| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to telecommunications services; amending |
| 3 | s. 365.171, F.S.; providing for the Public Service |
| 4 | Commission to adopt rules to encourage provision of 311 |
| 5 | service; revising provisions for expenditure of the 911 |
| 6 | fee; revising application of certain provisions; revising |
| 7 | a timeframe for a pilot project; providing for a task |
| 8 | force to be appointed by the Governor to review technology |
| 9 | and system enhancements; providing an effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Subsection (8) and paragraph (a) of subsection |
| 14 | (13) of section 365.171, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 15 | 365.171 Emergency telephone number "911."-- |
| 16 | (8) COIN TELEPHONES.--The Florida Public Service |
| 17 | Commission shall establish rules to be followed by the telephone |
| 18 | utilities in this state designed toward encouraging the |
| 19 | provision of coin-free dialing of "911" calls and paid calls of |
| 20 | "311" wherever economically practicable and in the public |
| 21 | interest. |
| 22 | (13) "911" FEE.-- |
| 23 | (a) Following approval by referendum as set forth in |
| 24 | paragraph (b), or following approval by a majority vote of its |
| 25 | board of county commissioners, a county may impose a "911" fee |
| 26 | to be paid by the local exchange subscribers within its |
| 27 | boundaries served by the "911" service. Proceeds from the "911" |
| 28 | fee shall be used only for "911" expenditures as set forth in |
| 29 | subparagraph 6. The manner of imposing and collecting said |
| 30 | payment shall be as follows: |
| 31 | 1. At the request of the county subscribing to "911" |
| 32 | service, the telephone company shall, insofar as is practicable, |
| 33 | bill the "911" fee to the local exchange subscribers served by |
| 34 | the "911" service, on an individual access line basis, at a rate |
| 35 | not to exceed 50 cents per month per line (up to a maximum of 25 |
| 36 | access lines per account bill rendered). However, the fee may |
| 37 | not be assessed on any pay telephone in this state. A county |
| 38 | collecting the fee for the first time may collect the fee for no |
| 39 | longer than 36 months without initiating the acquisition of its |
| 40 | "911" equipment. |
| 41 | 2. Fees collected by the telephone company pursuant to |
| 42 | subparagraph 1. shall be returned to the county, less the costs |
| 43 | of administration retained pursuant to paragraph (c). The county |
| 44 | shall provide a minimum of 90 days' written notice to the |
| 45 | telephone company prior to the collection of any "911" fees. |
| 46 | 3. Any county that currently has an operational "911" |
| 47 | system or that is actively pursuing the implementation of a |
| 48 | "911" system shall establish a fund to be used exclusively for |
| 49 | receipt and expenditure of "911" fee revenues collected pursuant |
| 50 | to this section. All fees placed in said fund, and any interest |
| 51 | accrued thereupon, shall be used solely for "911" costs |
| 52 | described in subparagraph 6. The money collected and interest |
| 53 | earned in this fund shall be appropriated for "911" purposes by |
| 54 | the county commissioners and incorporated into the annual county |
| 55 | budget. Such fund shall be included within the financial audit |
| 56 | performed in accordance with s. 218.39. A report of the audit |
| 57 | shall be forwarded to the office within 60 days of its |
| 58 | completion. A county may carry forward on an annual basis |
| 59 | unspent moneys in the fund for expenditures allowed by this |
| 60 | section, or it may reduce its fee. However, in no event shall a |
| 61 | county carry forward more than 10 percent of the "911" fee |
| 62 | billed for the prior year. The amount of moneys carried forward |
| 63 | each year may be accumulated in order to allow for capital |
| 64 | improvements described in this subsection. The carryover shall |
| 65 | be documented by resolution of the board of county commissioners |
| 66 | expressing the purpose of the carryover or by an adopted capital |
| 67 | improvement program identifying projected expansion or |
| 68 | replacement expenditures for "911" equipment and service |
| 69 | features, or both. In no event shall the "911" fee carryover |
| 70 | surplus moneys be used for any purpose other than for the "911" |
| 71 | equipment, service features, and installation charges authorized |
| 72 | in subparagraph 6. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a |
| 73 | county from using other sources of revenue for improvements, |
| 74 | replacements, or expansions of its "911" system. A county may |
| 75 | increase its fee for purposes authorized in this section. |
| 76 | However, in no case shall the fee exceed 50 cents per month per |
| 77 | line. All current "911" fees shall be reported to the office |
| 78 | within 30 days of the start of each county's fiscal period. Any |
| 79 | fee adjustment made by a county shall be reported to the office. |
| 80 | A county shall give the telephone company a 90-day written |
| 81 | notice of such fee adjustment. |
| 82 | 4. The telephone company shall have no obligation to take |
| 83 | any legal action to enforce collection of the "911" fee. The |
| 84 | telephone company shall provide quarterly to the county a list |
| 85 | of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any and all |
| 86 | subscribers who have identified to the telephone company their |
