County leaders Tuesday voted 4-1 to approve the controversial
fee on phone lines to recover costs associated with running the
9-1-1 emergency service and to prepare for emergencies and provide
fire protection.
County leaders Tuesday voted 4-1 to approve the controversial fee on phone lines to recover costs associated with running the 9-1-1 emergency service and to prepare for emergencies and provide fire protection.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Pete McHugh voted against the measure.
The ordinance will go in effect May 1 and charge telecommunications companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Sprint one-eighth of 1 percent to collect the fee. Each phone line – from pay phones to Internet-based phones – will be charged on a sliding scale.
The fee would raise the financially troubled county $1.24 million in the current fiscal year, which ends June 31. If implemented March 1, as originally proposed two weeks ago, the county’s coffers would have received $320,000 more, according to a staff report.
For outreach, the county contacted 21 chambers of commerce and business organizations such as the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, eight telephone companies – some members of which spoke at the Jan. 15 when the matter was first heard – and officials from three cities.
Before the board reached it decision, a parade of speakers, overwhelmingly against the fee, had a chance to speak. Davis Cima, vice president of education and policy at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, said the group opposed the fee because it was a “burden unfairly placed on employees.”
It “sends a wrong message,” Cima said.
A representative from AT&T said the fee would affect the company because “putting in these charges on our bill” affects our ability to compete.
Chair of the supervisors board McHugh said he “feels it’s a tax and should be approved by the voters.”
County counsel Ann Ravel advised the board that the court cases lodged by phone companies in several northern California cities were being appealed. Local courts issued rulings favoring opponents of the fee in determining that the fees are in fact taxes that must be approved by the voters.
The 911 phone fee and how it affects you
Beginning May 1, a new fee approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will begin showing up on South County phone bills. Here’s how it will break down for businesses and individuals per month:
Residential users: 20 cents to $1.01 per month
Multiple or “trunk” lines: $4.80 to $24.24. Businesses will not be charged in excess of $10,000, the annual cap on the fee.
Source: Santa Clara County Office of Public Affairs
