2005 Idaho Code - 31-4804 — EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS FEE

                                  TITLE  31
                           COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW
                                  CHAPTER 48
                         EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ACT
    31-4804.  EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS FEE. (1) The emergency communications
fee provided pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be a uniform
amount not to exceed one dollar ($1.00) per month per access line, and such
fee shall be used exclusively to finance the initiation, maintenance,
operation, enhancement and governance of a consolidated emergency
communications system and provide for the reimbursement of telecommunications
providers for implementing enhanced consolidated emergency systems as provided
for in section 31-4804A, Idaho Code. All emergency communications fees
collected and expended pursuant to this section shall be audited by an
independent, third party auditor ordinarily retained by the governing board
for auditing purposes. The purpose of the audit as related to emergency
communications systems is to verify the accuracy and completeness of fees
collected and costs expended.
    (2)  The fee shall be collected from customers on a monthly basis by all
telecommunications providers that make available access lines to persons
within the county, or 911 service area, and may be listed as a separate item
on customers' monthly bills.
    (3)  The telecommunications providers shall remit such fee to the county
treasurer's office or the administrator for the 911 service area based upon
the 911 service area from which the fees were collected. In the event the
telecommunications provider remits such fees based upon the emergency
communications fee billed to the customer, a deduction shall be allowed for
uncollected amounts when such amounts are treated as bad debt for financial
reporting purposes.
    (4)  From every remittance to the governing body made on or before the
date when the same becomes due, the telecommunications provider required to
remit the same shall be entitled to deduct and retain one percent (1%) of the
collected amount as the cost of administration for collecting the charge.
Telecommunications providers will be allowed to list the surcharge as a
separate item on the telephone subscriber's bill, and shall have no obligation
to take any legal action to enforce the collection of any charge, nor be held
liable for such uncollected amounts.
    (5)  Use of fees. The emergency communications fee provided hereunder
shall be used only to pay for the lease, purchase or maintenance of emergency
communications equipment for basic and enhanced consolidated emergency
systems, including necessary computer hardware, software, database
provisioning, training, salaries directly related to such systems, costs of
establishing such systems, management, maintenance and operation of hardware
and software applications and agreed-to reimbursement costs of
telecommunications providers related to the operation of such systems. All
other expenditures necessary to operate such systems and other normal and
necessary safety or law enforcement functions including, but not limited to,
those expenditures related to overhead, staffing, dispatching, administrative
and other day to day operational expenditures, shall continue to be paid
through the general funding of the respective governing boards; provided
however, that any governing body using the emergency communication fee to pay
the salaries of dispatchers as of March 1, 2006, may continue to do so until
the beginning of such governing body's 2007 fiscal year.