SUMMARY--Authorizes certain counties to impose surcharge on certain telephone lines and services to pay for enhancement of telephone systems for reporting emergencies in those counties. (BDR 20-542)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to public improvements; authorizing certain counties to impose a surcharge on certain telephone lines and services to pay for the enhancement of the telephone systems for reporting emergencies in those counties; requiring a county that imposes the surcharge to establish an advisory committee to develop a plan for the enhancement of such a system in that county; requiring telephone companies and suppliers of mobile telephone service to collect the surcharge from their customers; authorizing those companies and suppliers to retain a portion of the surcharge as a fee for collecting the surcharge; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 Chapter 244A of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 2. As used in sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act, unless the context otherwise requires, "mobile telephone service" and "supplier" have the meanings ascribed to them in NRS 205.505.
Sec. 3. 1. The board of county commissioners in a county whose population is less than 100,000 may, by ordinance, impose a surcharge on:
(a) Each access line or trunk line of each customer to the local exchange of any telephone company providing those lines in the county; and
(b) The mobile telephone service provided to each customer of that service who resides in the county,
for the enhancement of the telephone system for reporting an emergency in the county.
2. The surcharge imposed by a board of county commissioners pursuant to subsection 1:
(a) For each access line to the local exchange of a telephone company, must not exceed 25 cents each month;
(b) For each trunk line to the local exchange of a telephone company, must equal 10 times the amount of the surcharge imposed for each access line to the local exchange of a telephone company pursuant to paragraph (a); and
(c) For each telephone number assigned to a customer by a supplier of mobile telephone service, must equal the amount of the surcharge imposed for each access line to the local exchange of a telephone company pursuant to paragraph (a).
3. A telephone company that provides access lines or trunk lines in a county which imposes a surcharge pursuant to this section, or a supplier that provides mobile telephone service to a customer in such a county, shall collect the surcharge from its customers each month. Except as otherwise provided in section 5 of this act, the telephone company or supplier shall remit the surcharge it collects to the treasurer of the county in which the surcharge is imposed not later than the 15th day of the month after the month it receives payment of the surcharge from its customers.
4. As used in this section, "trunk line" means a line that provides a channel between a switchboard owned by a customer of a telephone company and the local exchange of the telephone company.
Sec. 4. If a surcharge is imposed in a county pursuant to section 3 of this act, the board of county commissioners of that county shall:
1. Establish, by ordinance, an advisory committee to develop a plan to enhance the telephone system for reporting an emergency in that county and to oversee any money allocated for that purpose. The advisory committee must consist of not less than five members who:
(a) Are residents of the county;
(b) Possess knowledge concerning telephone systems for reporting emergencies; and
(c) Are not elected public officers.
2. Create a special revenue fund of the county for the deposit of the money collected pursuant to section 3 of this act. The money in the fund must be used only to:
(a) Enhance the telephone system for reporting an emergency so that the number and address from which a call received by the system is made may be determined; and
(b) Make any other improvements to the services provided by the telephone system for reporting an emergency.
3. If the balance in the fund created pursuant to subsection 2 that has not been committed for expenditure exceeds $500,000 at the end of any fiscal year, reduce the amount of the surcharge imposed during the next fiscal year by the amount necessary to ensure that the unencumbered balance in the fund at the end of the next fiscal year does not exceed $500,000.
Sec. 5. A telephone company or supplier which collects the surcharge imposed pursuant to section 3 of this act may retain an amount of the surcharge collected which is equal to the cost of collecting the surcharge.
Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 1997.