E911 Board approves landline surcharge

    The Washington County E911 Services Board voted to support a $1.50 surcharge on all landlines in the county at its meeting Monday night in the former library. The surcharge is currently $1.50 and pays for 911 services. The surcharge is not set in stone, for it must be approved by voters this November. If the measure passes, the surcharge remains $1.50 for two years. If it fails, the surcharge drops to $1.

    Communications Supervisor Cara Sorrells said that landline surcharges vary from county to county and that counties with larger populations, such as Johnson County, can afford to charge lower surcharges than other counties. 

    ?For years and years, Johnson County charged 25 cents and then 40 cents because they had such a large phone base,? she said. ?Even though they charged such a small amount they got enough money for their 911 services.?

    Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar addressed the board concerning cell phone surcharges. He said cell phone users pay a 911 surcharge of about 60 cents per month on their phone bill. That money goes to the state government, which uses it to pay for statewide emergency services. What is left is then distributed to the counties.

    Dunbar said that counties receive only a small fraction of the original cell phone surcharge. He said that the number of landlines in the county is declining, which means that 911 services have to rely more and more on cell phones surcharges. He said that is hard to do because the county gets less money from a cell phone line than a landline. He remarked that county sheriffs across Iowa are pushing for legislation that would give counties a greater share of the revenue from cell phone charges.

For the full story, see the June 29 edition of The Washington Evening Journal