Cell Phone Tariff for 911

By: Wes Wallace

DEXTER, Mo. - Most of us who own cell phones keep them in case of an emergency. Ironically, Missouri is the only state in the U.S. without a tariff on cell phones, and a big number of 911 calls come from those hand held devices. Plus, 911 centers only get their revenue from land line fees.

"We're down about $58,000 dollars this year from a drop in land line revenue," said Carol Moreland, director of Stoddard County 911. "We've lost about $150,000 in the last three years, so we really need to make up that deficit."

Right now, it's up to Governor Matt Blunt to create a statewide tariff for cell phones. A search committee is currently reviewing the situation and should report to Blunt in the near future.

St Charles Journal Story 11/3/2007

Unknown caller

By Kalen Ponche

If you call 911 from a cell phone, don't assume dispatchers will know where you are. If you're in St. Charles County, they won't.

St. Charles is one of several counties in Missouri where 911 dispatchers are unable to pinpoint automatically the location of someone calling from a cell phone.

This can be a problem when the person calling isn't sure where they are, said Lt. Steve Roach, communications director for the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department. All 911 calls made from cell phones are sent to dispatchers at the sheriff's department.

Roach said his department receives calls on a daily basis from people who don't know their exact location, especially if they are driving on Interstate 70 or Highway 40.

One time a man flipped his car on Highway 61 and wasn't sure where he was, Roach said. Dispatchers sent ambulances out to search for him and stayed on the line until the man heard the sirens, he said.

"We found the guy, but only through perseverance and due diligence," Roach said. "The guy was ready to pass out. It took a while (to find him)."

Inconsistent 911 coverage is a statewide issue, said Steve Makky, St. Charles County communications officer and 911 coordinator. He recently testified before an ad-hoc legislative committee appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt. The committee held hearings through the summer and fall to address the issue of 911 coverage.

In Missouri, about 21 counties have no 911 service at all, according to the Missouri 911 Infrastructure Assessment released in 2006.

Many counties across the state can't locate a cell phone caller because they lack wireless phase one and phase two of enhanced 911 service. With phase one, cell phone companies provide 911 dispatchers with the phone number of the cell phone that's calling. With phase two, companies also send the location the call is coming from.

The Federal Communications Commission requires wireless telephone carriers to provide the number and location of a 911 call made from a cell phone if a Public Safety Answering Point or a municipality requests it. It also allows wireless carriers to pass along the charges for this capability to the PSAPs or municipalities.

St. Louis County was one of the first counties to request wireless phase one and phase two information from wireless telephone carriers, so it has provided it for free, said Tom McCormack, 911 coordinator for St. Louis County Police.

"At one point, one carrier told me 'It's time for you guys to pay,'" he said. "I said, 'We don't have any money to pay for it.'"

AT&T spokesperson Chelsey Ilten said AT&T has followed the FCC's recommendations to determine what costs municipalities are responsible for.

St. Charles County 911 dispatchers don't have wireless phase one or phase two because they don't have the money to pay for it, Makky said.

Right now, St. Charles County 911 service is funded by a 2 percent tariffed base rate tax on landline telephones.

But the number of people with landline phones in the county is shrinking despite the growing number of people living in St. Charles County. Makky said he's seen funding decrease. About 60 percent of 911 calls come from a cell phone, but none of them is helping pay for the 911 service, he said.

"What happens is, we've got a finite amount of resources, and we've got a very large call volume from cellular (phones)," he said. "And them not paying means we can't look at things that are going to bring up our costs. We can't identify what number someone is coming from, and we can't locate them."

Missouri is the only state in the country that does not have a tax on cell phones to fund 911 service. Missouri voters twice have rejected a 50-cent tax on cell phone bills, once in 1999 and once in 2002.

Makky said he'd like to see the Legislature pass a tax for cell phones but said he's not sure it would.

"I'm not sure if anything climate-wise has changed except that people are pretty certain that there's a problem," he said. "There are some people that wouldn't support any type of tax. A great deal of public education really needs to be done."

Bootheel 911 Hearing

STANDARD DEMOCRAT
Counties call for help

911 cell phone tax discussed during forum

10/20/07
Scott Welton

ADVANCE —All across the state, 911 centers are having the same problem: declining revenue and rising costs.

Members of the State House Interim Committee to Evaluate the 9-1-1 System met with over 60 officials from area counties, state legislators, representatives from Rural Development and other interested individuals Friday morning at Advance City Hall for the last in a series of public forums on 911 systems. Previous meetings were held in Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Nixa, St. Louis County and Moberly.