| 87 | refusal to pay the "911" fee. |
| 88 | 5. The county subscribing to "911" service shall remain |
| 89 | liable to the telephone company for any "911" service, |
| 90 | equipment, operation, or maintenance charge owed by the county |
| 91 | to the telephone company. |
| 92 |
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| 93 | As used in this paragraph, "telephone company" means an exchange |
| 94 | telephone service provider of "911" service or equipment to any |
| 95 | county within its certificated area. |
| 96 | 6. It is the intent of the Legislature that the "911" fee |
| 97 | authorized by this section to be imposed by counties will not |
| 98 | necessarily provide the total funding required for establishing |
| 99 | or providing the "911" service. For purposes of this section, |
| 100 | "911" service includes the functions of database management, |
| 101 | call taking, location verification, and call transfer. The |
| 102 | following costs directly attributable to the establishment |
| 103 | and/or provision of "911" service are eligible for expenditure |
| 104 | of moneys derived from imposition of the "911" fee authorized by |
| 105 | this section: the acquisition, implementation, and maintenance |
| 106 | of Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) equipment and "911" |
| 107 | service features, as defined in the Florida Public Service |
| 108 | Commission's lawfully approved "911" and related tariffs and/or |
| 109 | the acquisition, installation, and maintenance of other "911" |
| 110 | equipment, including call answering equipment, call transfer |
| 111 | equipment, ANI controllers, ALI controllers, ANI displays, ALI |
| 112 | displays, station instruments, "911" telecommunications systems, |
| 113 | teleprinters, logging recorders, instant playback recorders, |
| 114 | telephone devices for the deaf (TDD) used in the "911" system, |
| 115 | PSAP backup power systems, consoles, automatic call |
| 116 | distributors, and interfaces (hardware and software) for |
| 117 | computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems; salary and associated |
| 118 | expenses for "911" call takers for that portion of their time |
| 119 | spent taking and transferring "911" calls; salary and associated |
| 120 | expenses for a county to employ a full-time equivalent "911" |
| 121 | coordinator position and a full-time equivalent staff assistant |
| 122 | position per county for the portion of their time spent |
| 123 | administrating the "911" system; training costs for PSAP call |
| 124 | takers in the proper methods and techniques used in taking and |
| 125 | transferring "911" calls; expenses required to develop and |
| 126 | maintain all information (ALI and ANI databases and other |
| 127 | information source repositories) necessary to properly inform |
| 128 | call takers as to location address, type of emergency, and other |
| 129 | information directly relevant to the "911" call-taking and |
| 130 | transferring function; other expenses that improve the overall |
| 131 | call-taking efficiency of an existing "911" system or reduce |
| 132 | "911" emergency call processing time; and, in a county with a |
| 133 | population exceeding 750,000 defined in s. 125.011(1), such |
| 134 | expenses related to a nonemergency "311" system, or similar |
| 135 | nonemergency system, which improves the overall call-taking |
| 136 | efficiency of an existing "911" system or reduces "911" call |
| 137 | processing emergency response time for a 2-year pilot project |
| 138 | that ends June 30, 2006 2003. However, no wireless telephone |
| 139 | service provider shall be required to participate in this pilot |
| 140 | project or to otherwise implement a nonemergency "311" system or |
| 141 | similar nonemergency system. The "911" fee revenues shall not be |
| 142 | used to pay for any item not listed, including, but not limited |
| 143 | to, any capital or operational costs for emergency responses |
| 144 | which occur after the call transfer to the responding public |
| 145 | safety entity and the costs for constructing buildings, leasing |
| 146 | buildings, maintaining buildings, or renovating buildings, |
| 147 | except for those building modifications necessary to maintain |
| 148 | the security and environmental integrity of the PSAP and "911" |
| 149 | equipment rooms. The Governor shall appoint a task force, |
| 150 | consisting of members from existing "911" operations centers and |
| 151 | "911" coordinators, local government, and industry |
| 152 | representatives as nonvoting members, to review the latest |
| 153 | enhancements in technology or systems with the potential to |
| 154 | improve the overall efficiency of an existing "911" system or |
| 155 | reduce "911" call processing times. |
| 156 | 7. It is the goal of the Legislature that enhanced "911" |
| 157 | service be available throughout the state. Expenditure by |
| 158 | counties of the "911" fees authorized by this section should |
| 159 | support this goal to the greatest extent feasible within the |
| 160 | context of local service needs and fiscal capability. Nothing in |
| 161 | this section shall be construed to prohibit two or more counties |
| 162 | from establishing a combined emergency "911" telephone service |
| 163 | by interlocal agreement and utilizing the "911" fees authorized |
| 164 | by this section for such combined "911" service. |
| 165 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |