The debate has been raging for some time now, and though petitions have been circulated online, the issue still remains. Should 911 call centers be funded by cell phone surcharges or by taxpayer funds?
In New York State (as well as in seven other states across the nation), the $1.20 cell phone surcharge, which used to be called the 911 surcharge, does not help fund 911 call centers in the cell phone owner’s local area. Instead, these monies go into the New York State General Fund, and counties and cities must dip into local taxpayer funds in order to cover costs for their 911 centers.
Funds of some sort are of critical importance to any 911 call center. In addition to paying staff, these centers must also purchase and maintain equipment in order to continue to provide their life-saving services to the public.
When cell phone surcharges are not put towards the funding of these centers, counties and cities have no choice but to raid taxpayer funds for this purpose, so that services can continue. But taking money from taxpayers to fund 911 centers is strongly discouraged by the federal government – so much so, in fact, that because of this, these seven states are not allowed to apply for several Federal Grant Programs.
If this situation were changed, those extra streams of income would become available to these states. In addition, taxpayer funds could be put to other important uses. And the cell phone surcharge would cover the basic needs of the 911 centers.
Since emergency call centers are always growing and evolving, though, additional funds can become necessary. With changes in technology, systems often need to be upgraded and replaced. And who knows what the future may hold as far as new ways of requesting help from 911 services! Texting, email, and chat are just a few of the possible methods of communication that may soon be incorporated into 911 contact centers.
To cover these extra costs, there is a simple solution. Right now, customers who own prepaid cell phones do not pay that $1.20 surcharge. But prepaid devices account for 42% of cellular sales today. If every single phone that has access to 911 were charged the surcharge, and all those funds went to the 911 center closest to each phone’s owner, it would go a long way towards solving the current funding problem.
The New York State 911 Coordinators Association, a group of 911 professionals from around New YorkState, has petitioned their state senators to push for a change in the legislation that would allow both the allocation of these funds towards the 911 centers, as well as the collection of the surcharge from prepaid customers. But as of today, nothing has changed.
The cell phone surcharges continue to be placed in the NY State General Fund, which is used for such mundane items as hotel rooms and new staff cars for government officials. This just doesn’t make sense.
When a crime occurs or disaster strikes, families need to be able to reach 911 easily, and rely on their services to help them. Without the proper funding, they simply cannot provide those services reliably. Common sense dictates that the cell phone 911 surcharge be put towards 911 services.