Carol Moreland, administrator of Stoddard County’s 911, explained the only income that 911 centers in Missouri receive is from a land line tariff on the base telephone bill. In Stoddard County, this tariff is 15 percent which usually works out to about $1.14 per month on each land line.

“A land line telephone is a phone that has to be plugged into a wall,” she explained.

“A cellular tariff tax has never been passed in Missouri,” Moreland said. “Missouri is the only state in the nation without a cellular tariff income for 911.”

She said 911 centers still must provide 911 service for cell phones but don’t receive any money from them.

In addition, Moreland said, many people are discontinuing their land line service and only using cell phones. “So not only are we not getting paid to receive cellular calls, but our only income has decreased dramatically,” she said.

Stoddard County’s 911 revenue has dropped $40,000 since 2004, Moreland said.

Moreland said 911 dispatching equipment is obsolete after five years and is ready to be replaced by this time anyway as it is in use 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Scott County Commissioners Ron McCormick said the drop in 911 revenue in Scott County has made it necessary to regularly transfer money from the county’s general revenue fund to make up the shortfall.

When it comes to dropping revenue, “everybody’s in the same boat,” said Mark Allen of Lafayette County.

Some counties are still not able to get their 911 service established, Allen said, while “those of us that have 911 are struggling to stay afloat. ... It is a huge issue, an issue I’m glad you are addressing.”

Committee members said this has “been a recurring theme” in the meetings held all over the state.

“We are very much aware of the situation,” they said. “Every meeting we have had, we have heard the same story.”

“The 911 centers are going broke,” said Rep. Mark J. Bruns, 113th District, chairman of the committee.

Alan Wells, 911 director St. Francois County, said his county’s voters approved a 15 percent 911 surcharge on telephone service in 1991 without specifying that it would only apply to land lines.

It was noted by several people during the meeting that cell phone companies have insisted that they are not a telephone service and lobbied against any state 911 tax for cell phones while at the same time advertising that cell phones are a necessity for emergencies.

Committee member Rep. Therese Sander, 22nd District, said if you ask most people why they bought a cellular phone, the response would be “So if something happens, I’ll be able to get help.”

Wells said half of the calls his 911 center receives now are from cell phones. With a 15 percent 911 tax each land line generates about $1.35 per month St. Francois County, Wells said. He said proposed legislation to add a surcharge to cell phones has ranged from 50 cents to $1 per month.

As it is also proposed that 40 percent be diverted to help rural counties without 911 establish their service, that means his center would only get about 30 cents per cell phone — minus 3 cents that would be deducted for processing, Wells said. He said that means it would take five cell phones to make up for a single land line.

“It’s a shame that dollars and cents are tied to lives,” Wells said.

“I have learned so much over the past months,” said Ellen Brandom, 160th District’s state representative.

Brandom said she has learned, for example, that the tax on land lines for 911 ranges from 1 percent in places like St. Louis to 15 percent in small counties. “We’re going to do our best to get help on this,” she pledged.

Bruns said it has mostly been county and 911 officials testifying at the meetings, but when citizens have spoken it has been in support of a cell phone tariff for 911.

Joe Burton, emergency management director for Scott County and a former E-911 administrator for that county, said one thing that is making it difficult to get voters to approve a 911 tax on cell phones is that their bills list a federal 911 tax, so “everybody thinks they’re paying a 911 tax.”

Burton has stated many times, however, that local 911 centers do not receive any of this money and he can’t find out where that money goes.

Sander said people expect 911 service with cell phones. “We’re talking about an educational effort,” she said.

There needs to be a “groundswell” of grassroots support, or legislators may not back a 911 tax, Sander said.

Effective education is also critical, Bruns said, as “the public has to understand what we’re doing.”

A rough draft of the committee’s report based on the meetings is expected in November while the final version is to be completed by Dec. 1.

“We’ve heard a lot as we’ve traveled across the state,” Bruns said. “We look forward to coming up with a solution to this problem.”

During the drafting process, “we will be more than happy to take suggestions,” he said.

Bruns said the report will be made public upon completion.

During the work sessions for preparing the report, the committee will determine what direction to take this issue and hope to see it result in effective legislation not only for cell phones, but for other emerging communication technologies such as Voice Over the Internet “so 10 years from now we’re not back in the same place,” Bruns said.

Last two 911 hearings scheduled

The final two 911 hearings have been scheduled in the St. Louis and Southeast Missouri regions. The dates, times and locations are posted to the right.

Thank you to everyone who has testified and shown support at the other hearings held around the state...

