2010 Wyoming Statutes
Title 16 - City, County, State And Local Powers
Chapter 9 - Telephone Service

CHAPTER 9 - TELEPHONE SERVICE

 

ARTICLE 1 - EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SERVICE

 

16-9-101. Short title.

 

This act is known and may be cited as the "Emergency Telephone Service Act".

 

16-9-102. Definitions.

 

(a) As used in this act:

 

(i) "Governing body" means the board of county commissioners of a county, city council or other governing body of a city, town or county or the board of directors of a special district;

 

(ii) "Local exchange access company" means a franchised telephone company engaged in providing telecommunications services between points within a local calling area;

 

(iii) "Local exchange access line" means any land line telephone line that connects a telephone subscriber to the local switching office and has the capability of reaching local public safety service agencies by voice communication;

 

(iv) "911 emergency reporting system" or "911 system" means a telephone system consisting of network, database, services and equipment, including operating and personnel costs as specified in W.S. 16-9-105, using the single three-digit number 911 for reporting police, fire, medical or other emergency situations and enabling the users of a public telephone system, other technology or wireless telecommunications system to reach a public safety answering point to report emergencies by dialing 911. 911 emergency reporting systems may include systems consisting of network, database, services and equipment, including operating and personnel costs as specified in W.S. 16-9-105, using 911 databases and public safety answering points to disseminate warnings to the public of impending hazards, including storms, floods, hazardous materials incidents or other emergencies that could compromise the public safety. For any 911 emergency reporting system that operates a reverse 911 warning system, a quarterly test on the warning system will be conducted by calling random numbers. The level of technology for provision of the 911 emergency reporting system is to be determined by the governing body and may include enhanced wireless 911 services, however, the 911 system shall include a device for telecommunications for the deaf. Effective January 1, 2009, the governing body shall file with the Wyoming public service commission a certified statement of its annual gross receipts and detailed and itemized annual expenditures of any taxes collected pursuant to this act from 2004 through and including the most recent calendar year;

 

(v) "911 emergency tax" is a tax on service users within the governing body's designated 911 service area set by the governing body in accordance with this act and assessed on each service user's local exchange access lines and wireless communications access to pay the directly related costs of a 911 system as authorized in accordance with W.S. 16-9-105;

 

(vi) "Public agency" means any city, town, county, special district or other political subdivision of the state located in whole or in part within this state providing or having the authority to provide fire fighting, law enforcement, ambulance, emergency medical or other emergency services;

 

(vii) "Public safety answering point" means a twenty-four (24) hour local jurisdiction communications facility receiving 911 service calls and directly dispatching emergency response services or relaying calls to the appropriate public or private safety agency or disseminating warnings to the public of impending hazards, including storms, floods, hazardous materials incidents or other emergencies that could compromise the public safety;

 

(viii) "Service supplier" means any utility, person or entity providing or offering to provide 911 system equipment, database installation, maintenance or local exchange access, wireless communication access or other technological device that under normal operation is designed or routinely used to access 911 services within the 911 service access area;

 

(ix) "Service user" means any person within the local government's designated 911 service area who is provided local exchange access telephone service, wireless communication access service or other technological device that under normal operation is designed or routinely used to access 911;

 

(x) "This act" means W.S. 16-9-101 through 16-9-108;

 

(xi) "Enhanced wireless 911 service" means any enhanced 911 service so designated by the Federal Communications Commission, including wireless automatic location identification and automatic number identification;

 

(xii) "Wireless automatic location identification" means the definition supplied by the Federal Communication Commission regulation that provides for the automatic display on equipment at the public safety answering point of the location of the wireless service user initiating a 911 call to the public safety answering point;

 

(xiii) "Wireless automatic number identification" means the definition supplied by the Federal Communication Commission regulation that allows the mobile identification number of the wireless service user initiating a 911 call to the public safety answering point;

 

(xiv) "Wireless carrier" means a provider of commercial mobile services or any other radio communication service that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide wireless 911 service;

 

(xv) "Wireless communications access" means the radio equipment and assigned mobile identification number used to connect a wireless customer to a wireless carrier for two-way interactive voice or voice capable services;

 

(xvi) "Wireless 911 service" means any 911 service provided by a wireless carrier, including enhanced wireless 911 service.

