Chapter 15.90
ENHANCED 911 SURCHARGE

Sections:

15.90.010    911 surcharge.

15.90.010 911 surcharge.

(a) A surcharge in the amount of two dollars per month per local access line is imposed on all local exchange access lines and each wireless telephone number that is billed to an address in the city of Nome. This surcharge shall be reviewed annually by the council to determine whether the level of surcharge is adequate, excessive, or insufficient to meet the anticipated enhanced 911 system needs.

(b) The monthly surcharge shall be billed and collected by the local exchange telephone company providing service in the enhanced 911 service area, or by the wireless telephone company that provides telephone service to wireless telephone customers with billing addresses within the enhanced 911 service area. A local exchange customer may not be subject to more than one 911 surcharge per local exchange access line. A customer that has more than one hundred local exchange access lines from a local exchange telephone company in the city is liable for the 911 surcharge only on one hundred local exchange access lines. A wireless telephone customer may not be subject to more than one enhanced 911 surcharge for each wireless number.

(c) The local exchange telephone company or wireless telephone company shall include the 911 surcharge, stated separately and included in the total amount owed, in the bills delivered to its customers. A customer is liable for payment of the 911 surcharge until the amounts have been paid to the telephone company.

(d) The local exchange telephone company or wireless telephone company shall remit the amounts collected to the city no later than sixty days after the end of the month in which the amount was collected. From each remittance made in a timely manner under this subsection, the telephone company is entitled to deduct and retain the greater of one percent of the amount collected or one hundred fifty dollars as the cost of administration for collecting the 911 surcharge.

(e) A local exchange telephone company or wireless telephone company is not obligated to take legal action to enforce collection of the 911 surcharge. However, if a telephone company is attempting to collect an unpaid debt from a customer, the telephone company shall also attempt to collect any unpaid 911 surcharge that the customer owes. If a customer pays a portion of a bill that includes a 911 surcharge, the amount paid shall be prorated between the telephone company and the 911 surcharge. The telephone companies shall annually provide the city with a list of the amounts due for the nonpayment of 911 emergency surcharges, together with the names and addresses of those customers who carry a balance for the nonpayment of the 911 emergency surcharges. The telephone companies are not liable for uncollected amounts.

(f) The city may, at its own expense, require an annual audit of a local exchange telephone or wireless telephone company’s books and records concerning collection and remittance of the 911 surcharge.

(g) The city may only use the enhanced 911 surcharge revenue for those costs of the enhanced 911 surcharge system authorized in AS 29.35.131(i), which is incorporated herein by reference. (Ord. O-09-09-07 § 1, 2009: Ord. O-00-6-1 § 2, 2000: Ord. O-98-11-1, 1997)