County commissioners to consider August hearing on E911 phone surcharge
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on July 10, 2005 2:00 AM
County commissioners will hold a regularly scheduled meeting at 11 a.m. Monday in the commissioners meeting room on the fourth floor of the Wayne County Courthouse.
The commissioners are expected to set a public hearing for Aug. 2 on the proposal to increase the E911 surcharge to $1.85.
County commissioners would vote after the public hearing on the proposal which would increase the monthly rate from 85 cents per phone line to $1.85 per line. It wouldn't show up on phone bills until November.
It would be the first increase in the E911 charge since February 2003, when the charge rose from 50 cents to 85 cents. That change was approved by the county commissioners the previous Sep-
tember.
The county needs the increase to help pay for its new communication system, said Emergency Services Director Joe Gurley.
The E911 charge does not apply to cell phones. The state of North Carolina collects a separate fee on cell phones, but the proceeds are not distributed to counties based on the owners' residences.
Ninety-seven of North Caro-lina's 100 counties charge E911 fees, according to the N.C. chapter of the National Emergency Number Association. The highest fee is $2 per month in Swain County while the cheapest is 25 cents per month in Wake County and parts of Buncombe and Craven counties.
Alamance, Hertford and Tyrrell counties do not have E911 fees.