 

16-9-103. Imposition of tax; liability of user for tax; collection; uncollected amounts; discontinuing service prohibited.

 

(a) In addition to any other powers for the protection of the public health, a governing body may incur any nonrecurring or recurring costs for the installation, maintenance or operation of a 911 system and may pay these costs by imposing a 911 emergency tax for this service in those portions of the governing body's jurisdiction for which 911 service is to be provided.

 

(b) In accordance with the provisions of this subsection, and after a public hearing the governing body may, by ordinance in the case of cities and by resolution in the case of counties or special districts, impose a monthly uniform tax on service users within its designated 911 service area in an amount not to exceed seventy-five cents ($.75) per month on each local exchange access line, per wireless communications access or other technological device that under normal operation is designed or routinely used to access 911. Only one (1) governing body may impose a 911 emergency tax for each 911 system. Regardless of the level at which the tax is set, if an assessment is made on both local exchange access facilities and wireless communications access, the amount of the tax imposed per local exchange access facility and the amount of the tax imposed per wireless communications access or access by other technological device that under normal operation is designed or routinely used to access 911, shall be equal. The proceeds of the 911 emergency tax shall be set aside in an enterprise fund or other separate accounts from which the receipts shall be used to pay for the 911 system costs authorized in W.S. 16-9-105, and may be imposed at any time following the execution of an agreement with the provider of the service at the discretion of the governing body.

 

(c) No 911 emergency tax shall be imposed upon more than one hundred (100) local exchange access lines or their equivalent per customer billing.

 

(d) Collection of any 911 emergency tax from a service user pursuant to this chapter shall commence at the time specified by the governing body in accordance with this act. Taxes imposed under this chapter and required to be collected by the service supplier shall be added to and stated separately in the billings to the service user.

 

(e) Every billed service user shall be liable for any 911 emergency tax imposed under this chapter until it has been paid to the service supplier or governing body.

 

(f) An action to collect taxes under subsection (d) of this section may be brought by or on behalf of the public agency imposing the tax. The service supplier shall annually provide the governing body a list of the amounts uncollected along with the names and addresses of delinquent service users. The service supplier is not liable for uncollected amounts.

 

(g) Any 911 emergency tax imposed under this chapter shall be collected at the time charges for the telecommunications are collected under the regular billing practice of the service supplier.

 

(h) Service shall not be discontinued to any service user by any service supplier for the nonpayment of any tax under this act.

 

(j) The 911 emergency tax imposed pursuant to this section shall only be imposed upon service users whose address is in those portions of the governing body's jurisdiction for which emergency telephone service shall be provided; however, such 911 emergency tax shall not be imposed upon any state or local governmental entity.

 

16-9-104. Remittance of tax to the governing body; administrative fee; establishment of rate of tax.

 

(a) Any tax imposed under this chapter and the amounts collected are to be remitted quarterly. The amount of the tax collected in one (1) calendar quarter by the service supplier shall be remitted to the governing body no later than fifteen (15) days after the close of the calendar quarter. On or before the sixteenth day of each month following the preceding calendar quarter, a return for the preceding quarter shall be filed with the governing body in a form the governing body and service supplier agree upon. The service supplier required to file the return shall deliver the return together with the remittance of the amount of the tax payable to the governing body. The service supplier shall maintain a record of the amount of each tax collected pursuant to this chapter. The record shall be maintained for a period of one (1) year after the time the tax was collected.

 

(b) The service supplier remitting the taxes collected under this chapter may deduct and retain one percent (1%) of the taxes collected as the cost of administration for collecting the taxes.

