New Jersey Organizations Shed Light on 911 Fee Allocation
New Jersey hasn’t been allocating funding from the 911 System and Emergency Response Trust Fund Account to counties, despite having done so during and before 2009, said the New Jersey Association of Counties (NJAC) in reply comments to the FCC in docket 09-14 on the report to Congress on state collection and distribution of 911 fees. The state also has been diverting expenditures of the 911 Trust Fund to non-911 system capital and operations, the New Jersey Wireless Association (NJWA) said in its reply comments. T-Mobile was the only other organization to file reply comments by the March 9 deadline. T-Mobile wants the FCC to clarify the status of 911 fee collection in order to ensure transparency, efficiency, accountability and equitable cost sharing among consumers who benefit from 911, before it recommends the adoption of any new fees or increases to existing fees, the comments said.
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New Jersey collects more than $100 million annually in telecommunication user surcharges that fund the 911 Trust Fund, NJAC said. Because New Jersey hasn’t allocated any funding through the 911 Trust Fund to local public service answering points operators since 2009, counties have been forced to become self-reliant. Those counties that run their own PSAPs have to focus on improving, maintaining and operating their 911 systems, despite local residents providing the state a consistent revenue stream intended for those purposes, NJAC said in its filing. NJAC "urges the FCC to recognize this critical public safety funding diversion and take action to ensure 911 Trust Fund revenues are spent solely on eligible expenses,” it said. “Doing so will help to ensure that local PSAPs have the funding necessary to continue to provide residents with effective, efficient and up to date 911 systems as intended.”
The NJWA has consistently told the FCC about New Jersey's fee diversion, the organization said in its filing. Since 2009, no funds have gone to the state's counties or municipalities, but they have been allocated to agencies and expense categories that the NJWA said aren't consistent with the federal NET911 Improvement Act of 2008's spirit and intent. The lack of allocation is of "great concern" to NJWA because the enhancement to 911 services will provide the ability for wireless devices to text 911 calls, plus video messages and other communications methods not served today by PSAPs, the filing said. The organization said the FCC and Congress have the "authority and responsibility" to correct this situation and promote public safety.
T-Mobile opposes diversion of 911 fees because it negatively affects PSAP resources and slows the transition to NG911, the company said in its filing. One of the biggest contributors to fee diversion and its effect on 911 funding is the lack of consensus on what activities and investments 911 fees should support, T-Mobile said. For example, what one state may report as fee diversion may not be reported as fee diversion by another state because the second state’s laws allow 911 fees to be used for a broad array of activities that are marginally related to providing 911 services, the company said. Because of this, the amount of 911 fees that are diverted to non-911 activities may actually be higher than the report indicates, T-Mobile said. It would be premature for the FCC to recommend that states and their respective 911 governing bodies consider increasing existing 911 fees, or the imposition of new categories of 911 fees, when it's unclear how the states are currently using 911 fees, the company said. “Until the Commission, industry, and other stakeholders have a clearer picture of how 911 fees are used (and how much is uncollected), any consideration of new fees or increases to existing fees should be deferred,” T-Mobile said in its comments.
The report covers the collection and distribution of 911 and E-911 fees and charges for the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2014, and was submitted to Congress Dec. 31, 2015 (see 1601080057). Eight states reported diverting or transferring 911/E-911 fees for purposes other than 911/E-911, the report said. Of those, five -- California, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia -- used a portion to support other public safety or emergency response-related programs, it said. Three -- Illinois, New York and Rhode Island -- diverted a portion for either nonpublic safety or unspecified uses, it said.