Public Service
Commission to subsidize the construction of wireless towers as
specified in said subsection.
(d) The CMRS providers shall, after retaining a three-percent
billing fee, send the wireless enhanced 911 fee moneys collected,
on a monthly basis, to the Public Service Commission. The Public
Service Commission shall, on a quarterly and approximately evenly
staggered basis, disburse the fee revenue in the following manner:
(1) Each county that does not have a 911 ordinance in effect as
of the original effective date of this section in the year 1997 or
has enacted a 911 ordinance within the five years prior to the
original effective date of this section in the year 1997 shall
receive eight and one-half tenths of one percent of the fee
revenues received by the Public Service Commission. Provided,
That after After the effective date of this section, in the year
2005, when two or more counties consolidate into one county to
provide government services, the consolidated county shall receive
one percent of the fee revenues received by the Public Service
Commission for itself and for each county merged into the
consolidated county. Each county shall receive eight and one-half tenths of one percent a pro rata portion of the remainder of the
fee revenues received by the Public Service Commission, based on
that county's percentage of the total number of local exchange
telephone access lines and line equivalents in service in the
state. Provided, however, That However, after the effective date
of this section, in the year 2005, when two or more counties
consolidate into one county to provide government services, the
consolidated county shall receive one percent of the fee revenues
received by the Public Service Commission for itself and for each
county merged into the consolidated county. Then, from any moneys
remaining, each county shall receive a pro rata portion of that
remainder based on that county's population as determined in the
most recent decennial census as a percentage of the state total
population. The Public Service Commission shall recalculate the
county disbursement percentages on a yearly basis, with the changes
effective on July 1, and using data as of March 1. The public
utilities which normally provide local exchange telecommunications
service by means of lines, wires, cables, optical fibers or by
other means extended to subscriber premises shall supply the data
to the Public Service Commission on a county specific basis no
later than June 1 of each year;
(2) Counties which have an enhanced 911 ordinance in effect
shall receive their share of the wireless enhanced 911 fee revenue
for use in the same manner as the enhanced 911 fee revenues received by those counties pursuant to their enhanced 911
ordinances;
(3) The Public Service Commission shall deposit the wireless
enhanced 911 fee revenue for each county which does not have an
enhanced 911 ordinance in effect into an escrow account which it
has established for that county. Any county with an escrow account
may, immediately upon adopting an enhanced 911 ordinance, receive
the moneys which have accumulated in the escrow account for use as
specified in subdivision (2) of this subsection. Provided, That
a A county that adopts a 911 ordinance after the original effective
date of this section in the year 1997 or has adopted a 911
ordinance within five years of the original effective date of this
section in the year 1997 shall continue to receive one percent of
the total 911 fee revenue for a period of five years following the
adoption of the ordinance. Thereafter, each county shall receive
that county's eight and one-half tenths of one percent portion of
the remaining fee revenue, being disbursed to counties on a pro
rata basis. plus that county's additional pro rata portion of the
fee revenues then remaining, based on that county's population as
determined in the most recent decennial census as a percentage of
the state total population: Provided, however, That every Every
five years from the year 1997, all fee revenue residing in escrow
accounts shall be disbursed on the pro rata basis specified in
subdivision (1) of this subsection, except that data for counties without enhanced 911 ordinances in effect shall be omitted from the
calculation and all escrow accounts shall begin again with a zero
balance.
(e) CMRS providers have the same rights and responsibilities
as other telephone service suppliers in dealing with the failure by
a subscriber of a CMRS provider to timely pay the wireless enhanced
911 fee.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of section one-a of this
article, for the purposes of this section, the term "county" means
one of the counties provided in section one, article one, chapter
one of this code.
(g) From any funds distributed to a county pursuant to this
section, a total of three percent shall be set aside in a special
fund to be used exclusively for the purchase of equipment that will
provide information regarding the x and y coordinates of persons
who call an emergency telephone system through a commercial mobile
radio service. Provided, That upon Upon purchase of the necessary
equipment, the special fund shall be dissolved and any surplus
shall be used for general operation of the emergency telephone
system as may otherwise be provided by law.
(h) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this code,
beginning July 1, 2008, prepaid wireless calling service is no
longer subject to the wireless enhanced 911 fee.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to revert the 911 fee on
wireless telephones from three dollars to seventy-five cents while
reverting the distribution formula for 911 fees to a pro rata share
of total fee revenues.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.