i_911tf_2016a_2016-10-25t09:06:58z1 Hearing Summary

Date: 10/25/2016

09:08 AM -- 911 Funding Issues



Mr. Scott Mackey, KSE Partners LLC, testified to the committee concerning 911 funding. Mr. Mackey's presentation is available as Attachment A, and on the task force website, at: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cga-legislativecouncil/2016-task-force-911-oversight-outage-reporting-and-reliability. He also provided a table of fee information from each state (Attachment B).



161025 AttachA.pdf161025 AttachB.pdf



Mr. Mackey discussed the fees that fund 911 service in the context of fees and taxes levied on services. He stated that Colorado's fees are near the average amount of fees nationwide. Mr. Mackey explained the history of 911 fees and funding, explaining that fees have been levied on landlines for decades, on wireless lines since the mid-1990s, and more recently on VoIP and pre-paid phones. He informed the task force that fees are collected by service providers. He also stated that the uses for these fees have expanded.



Mr. Mackey explained that there is a move by consumers away from wireline services, towards wireless phone and other services that use an internet connection for phone service, which can lead to a decline in collected fees. He informed the committee that because of Colorado's population growth, collected fees are staying level, while other states' are seeing declines in fees.





09:18 AM



Mr. Mackey discussed funding reforms in other states. In Oklahoma, the state replaced its county-based wireless fee with a single statewide fee. Oklahoma has also created a new 911 board to oversee 911 service. According to Mr. Mackey, by levying the statewide fee, fees can remain lower in rural areas, but still fund the adoption of new technologies in those areas that they could not afford under the old fee structure. Indiana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee have also instituted statewide fees, with many of those states making the changes revenue neutral. He stated that common reform themes are statewide fees with rates set by a board or oversight authority and guidance from the state legislature, a 911 board that oversees service statewide, creating incentives for Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) consolidation.



Finally, Mr. Mackey explained policy questions to be considered by legislatures when making decisions concerning 911 funding and oversight.





09:25 AM



Mr. Mackey responded to questions from the committee about the Universal Service Fund (USF), pre-paid wireless service, and how telecom companies remit taxes and fees collected on wireless bills. He also responded to questions about methods used by other states to fund the transition to NextGen 911, including building up a surplus of 911 surcharge money, temporarily raising fees, or permanent fee increases.





09:35 AM



Mr. Mackey continued to respond to committee questions. He discussed issues relating to maintaining services while adapting to new technologies, such as wireless phone or tablet applications that permit users to make phone calls over wireless internet connections, but that don't create a billing relationship that allows a provider to collect fees and taxes to fund 911 services. Regarding federal funding and other funding issues, Mr. Mackey stated that he did not foresee states receiving a lot of funding assistance from the federal government, and he recommended that Colorado seek to centralize 911 funding. He also discussed different means by which to set 911 fee rates, including fees on each line, setting rates at a percentage of telecom bill amounts, and collecting fees based on property taxes.





09:45 AM



Mr. Mackey responded to a question about statewide 911 oversight boards. He stated that generally, such boards are comprised of political appointees and representatives from PSAPs, law enforcement, and public safety. Some states' oversight boards include telecom industry representatives. Membership on such boards range from 9-23 members, and the boards are usually housed in a public safety or homeland security related agencies.