A controversial proposal to impose a fee on every phone line in
Santa Clara County to help pay for 9-1-1 emergency response
operation is up for a vote of the board of supevisors Tuesday.
A controversial proposal to impose a fee on every phone line in Santa Clara County to help pay for 9-1-1 emergency response operation is up for a vote of the board of supevisors Tuesday.
The board’s Finance and Government Operations Committee, consisting of Supervisors Liz Kniss and Pete McHugh, forwarded a split recommendation following a meeting last week.
The fee would be 20 cents to $1.01 per month for residents and for businesses could be more than $10,000 a year.
Each phone line, including cell phones and Internet-based phone services, would be charged, and the funds used to offset costs of running the 9-1-1 emergency communications center as well as disaster planning and preparation, according to a county staff report. The fees would vary by jurisdiction and depend on the level of service, charged at different rates for single access lines, trunk lines and high capacity trunk lines.
The fees are expected to bring in $9.4 million to the county, about a quarter of how much is spent on emergency communications and disaster preparedness services, according to a staff report. If passed by the supervisors, the fees could go into effect in March and generate $3.1 milion in the current fiscal year, which ends June 31.
Morgan Hill officials have discussed implementing a similar fee as one of the options to pay for police dispatch services, but no action has been taken thus far, said city Finance Director Jack Dilles.
Dave Kline, a spokesman for the California Taxpayers’ Association, said the supervisors may violate the state’s Constitution by passing what “appears to be a phone tax that should be submitted to the voters.
“This tax increase will be espeically felt by businesses at a time when we’re worried about the economic slowdown,” said David Kline, a spokesman for the California Taxpayers Association. “That is a bad idea. The best way for the goverment to see revenue increases is to have a growing economy.”
Phone companies have sued Union City and Stockton over the fees, Kline said, claiming that the fees require voter approval, and both cases have been appealed.
The board of supervisors meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the the County Government Center, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose.