Scott County's 911 still on the cutting edge

09/04/07
Scott Welton

SIKESTON — A lot of things have changed over the last 10 years for Scott County’s 911 dispatching center — some for the better, some not so much.

“Technology-wise, we are a lot more advanced,” said Joe Burton, emergency management director for Scott County and former E-911 administrator. “Financially, we’re a lot worse off.”
Burton assumed responsibility for the county’s emergency dispatching center in Morley on June 1, 1997.

“We actually went online on Sept. 11, 1997,” he recalled. “When we first opened 911 down there, we were an Enhanced 911 system.

We opened as an enhanced system, which means we got phone numbers and addresses for the call.

Not everybody does that — there are still counties in the state of Missouri that are not enhanced.”

The county’s 911 also started out with a GIS mapping system and the ability to receive cell phone calls, although with cell phone calls “we got a telephone number on the screen but nothing else,” Burton said.

Three or four years later, the county improved its GIS system, he recalled. “Around that point in time we upgraded and we started getting Phase 2 calls,” Burton said.

He explained with Phase 2, the 911 equipment is able to display which tower a cell phone call is coming from and even which side of the tower, narrowing down considerably the search area for callers who don’t tell dispatchers their location.

“About a year after that, we upgraded out 911 software,” Burton continued. “We also started answering some phase 3 calls.”

With Phase 3, latitude and longitude information is transmitted for cell phone calls so the location is plotted on a GIS map.

“At that point in time we were only the third county in the state that was doing that,” Burton said.

“We have stayed on the cutting edge of technology since we opened — and we still are on the cutting edge.”

In February 2006, the move of the dispatch center from Morley to the new Scott County Jail along with 911 software and GIS upgrades was completed.

Soon after, Burton handed off the 911 administration duties but continues to serve as mapping and GIS coordinator for the county’s E-911.

From desktop phones and radio sets to a completely computerized system, the county’s 911 has come a long way.

“I’m really proud of what Scott County has done as far as technology goes,” Burton said.

With the ability to track a variety of data from response times to the origins of aborted 911 calls, technological changes over the last decade have definitely been for the better, even if they do involve a steeper learning curve for administrators and dispatcher than when he started 10 years ago.

“The financial side is a little different,” Burton said. “Over these 10 years, we’ve seen wire line phones, which is what our tax base is built on, go away and people are using cell phones. Last year Scott County lost about $60,000 in revenue because of that. That doesn’t seem like a lot of money but when our budget is as small as it is anyway, $60,000 is a significant chunk.”

Burton explained there is no 911 tax on cell phones, even though the charge appears on some cell phone bills.

The question of how or why 911 charges are appearing on Missouri cell phone bills when no state or local agency is receiving any of the revenue was even asked at a recent state Senate committee hearing a couple of weeks ago, Burton said: “Nobody knows for sure where that’s going.”

Missouri voters have rejected all attempts to add a 911 tax to cell phone bills so far.

“Quite frankly, the time is coming that the citizens of this county and the citizens of Missouri are going to have to make a decision on whether they want this service or not, because that is what it is going to boil down to,” Burton said. “911 basically is just like any other business: if the revenue is not there, you can not keep it open.”

Providing E-911 services is “not getting any cheaper; it’s getting more expensive every year,” Burton said.

With or without a 911 tax for cell phones, Burton believes a change is needed keep 911 dispatching viable in the future.

“I think the time has come — not only financially, but for better protection for the citizens — that we need to look at regional dispatching,” he said.

One centralized 911 dispatching center could effectively service “three, four, five counties,” Burton said. “It could even be bigger than that.”

Missouri County Keeps 911 Tax Rate at 10 Percent

County Keeps 911 Tax Rate at 10 Percent
By Sarah Wienke , Missourian Staff Writer

The county will be able to establish a central countywide 911 system without raising the telephone tax rate for emergency 911 services.

The Franklin County Commission Thursday set the 2008 E911 tax at 10 percent, the same rate since 2003.

"I think we can complete the project with what we have in place," said Emergency Management Agency Director Bob Dopp.

Dopp has recommended keeping the tax at 10 percent and using the money in the county's 911 fund to pay for new equipment.

The fund, which is made up of revenue from the 911 tax on landline phone bills, has a current balance of $830,000.

In 1992, county voters approved a tax ceiling of 15 percent, but the county has never collected that maximum.

Rates have varied from 6.5 percent to 11 percent since the tax was established.

Presiding Commissioner Ed Hillhouse said he looked at figures from the clerk's office, the treasurer's office and the auditor's office to make sure a 10 percent tax rate will cover the cost of operating a countywide 911 system.

