Fees for calling 911 may soon be increasing, according to a bill currently being discussed in the Senate.

H.B. 114 will create a 19 cent per month state fee on telephone services for unified statewide 911 emergency. It will provide for the administration, collection and enforcement of telephone 911 emergency fees, according to the bill.

The bill will also authorize local governments to increase the charge, but not exceed 75 cents per month.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden, said the bill's intent is to enhance the current system to track caller's name, address, telephone and GPS coordinates for cell phone users.

Roger Ball, director of committee staff of the Utah Committee of Consumer Services, opposes H.B. 114.

"We are facing a $11 million a year tax increase; it is a misrepresentation to suggest it is a 19 cent increase," Ball said. "It is a 41 cent increase on a 53-cent fee."

Counties, cities and towns presently collect 53-cent fees individually.

H.B. 114 suggests the 53-cent fee be collected by the tax commission and dispersed to cities and towns.

However, there is no clear statement included in the bill as to what these entities should do with the money.

"There is too much room for interpretation," Ball said. "They could use the money to pay dispatchers, buy equipment for the call center or, this is a stretch, buy an additional patrol car."

Ball said he wonders if fees are currently being collected and distributed properly.

In 1999, the legislature auditor general audited the 911 systems and "there was $700,000 a year less than there should have been because of the way the money was collected," Ball said.

Communication Director for the Provo Police Department, Dana Ferre, said 911 call charges in Provo are 53 cents.

Provo's current system is state of the art, but because of rapid changes in technology, the police department is continually updating the system.

"We are in the process right now of looking for a new 911 system," Ferre said. "Everything we do is on computer and the one we have right now is five years old."

Currently, Provo's 911 system gives technicians the caller's address, phone number, the name registered to the phone number, information on nearby firestations and ambulance information.

Ferre said they receive an average of 80 calls a day, 75 percent of which are real emergencies.

Unique to Provo's 911 system is the caller history that appears with each call.

"A history of every time they called and what they called about appears on the monitor," Ferre said. "Say they call for an ambulance and we can see we have been there several times for domestic violence, we are better prepared for the emergency."



Copyright Brigham Young University 24 Feb 2003