2000 Alaska Statutes
Title 29 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
Chapter 29.35. MUNICIPAL POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 29.35.131. 911 surcharge.

(a) A municipality may, by resolution or ordinance, elect to provide an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering points, may purchase or lease the enhanced 911 equipment or service required to establish or maintain an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering points from a local exchange telephone company or other qualified vendor, and may impose a 911 surcharge, in an amount to be determined by the municipality, on all local exchange access lines in the area to be served by the enhanced 911 system. For a municipality with a population of 100,000 or more, the surcharge may not exceed 50 cents per month per local exchange access line. For a municipality with fewer than 100,000 people, the surcharge may not exceed 75 cents per month per local exchange access line. The area served by a system may be all of a city, all of a unified municipality, or all or part of the area within a borough and may include the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality in accordance with AS 29.35.020 . The governing body of a municipality shall review the 911 surcharge annually to determine whether the current level of the surcharge is adequate, excessive, or insufficient to meet anticipated enhanced 911 system needs. The municipality may only use the surcharge for the enhanced 911 system.

(b) A local exchange telephone company providing service in a municipality that has imposed a 911 surcharge shall bill and collect the surcharge from customers in the designated 911 service area. A local exchange telephone customer may not be subject to more than one 911 surcharge on a local exchange access line. A customer that has more than 100 local exchange access lines from a local exchange telephone company in the municipality is liable for the 911 surcharge only on 100 local exchange access lines.

(c) A local exchange telephone company shall include the 911 surcharge, stated separately and included in the total amount owed, in the bills delivered to its customers. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska may not consider the 911 surcharge as revenue of the local exchange telephone company and has no jurisdiction over an enhanced 911 system. A local exchange service customer is liable for payment of the 911 surcharge in the amounts billed by the local exchange telephone company until the amounts have been paid to the telephone company.

(d) A local exchange telephone company that has collected the 911 surcharge shall remit the amounts collected to the municipality no later than 60 days after the end of the month in which the amount was collected. From each remittance made in a timely manner under this subsection, the local exchange telephone company is entitled to deduct and retain the greater of one percent of the collected amount or $150 as the cost of administration for collecting the 911 surcharge.

(e) A local exchange telephone company is not obligated to take legal action to enforce collection of the 911 surcharge. However, if a local exchange telephone company is attempting to collect an unpaid debt from a local exchange service customer, the telephone company shall also attempt to collect any unpaid 911 surcharge that the customer owes. If a customer pays a portion of a bill that includes a 911 surcharge, the amount paid shall be prorated between the telephone company and the 911 surcharge. The company shall annually provide the municipality with a list of the amounts due for the nonpayment of 911 emergency surcharges, together with the names and addresses of those customers who carry a balance that can be determined by the company to be for the nonpayment of the 911 emergency surcharges. The local exchange telephone company is not liable for uncollected amounts.

(f) The municipality may, at its own expense, require an annual audit of a local exchange telephone company's books and records concerning the collection and remittance of the 911 surcharge.

(g) A village, as defined in AS 09.65.070 (e), or a public corporation established by a municipality has the powers granted to a municipality under this section.

(h) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.