 

(c) At least once each calendar year, the governing body shall establish a rate of tax not to exceed the amount authorized. Amounts collected in excess of necessary expenditures within any fiscal year shall be carried forward to subsequent years and shall only be used for the purposes set forth in W.S. 16-9-105. The governing body shall fix the rate, publish notice of its new rate and notify by mail every local exchange access company at least ninety (90) days before the new rate becomes effective. The governing body may at its own expense require an annual audit of the service supplier's books and records concerning the collection and remittance of the tax authorized by this chapter.

 

16-9-105. Agreements or contract for 911 emergency reporting systems; use of funds collected.

 

(a) Any governing body imposing the tax authorized by this chapter may enter into an agreement directly with any service supplier to the 911 system or may contract and cooperate with any public agency or any other state for the administration of a 911 system in accordance with law.

 

(b) Funds collected from the 911 emergency tax imposed pursuant to this chapter shall be spent solely to pay for public safety answering point and service suppliers' equipment and service costs, installation costs, maintenance costs, monthly recurring charges and other costs directly related to the continued operation of a 911 system including enhanced wireless 911 service. Funds may also be expended for personnel expenses necessarily incurred by a public safety answering point. "Personnel expenses necessarily incurred" means expenses incurred for persons employed to:

 

(i) Take emergency telephone calls and dispatch them appropriately; or

 

(ii) Maintain the computer data base of the public safety answering point.

 

(c) Funds collected from the charge pursuant to this chapter shall be credited to a cash account separate from the general fund of the public agency, for payments for public safety answering points and service supplier costs pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. Any monies remaining in the cash account at the end of any fiscal year shall remain in the account for payments during any succeeding year. If any 911 system is discontinued, monies remaining in the account shall, after all payments to the service supplier pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, be transferred to the general fund of the public agency or proportionately to the general fund of each participating public agency.

 

16-9-106. Private listing and wireless subscribers, 911 service.

 

Private listing and wireless subscribers in 911 service areas waive privacy afforded by nonlisted or nonpublished numbers to the extent that the name and address associated with the telephone number may be furnished to the 911 system, for call routing, for automatic retrieval of location information and for associated emergency services.

 

16-9-107. Confidentiality of information.

 

The information obtained through a 911 system shall be considered a public record under W.S. 16-4-201(a)(v) and access to the information may be denied according to law.

 

16-9-108. Immunity for providers.

 

No basic emergency service provider or service supplier and no employee or agent thereof shall be liable to any person or entity for infringement or invasion of the right of privacy of any person caused or claimed to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by any act or omission in connection with the installation, operation, maintenance, removal, presence, condition, occasion or use of emergency service features, automatic number identification or automatic location identification services and the equipment associated therewith, including the identification of the telephone number, address or name associated with the telephone used by the person accessing 911 service, wireless automatic number identification or wireless automatic location identification service. A governmental entity, public safety agency, local exchange access company, telephone exchange access company or wireless carrier that provides access to an emergency system or any officers, agents or employees thereof is not liable as a result of any act or omission except willful and wanton misconduct or gross negligence in connection with developing, adopting, operating or implementing emergency telephone service, enhanced wireless 911 service or any 911 system.

 

ARTICLE 2 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS IMPAIRED

 

16-9-201. Definitions.

 

(a) As used in this act, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:

 

(i) "Access line" means the facility that allows the customer of a local exchange company or radio communications service provider to access the local or toll network with the exception of dedicated facilities such as a private line;

 

(ii) "Committee" means the committee on telecommunications services for the communications impaired established by W.S. 16-9-202;

 

(iii) "Communications impaired" means hearing impaired or speech impaired individuals as defined by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, Title IV, Section 401;

 

(iv) "Division" means the division of vocational rehabilitation within the department of workforce services;

 

(v) "Local exchange company" means a telecommunications company that provides telephone access lines to members of the general public who are its customers;

 

(vi) "Message relay system" means a statewide service through which a communications impaired person, using specialized telecommunications equipment, may send and receive messages to and from a noncommunications impaired person whose telephone is not equipped with specialized telecommunications equipment and through which a noncommunications impaired person may, by using voice communication, send and receive messages to and from a communications impaired person;

 

(vii) "Program" means the program established by W.S. 16-9-205;

 

(viii) "Radio communications service provider" means a telecommunications company that provides radio communication service, radio paging or cellular service to members of the general public who are its customers;

 

(ix) "Specialized telecommunications equipment" means a device that, when connected to a telephone, enables or assists a person who is communications impaired to communicate with another person utilizing the telephone network. The term most commonly refers, but is not limited to, telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs);

 

(x) "This act" means W.S. 16-9-201 through 16-9-210.

