Cell Phone Users Will See 911 Surcharge Hike
By Ryan Schlehuber

Landline telephone customers will see a drop in their 9-1-1 surcharge in July, but cellular telephone users and those using computer telephone access will see sharp increases. The 9-1-1 surcharges for landline customers will drop from $1.80 a month per line to $1.69, while the rates for those with cell phone contracts will rise from 29¢ to $1.69. Prepaid cell phone customers and computer owners using VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) services, who don't pay anything now, will be assessed $1.69.

The changes were signed into Michigan law in December and are designed to make everyone with access to the emergency 9- 1-1 system pay an equal share of the cost. By July 1, the new surcharge for emergency 9-1-1 coverage will be applied to all communication devices that can access 9-1-1 service.

The new rate includes a state surcharge of 19¢ and a Mackinac county surcharge of $1.50 for each telephone number, to be billed by the service providers. Much of the state surcharge will be distributed back to the counties.

The Mackinac County Central Dispatch board, which met Tuesday, January 29, recommended approval of the county rate change to Mackinac County Board of Commissioners, which has yet to approve it.

The new surcharge, said Bryce Tracy, the county's 9-1-1 coordinator, "evens the playing field, basically. Today, almost everyone has some sort of phone device that is capable of tapping into the 9-1-1 system. Landline phone and contracted cell phone users have been supporting the system financially all along. It's only fair that anyone that can access and be covered by 9-1-1 with their phone device should be expected to help support the system, as well. Everyone now will pay the same, across the board."

Mackinac County has roughly 8,700 landline phone users. How many wireless users there are, or how much revenue will be collected from them, will not be known until the new fee is collected after a year, said Mr. Tracy.

Under the current fee system, Mackinac County receives about $182,000 per year from landline users and between $78,000 and $80,000 from contracted cell phone users. With the new rate, Mr. Tracy estimates the county will receive an additional $14,000 a year.

"We're not looking to gouge anyone," he said. "We settled on the $1.50 rate, but it can be adjusted. We've got to give it a year so we know where we stand with it."

The new legislation also allows County Commission to adjust the rate by resolution rather than having to bring it to voters.

The county, he said, can adjust the rate to as high as $2.40 a month per voter approval under the current legislation, however, "we want to generate only enough revenue to maintain the system, make repairs, and upgrade equipment when needed."

The first voter-approved surcharge for Mackinac County was in 1998 at a rate of $2.84 per landline telephone, which was amended to $1.80 in 2002. The first wireless rate of 29¢ for each contracted device was enacted in October 2000 by the state.

Mackinac County contracts with the Negaunee Regional 9-1-1 Dispatch Center, operated by the Michigan State Police, for its Enhanced 9-1-1 service.