2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 23 - Law Enforcement and Public Safety
CHAPTER 47 - PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Section 23-47-50. Subscriber billing.

(A) The maximum 911 charge that a subscriber may be billed for an individual local exchange access facility must be in accordance with the following scale:

Tier I-1,000 to 40,999 access lines-$1.50 for start-up costs, $1.00 for on-going costs.

Tier II-41,000 to 99,999 access lines-$1.00 for start-up costs, $.60 for on-going costs.

Tier III-more than 100,000 access lines-$.75 for start-up costs, $.50 for on-going costs.

Start-up includes a combination of recurring and nonrecurring costs and up to a maximum of fifty local exchange lines per account. For bills rendered on or after the effective date of this act, for any individual local exchange access facility that is capable of simultaneously carrying multiple voice and data transmissions, a subscriber must be billed a number of 911 charges equal to: (a) the number of outward voice transmission paths activated on such a facility in cases where the number of activated outward voice transmission paths can be modified by the subscriber only with the assistance of the service supplier; or (b) five, where the number of activated outward voice transmission paths can be modified by the subscriber without the assistance of the service supplier. The total number of 911 charges remains subject to the maximum of fifty 911 charges per account set forth above.

(B) Every local telephone subscriber served by the 911 system is liable for the 911 charge imposed. A service supplier has no obligation to take any legal action to enforce the collection of the 911 charges for which a subscriber is billed. However, a collection action may be initiated by the local government that imposed the charges. Reasonable costs and attorneys' fees associated with that collection action may be awarded to the local government collecting the 911 charges.

(C) The local government subscribing to 911 service is ultimately responsible to the service supplier for all 911 installation, service, equipment, operation, and maintenance charges owed to the service supplier. Upon request by the local government, the service supplier shall provide a list of amounts uncollected along with the names and addresses of telephone subscribers who have identified themselves as refusing to pay the 911 charges. Taxes due on a 911 system service provided by the service supplier must be billed to the local government subscribing to the service. State and local taxes do not apply to the 911 charge billed to the telephone subscriber.

(D) Service suppliers that collect 911 charges on behalf of the local government are entitled to retain two percent of the gross 911 charges remitted to the local government as an administrative fee. The service supplier shall remit the remainder of charges collected during the month to the fiscal offices of the local government. The 911 charges collected by the service supplier must be remitted to the local government within forty-five days of the end of the month during which such charges were collected and must be deposited by and accounted for by the local government in a separate restricted fund known as the "emergency telephone system fund" maintained by the local government. The local government may invest the money in the fund in the same manner that other monies of the local government are invested and income earned from the investment must be deposited into the fund. Monies from this fund are totally restricted to use in the 911 system.

(E) The "emergency telephone system" fund must be included in the annual audit of the local government in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.

(F) Fees collected by the service supplier pursuant to this section are not subject to any tax, fee, or assessment, nor are they considered revenue of the service supplier. A monthly CMRS 911 charge is levied for each CMRS connection for which there is a mobile identification number containing an area code assigned to South Carolina by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator. The amount of the levy must be approved annually by the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office at a level not to exceed the average monthly telephone (local exchange access facility) 911 charges paid in South Carolina. The Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office and the committee may calculate the CMRS 911 charge based upon a review of one or more months during the year preceding the calculation of telephone (local exchange access facility) charges paid in South Carolina. The CMRS 911 charge must have uniform application and must be imposed throughout the State; however, trunks or service lines used to supply service to CMRS providers shall not be subject to a CMRS 911 levy. Prepaid wireless telecommunications service is subject to the 911 charge set forth in Section 23-47-68 and not to the CMRS 911 charge set forth in this subsection. On or before the twentieth day of the second month succeeding each monthly collection of the CMRS 911 charges, every CMRS provider shall file with the Department of Revenue a return under oath, in a form prescribed by the department, showing the total amount of fees collected for the month and, at the same time, shall remit to the department the fees collected for that month. The department shall place the collected fees on deposit with the State Treasurer. The funds collected pursuant to this subsection are not general fund revenue of the State and must be kept by the State Treasurer in a fund separate and apart from the general fund to be expended as provided in Section 23-47-65.

(G)(1) Fees collected by the service supplier pursuant to this section are not subject to any tax, fee, or assessment, nor are they considered revenue of the service supplier.

(2) Except as provided in Section 23-47-68(B), a 911 charge imposed under this chapter shall be added to the billing by the service supplier to the service subscriber and may be stated separately.

(3) A billed subscriber shall be liable for any 911 charge imposed under this chapter until it has been paid to the service supplier.

HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 245, Section 1; 1998 Act No. 399, Sections 2, 3; 2000 Act No. 233, Section 1; 2005 Act No. 164, Section 17; 2010 Act No. 135, Section 3, eff July 1, 2011.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, references in this section to the offices of the former State Budget and Control Board, Office of the Governor, or other agencies, were changed to reflect the transfer of them to the Department of Administration or other entities, pursuant to the directive of the South Carolina Restructuring Act, 2014 Act No. 121, Section 5(D)(1).

Effect of Amendment

The 2010 amendment, in the undesignated paragraph in subsection (A), substituted "per" for "an" in the first sentence, and added the next two sentences regarding 911 charges; in subsection (F), added the 6th sentence regarding prepaid wireless service; in subsection (G)(2), substituted "Except as provided in Section 23-47-68(B), a 911 charge imposed under this chapter" for "A 911 charge, including a CMRS 911 charge,"; and in subsection (G)(2), deleted ", including a CMRS 911 charge," following "911 charge".