Dopp said he has researched other counties in Missouri that have shifted to a similar countywide 911 plan to get an idea of how much it will cost.

The ballpark figure for equipment and updates is $700,000, he said.The county's consultant said the cost could be as much as $1 million, but officials think that figure is too high.

"This is the taxpayers' money," Dopp said. "We have to show them that we are spending it in a good way, not spending money where we don't need to."GeoComm, based out of Minneapolis, Minn., has developed a plan that will link city communication centers with a county dispatch center so fewer 911 calls have to be transferred to the appropriate dispatchers.

"We're working closely with fire departments and police departments to make sure the new system will match their systems," Dopp said. A subcommittee of EMA officials and representatives of each PSAP has been formed to guide the process and "look at the total picture."

The plan is to establish a Franklin County Emergency Communications Center in the sheriff's office.

That center will house law enforcement dispatchers, 911 call takers and fire and emergency services dispatchers.

911 calls from Union, St. Clair and unincorporated areas will be processed at the county's 911 dispatching center.

Pacific, Sullivan and Washington will continue to operate their own dispatching centers, or Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), but will be equipped with common technology that interfaces with the county's new equipment.

This will be Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and 911 technology.

The CAD will be outfitted with mapping technology so that every call will plot onto a GIS map.

The PSAPs will be connected to the county communications center.All of the equipment will be 100 percent paid for with the 911 tax.

"Right now, we can't identify the location of 911 calls from cell phones," Dopp said.

The new, enhanced system will identify on a map where the call is coming from, increasing response time.

More than 60 percent of the county's 911 calls come from cell phones. "Dispatchers spend a lot of time trying to figure out where the call is coming from," he said.

Additionally, the county is losing tax revenue as people shift from landlines to cell phones.

Currently no tax is collected on cell phone bills to cover wireless 911 calls. Missouri is the only state in the country that does not have a state wireless service recovery fee in place to fund wireless 911 calls.

Dopp hopes that will soon change.Earlier this month, Dopp formed a delegation of county emergency officials to go to the state Capitol to meet with members of the House and Senate to lobby for changes to the way tax is collected for 911 calls.

During the two-day hearing, officials from throughout the state told legislators the financial impact Missouri counties are facing with declining revenues and how passing a surcharge for wireless calls would benefit 911 systems.

The state's public safety director, Mark James, recommended a 75-cent monthly fee per cell phone number, which would generate about $33.8 million a year to be shared among counties.

"That would help us fund our equipment and staff," Dopp said.If legislators don't pass a cell phone tax, Franklin County may have to raise the telephone emergency 911 tax rate in the future, Dopp said. "But I can't see raising that tax right now," he said, noting that each 1 percent increase only gains the county an additional $65,000 for 911 services.

Additional House 911 Hearing Locations/Times Announced

According to State 911 Coordinator R.D. Porter...

The next round of meetings with the House 911 Interm Committee will be held in St. Joseph on September 13th at 1:00 P.M. The location will be at the St. Joe City Hall located at 1100 Frederick St. in the council chambers.

The following meeting will be held in Nixa, MO on September 14th at 9:00 A.M. The location will be the Nixa Community Center located at 701 Taylor Way.

JCPD, sheriff add voices to call for 911 service

By Jeff Haldiman
jhaldiman@newstribune.com

“Our motto is just like the real estate industry - location, location, location.”

That statement came from Doug Keeney, supervisor of the Jefferson City Police Department's records division, who testified Monday before the House Interim Committee to Evaluate the 911 System.

Work started in January to give operators at the Jefferson City Police Department's communications center the ability to better locate 911 calls from cell phones.

It's the last of a two-step process that was established by the Federal Communications Commission to deliver location information for wireless callers.

The first phase of the project was completed in Jefferson City in 2002. It allowed 911 operators to see the cell tower receiving the call, which sector or antenna received the signal and the caller's cell phone number.

The second phase will allow operators to get latitude and longitude coordinates of the cell phone and to translate and display that information to a digital map. This phase of the project should be completed in the next six months.

“We do get misrouted calls, usually from the St. Louis area or surrounding counties,” Keeney said. “The 911 industry didn't look outside the box on technology development so 911 is catching up.”

All 911 service is paid for by general revenue sales tax.

The county also pays a user fee.

The Jefferson City communications center dispatches all city and county law enforcement calls, as well as fire service calls.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White also testified before the committee, noting that many 911 entities have to balance funding needs between equipment upgrades and maintaining qualified personnel.

