Two similar bills under review during Alabama’s legislative session have the Dallas County Commission and commissions all over the state of Alabama concerned over the future of local E-911 services.

Senate Bill 901, sponsored by Del Marsh (R-Anniston), and House Bill 114, sponsored by Greg Canfield (R-Vestavia Hills), includes language that would allow providers of wireless telephone services to sidestep an Alabama court ruling requiring the state’s 911 fee to be collected from all consumers of wireless telephone service by lowering the existing fee and setting up a special fee system for those companies that provide pre-paid service without contracts.

According to the Alabama County Commissioners Association, “The case is now pending before the Alabama Supreme Court and the providers are attempting to change Alabama law before the Supreme Court rules that they owe the fee – including repayment for periods when the providers have ignored the law and not remitted the fee to Alabama’s 9-1-1 districts.”

A release from the ACCA also said “At the same time, those companies supporting the legislation are protecting a provision of the law that ensures that the companies are paid 20 percent of the current tax proceeds paid by Alabama consumers as reimbursement for their costs of doing business.”

This year, the ACCA said, the wireless companies will receive more than $4.5 million in payments from Alabama taxpayers.

Currently in Dallas County, customers pay 70 cents for E-911 services as a surcharge on their monthly land-line or cell phone bills.

The bill will allow cell phone companies to drop the rate to 65 cents, a savings of $30 per year. On the surface, the monthly drop of a nickel does not seem like a lot. However, according to the ACCA the numbers add up quickly.

“(The bill) reduces the current fee on those wireless customers who purchase their service through an on-going contract and monthly-billing system,” a release from the ACCA said. “This change will reduce the operating income of the 911 districts by more than $2 million per year at a time when most rural 911 districts are struggling to keep answering the calls for help.”

During Monday’s Commission meeting, Dallas County Probate Judge Kim Ballard said our county could suffer tremendously if the bill passes.

“This could be devastating to our local services if it passes,” he said. “I think this is something people need to look very carefully at. This could completely shut our operation down.”

One of the ACCA’s biggest complaints, the group said, is the bill “sets a separate and unequal process for collecting a flat fee on customers who purchase wireless service on a pre-paid basis. The fee would be 65 cents on each purchase of such service regardless of the amount of service time purchased by the customer.”

The bill is also expected to place a larger share of the burden on customers who spend less than $20 per month on pre-paid service.

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