2023 California Code
Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC
DIVISION 2 - OTHER TAXES
PART 20 - EMERGENCY TELEPHONE USERS SURCHARGE ACT
CHAPTER 2 - The Surcharges
ARTICLE 2 - Adjustment of Surcharge Amounts
Section 41030.

41030. (a) The Office of Emergency Services shall determine annually, on or before October 1, to be effective on January 1 of the following year, surcharge amounts pursuant to subdivision (b) that it estimates will produce sufficient revenue to fund the current fiscal year’s 911 and 988 costs.

(b) The surcharge amounts shall be determined annually by dividing the costs, including incremental costs, the Office of Emergency Services estimates for the current fiscal year of the following:

(1) The 911 costs approved pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, less the available balance in the State Emergency Telephone Number Account in the General Fund, by its estimate of the number of access lines to which the surcharge will apply per month for the period of January 1 to December 31, inclusive, of the next succeeding calendar year, but in no event shall the surcharge amount in any month be greater than eighty cents ($0.80) per access line per month.

(2) For the 2023 and 2024 calendar years, the 988 surcharge shall be set at eight cents ($0.08) per access line per month.

(3) For determinations that are made applicable to the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2025, and each calendar year thereafter, the 988 surcharge shall be determined by dividing the 988 costs approved pursuant to Article 6.3 (commencing with Section 53123.1) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, less the available balance in the 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund, by the Office of Emergency Services’ estimate of the number of access lines to which the surcharge will apply per month for the period of January 1 to December 31, inclusive, of the next succeeding calendar year, but in no event shall the surcharge amount in any month be greater than thirty cents ($0.30) per access line per month.

(c) When determining the 911 surcharge amount pursuant to this section, the office shall include the costs it expects to incur to plan, test, implement, and operate Next Generation 911 technology and services, including text to 911 service, and alerts and warnings, consistent with the plan and timeline required by Section 53121 of the Government Code.

(d) (1) Service suppliers shall report the total number of access lines to the Office of Emergency Services, on or before August 1, for the previous period of January 1 to December 31, inclusive.

(2) The total number of access lines required to be reported in paragraph (1) shall include all lines from the categories of wireline communication service line, wireless communication service line, prepaid mobile telephony service line, and VoIP service line. The number of access line figures shall be reported individually for these categories.

(3) Notwithstanding any other law, the Office of Emergency Services, within 45 days of receiving a request from the department, shall provide the department the name and address of each service supplier, each service supplier’s total number of access lines, as provided in paragraph (2) for the prior calendar year, and any other information the department deems necessary to conduct its responsibilities under this part.

(e) The office shall perform a validation of the number of access lines using subscription data or other comparable data collected by appropriate federal or state agencies. This subscription data or other comparable data shall be used to validate the access line data required to be reported by service suppliers in subdivision (d).

(f) (1) The office shall notify the department of the surcharge amount imposed under this part, determined pursuant to this section on or before October 1 of each year.

(2) The surcharge imposed on the purchase of prepaid mobile telephony services shall be equal to the amount set forth in subdivision (b) for each retail transaction in this state.

(g) (1) At least 30 days prior to determining the surcharge pursuant to subdivision (a), the Office of Emergency Services shall prepare a summary of the calculation of the proposed surcharge amounts and make it available to the public, the Legislature, the California Health and Human Services Agency and relevant departments, and on its internet website.

(2) For determinations made on or before October 1, 2019, the summary shall contain all of the following:

(A) The prior year revenues to fund 911 costs, including, but not limited to, revenues from prepaid service.

(B) Projected expenses and revenues from all sources, including, but not limited to, prepaid service to fund 911 costs.

(C) The rationale for adjustment to the surcharges determined pursuant to subdivision (b).

(h) For purposes of this section, for the determination made by the office on or before October 1, 2019, that is applicable for the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Service supplier” shall mean a person supplying an access line to a service user in this state.

(2) “Service user” means any person that subscribes for the right to utilize an access line in this state who is required to pay a surcharge under the provisions of this part.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 511, Sec. 22. (SB 889) Effective January 1, 2024.)