CS/CS/HB 163

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to prepaid wireless telecommunications
3	service; amending s. 365.172, F.S.; removing provisions
4	for a study of the feasibility of collecting an E911 fee
5	on the sale of prepaid wireless telecommunications
6	service; providing for assessment or collection of the fee
7	after a certain date; amending s. 365.173, F.S.; revising
8	a limitation on the amount of funds received by a county
9	from the E911 fee which may be carried forward to the
10	following year; providing an effective date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (8) of section
15	365.172, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
16	365.172  Emergency communications number "E911."-
17	(8)  E911 FEE.-
18	(a)  Each voice communications services provider shall
19	collect the fee described in this subsection. Each provider, as
20	part of its monthly billing process, shall bill the fee as
21	follows. The fee shall not be assessed on any pay telephone in
22	the state.
23	1.  Each local exchange carrier shall bill the fee to the
24	local exchange subscribers on a service-identifier basis, up to
25	a maximum of 25 access lines per account bill rendered.
26	2.  Except in the case of prepaid wireless service, each
27	wireless provider shall bill the fee to a subscriber on a per-
28	service-identifier basis for service identifiers whose primary
29	place of use is within this state. Before July 1, 2013 2009, the
30	fee shall not be assessed on or collected from a provider with
31	respect to an end user's service if that end user's service is a
32	prepaid calling arrangement that is subject to s. 212.05(1)(e).
33	a.  The board shall conduct a study to determine whether it
34	is feasible to collect E911 fees from the sale of prepaid
35	wireless service. If, based on the findings of the study, the
36	board determines that a fee should not be collected from the
37	sale of prepaid wireless service, it shall report its findings
38	and recommendation to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
39	and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 31,
40	2008. If the board determines that a fee should be collected
41	from the sale of prepaid wireless service, the board shall
42	collect the fee beginning July 1, 2013 2009.
43	b.  For purposes of this section, the term:
44	(I)  "Prepaid wireless service" means the right to access
45	telecommunications services that must be paid for in advance and
46	is sold in predetermined units or dollars enabling the
47	originator to make calls such that the number of units or
48	dollars declines with use in a known amount.
49	(II)  "Prepaid wireless service providers" includes those
50	persons who sell prepaid wireless service regardless of its
51	form, either as a retailer or reseller.
52	c.  The study must include an evaluation of methods by
53	which E911 fees may be collected from end users and purchasers
54	of prepaid wireless service on an equitable, efficient,
55	competitively neutral, and nondiscriminatory basis and must
56	consider whether the collection of fees on prepaid wireless
57	service would constitute an efficient use of public funds given
58	the technological and practical considerations of collecting the
59	fee based on the varying methodologies prepaid wireless service
60	providers and their agents use in marketing prepaid wireless
61	service.
62	d.  The study must include a review and evaluation of the
63	collection of E911 fees on prepaid wireless service at the point
64	of sale within the state. This evaluation must be consistent
65	with the collection principles of end user charges such as those
66	in s. 212.05(1)(e).
67	e.  No later than 90 days after this section becomes law,
68	the board shall require all prepaid wireless service providers,
69	including resellers, to provide the board with information that
70	the board determines is necessary to discharge its duties under
71	this section, including information necessary for its
72	recommendation, such as total retail and reseller prepaid
73	wireless service sales.
74	f.  All subscriber information provided by a prepaid
75	wireless service provider in response to a request from the
76	board while conducting this study is subject to s. 365.174.
77	g.  The study shall be conducted by an entity competent and
78	knowledgeable in matters of state taxation policy if the board
79	does not possess that expertise. The study must be paid from the
80	moneys distributed to the board for administrative purposes
81	under s. 365.173(2)(f) but may not exceed $250,000.
82	3.  All voice communications services providers not
83	addressed under subparagraphs 1. and 2. shall bill the fee on a
84	per-service-identifier basis for service identifiers whose
85	primary place of use is within the state up to a maximum of 25
86	service identifiers for each account bill rendered.
87
88	The provider may list the fee as a separate entry on each bill,
89	in which case the fee must be identified as a fee for E911
90	services. A provider shall remit the fee to the board only if
91	the fee is paid by the subscriber. If a provider receives a
92	partial payment for a monthly bill from a subscriber, the amount
93	received shall first be applied to the payment due the provider
94	for providing voice communications service.
95	Section 2.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section
96	365.173, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
97	365.173  Emergency Communications Number E911 System Fund.-
98	(2)  As determined by the board pursuant to s.
99	365.172(8)(h), and subject to any modifications approved by the
100	board pursuant to s. 365.172(6)(a)3. or (8)(i), the moneys in
101	the fund shall be distributed and used only as follows:
102	(c)  Any county that receives funds under paragraphs (a)
103	and (b) shall establish a fund to be used exclusively for the
104	receipt and expenditure of the revenues collected under
105	paragraphs (a) and (b). All fees placed in the fund and any
106	interest accrued shall be used solely for costs described in
107	subparagraphs (a)1. and 2. The money collected and interest
108	earned in this fund shall be appropriated for these purposes by
109	the county commissioners and incorporated into the annual county
110	budget. The fund shall be included within the financial audit
111	performed in accordance with s. 218.39. A county may carry
112	forward up to 30 20 percent of the total funds disbursed to the
113	county by the board during a calendar year for expenditures for
114	capital outlay, capital improvements, or equipment replacement,
115	if such expenditures are made for the purposes specified in
116	subparagraphs (a)1. and 2.; however, the 30-percent 20-percent
117	limitation does not apply to funds disbursed to a county under
118	s. 365.172(6)(a)3., and a county may carry forward any
119	percentage of the funds, except that any grant provided shall
120	continue to be subject to any condition imposed by the board. In
121	order to prevent an excess recovery of costs incurred in
122	providing E911 service, a county that receives funds greater
123	than the permissible E911 costs described in s. 365.172(9),
124	including the 30-percent 20 percent carryforward allowance, must
125	return the excess funds to the E911 board to be allocated under
126	s. 365.172(6)(a).
127
128	The Legislature recognizes that the fee authorized under s.
129	365.172 may not necessarily provide the total funding required
130	for establishing or providing the E911 service. It is the intent
131	of the Legislature that all revenue from the fee be used as
132	specified in this subsection.
133	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.