 

16-9-202. Committee on telecommunications services for the communications impaired; composition; allocation.

 

 

(a) There is created a committee on telecommunications services for the communications impaired.

 

(b) The committee shall consist of seven (7) members. The membership shall be appointed by the governor and shall consist of one (1) member from each appointment district as provided by W.S. 9-1-218. Not more than four (4) members shall be of the same political party.

 

(c) The committee is allocated to the division for administrative purposes.

 

16-9-203. Term of office; vacancies; officers; bylaws; compensation; conflict of interest.

 

(a) Each member of the committee shall serve a term of three (3) years, except that the governor shall appoint two (2) of the initial members to serve terms of one (1) year and two (2) of the initial members to serve terms of two (2) years.

 

(b) A vacancy on the committee shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

 

(c) The committee shall choose a chairperson from among its members.

 

(d) The committee shall establish its own operating procedures.

 

(e) Members of the committee shall receive no compensation, but shall be reimbursed under W.S. 9-3-102 and 9-3-103 for travel and per diem expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

 

(f) In order to avoid a potential conflict of interest, members of the committee representing a potential provider of the message relay system or specialized telecommunications equipment shall abstain from any vote or decision of the committee regarding the award of contracts for those services or equipment by the division.

 

16-9-204. Power and duties of the committee.

 

 

(a) The committee shall advise the division as to the administration of the program provided for in W.S. 16-9-205. In fulfilling this duty, the committee shall:

 

(i) Review and recommend policies and procedures governing administration of the program and ensure the program is in compliance with any applicable state and federal laws or regulations;

 

(ii) Assist the state in obtaining certification from the federal communications commission that the program is in compliance with such rules and regulations;

 

(iii) Review the division's budget request for administration of services under the program;

 

(iv) Monitor the expenditures of funds for the program;

 

(v) Monitor the quality of the program and the satisfaction of the users;

 

(vi) Perform any other duties necessary to properly advise the division as to the administration of the program.

 

16-9-205. Program established; purpose; responsibilities of the division of vocational rehabilitation.

 

 

(a) The division in consultation with the committee, shall establish and administer a program to provide specialized telecommunications equipment and message relay services to persons who are communications impaired. The purpose of the program shall be to:

 

(i) Furnish specialized telecommunications equipment to meet the needs of persons who are communications impaired and who might be otherwise disadvantaged in their ability to obtain such equipment; and

 

(ii) Provide a message relay system to allow persons who are communications impaired to communicate via the telecommunications network with noncommunications impaired persons.

 

(b) In carrying out its responsibilities, the division shall:

 

(i) Develop rules, policies and procedures, as may be necessary, to govern administration of the program and ensure the program is in compliance with any applicable state and federal laws or regulations;

 

(ii) As part of its request for proposals, include provision for an equipment distribution program and utilize a preexisting state agency means test, if available, to determine eligibility for participation in the specialized telecommunications equipment program;

 

(iii) Implement the message relay system as described in subsection (a)(ii) of this section within one (1) year following the effective date of this act and, to the extent funds generated by the special fee specified in W.S. 16-9-209 are available, implement the specialized telecommunications equipment distribution program described in subsection (a)(i) of this section within two (2) years following the effective date of this act;

 

(iv) Perform any other duties necessary to properly oversee administration of the program.

 

16-9-206. Message relay system; requirements.

 

 

(a) The division, after consultation with the committee, shall contract with a qualified provider to design and implement a message relay system that fulfills the purpose described in W.S. 16-9-205. The division shall award the contract for this service to the provider based upon price, the interests of the communications impaired community in having access to a high-quality and technologically advanced telecommunications system, and all other factors listed in the committee's request for proposal including proposals for a specialized telecommunications equipment distribution program.

 

(b) Except in cases of willful misconduct, gross negligence or bad faith, neither the committee nor the provider of the message relay system, nor the employees of the provider of the message relay system, shall be liable for any claims, actions, damages or causes of action arising out of or resulting from the establishment, participation in, or operation of the message relay system.

 

(c) The division shall require, under the terms of the contract, that:

 

(i) The system be available statewide for operation seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours per day, including holidays, for both interstate and intrastate calls;

 

(ii) The system relay all messages promptly and accurately;

 

(iii) The system maintain the privacy of persons using the system;

 

(iv) The provider preserve the confidentiality of all telephone communications; and

 

(v) The system conform to any standards established by applicable state or federal laws or regulations.

 

16-9-207. Gifts and grants.

 

The committee may accept contributions, gifts and grants, in money or otherwise, to the program established in W.S. 16-9-205. Monetary contributions, gifts and grants must be deposited in the fund created by W.S. 16-9-208.

 

16-9-208. Account for telecommunications services for the communications impaired.

 

(a) There is created an account for telecommunications services for the communications impaired. The account shall consist of:

 

(i) All monetary contributions, gifts and grants received by the committee as provided in W.S. 16-9-207; and

 

(ii) All special fee charges billed and collected pursuant to W.S. 16-9-209.

 

(b) The money in the account is appropriated to the division to implement this act.

 

16-9-209. Special fee.

 

(a) The committee shall annually determine the amount of a special fee, not to exceed twenty-five cents ($.25) per access line per month, based upon available cost data and other information, that will cover the costs of providing intrastate message relay service as provided in Section 401 of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, including the cost of implementing and administering this act. Funding for the interstate portion of the Wyoming relay system shall be provided in a manner consistent with rules and orders adopted by the federal communications commission in implementing the Americans With Disabilities Act.

 

(b) The committee shall notify the public service commission, in writing, of the amount of the monthly access line special fee determined by the committee. The public service commission shall provide for the inclusion and identification of the special fee on each monthly billing for service from each local exchange company and radio communications service provider.

 

(c) Each customer of a local exchange company or radio communications service provider shall be liable for payment to the local exchange company or radio communications service provider of any special fee imposed pursuant to this act. In the case of a customer of a radio communications service provider, any fee imposed by this act shall be imposed only if the customer's place of primary use is in this state as provided by the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, 4 U.S.C. 116 through 126. The provisions of the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act shall apply to this subsection. The local exchange company or radio communications service provider shall not be liable for any uncollected charge, nor shall the company have an obligation to take any legal action to enforce the collection of any charge that is unpaid by its customers.

 

(d) No customer of a local exchange company shall be required to pay the special fee on more than one hundred (100) access lines per account and no customer of a radio communications service provider shall be required to pay the special fee on more than one hundred (100) radio communication service numbers per account in Wyoming.

 

(e) Except as provided in subsection (g) of this section, all special fees billed and collected by a local exchange company or radio communications service provider shall be transmitted to the state treasurer not later than the last day of the month following the end of the month in which the special fee is collected. All special fees received by the state treasurer shall be deposited in the account established by W.S. 16-9-208.

 

(f) All special fees billed and collected by a local exchange company or radio communications service provider shall not be considered revenues of the local exchange company or radio communications service provider and are not subject to tax under W.S. 39-15-101 through 39-16-311.

 

(g) Each local exchange company or radio communications service provider may deduct and retain one percent (1%) of the total charges billed and collected each month to cover administrative expenses in complying with the requirements of subsections (b) through (e) of this section.

 

16-9-210. Records; audit.

 

 

(a) Each local exchange company or radio communications service provider shall maintain a record of the special fees billed and collected pursuant to W.S. 16-9-209 for a period of three (3) years from the date of billing or collection, respectively.

 

(b) The committee may require an audit, at division expense, of the records of each local exchange company or radio communications service provider to assure proper accounting of all special fees billed and collected pursuant to W.S. 16-9-209.