He noted the recent murder outside of St. Martins, where the alleged shooter's son called the 911 center while in his bedroom, showed that the calm and quick actions of the operators on duty made that situation as safe as possible.

White also said he would support a 75-cent fee to help pay for upgrading 911 cell phone service.

Missouri Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce

During a disaster, call volume and an inability of PSAP personnel to report to work due to a disaster can overwhelm a PSAP.

TERT is a disaster response group of telecommunicators and other PSAP support personnel that are available to assist Missouri jurisdictions or other states during a declared disaster.

TERT will locate Telecommunicators that are trained on your equipment and protocols and deploy them to your site to augment your staff until the situation stablizes.

TERT is an acronym that stands for Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce.

A TERT response in Missouri will be authorized by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

SEMA serves as the contact point for any TERT request and will notify the Missouri TERT Coordinator, when a request for assistance is received.

Authority to deploy requires the declaration of an emergency in the jurisdiction requesting assistance and participation in the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC).

PSAPs may decline to assist if such a response would deplete staffing within their Center, due to staffing shortages, or otherwise negatively impact the PSAPs ability to perform their normal functions.

In order to assist with compiling the necessary information for a TERT response, please take some time to fill out this assessment.

http://carrollcounty911.com/MoTERTsurvey.html

Information that is gathered during this survey will be treated as proprietary and will not be sold or shared with vendors and others without a need to know.

For more information, please contact:

MoTERT Coordinator

Elizabeth Pierson, Director
Carroll County Communication Center
2 N Monroe St
Carrollton, MO 64633
c.county911@mchsi.com
660.542.3911

Safety #1 Reason Why Seniors Purchase Cell Phones - AARP

Cell Phone Safety and User Fees at Issue in Albany

AARP Takes Its Case to the State Capital

Here's a quick test of your cell phone awareness.

What's the number one reason people age 65 and older buy a cell phone?

If you guessed "safety," then you're absolutely correct, according to an AARP survey of cell phone users age 65 and older.

What's more, said AARP State Director Lois Aronstein, baby boomer children of older adults want their parents to carry cell phones for security reasons.

But going wireless is not without its risks. Many new cell phone users are frustrated with the prevalence of hidden fees that come with most cell phone services. Did you know that hidden fees can make up 20% of cell phone costs?

AARP New York is alerting state lawmakers to these important issues this spring.

We are supporting legislation that requires cell phone service providers to enhance 911 services so that emergency personnel can identify the location of cell phone calls.

The legislation also requires companies to inform customers of all additional fees—including setup, directory assistance and text messaging—along with their rates for "basic" cell phone use.

Lack of Funding puts 911 callers in Missouri on HOLD

Lack of funding puts Missouri wireless 911 service on hold
Monday, August 13, 2007

By Ann Pierceall
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Missouri is the only state in the country lacking a mechanism to fund wireless 911 service, and 17 counties in the state have no 911 service at all.

Efforts to bring such service to all of Missouri keep hitting a brick wall — funding. Voters have twice turned down ballot initiatives to fund 911 statewide.

State members of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) say a simple user fee — one that could be placed on tires or batteries, for example — doesn't need voter approval. Such a fee could be tacked onto a cell phone owner's monthly bill for wireless 911 service.

Missouri NENA President Mike Kindle said getting government officials to act on a measure is the group's challenge. Legislation was readied for this past session but never made it to a vote.
"We've been told more than once ... this is going to sound really bad ... but to get on the radar screen, you have to have a tragedy. We are trying hard to get this fixed before there's a tragedy," Kindle said.

Kindle said there's a second purpose in trying to get the word out about wireless 911 funding.

"People think they can call 911 on their cell phone and be located. That's just not true in most areas. Unfortunately, most 911 centers across the state are unable to locate them at this time. We want them to be prepared," he said.

Kindle said many of the state's centers don't have the locally driven funding to buy the technology to locate 911 callers. Even more technology is needed for devices such as Blackberrys and voice-over products now on the market.

In Northeast Missouri, four counties have no 911 service at all: Knox, Scotland, Schuyler and Clark. Any 911 calls placed in those counties are routed to different agencies that have the service. The ability to locate a 911 wireless caller is limited at best.

Lewis, Shelby, Monroe and Ralls counties have some capacity to locate wireless 911 callers. Marion County can receive wireless 911 calls but cannot locate a caller.

Mike Hall, executive director for Marion County 911, doesn't want to alarm local citizens. He said each of these counties have enacted funding systems to help keep them functioning. He said "it's very disturbing" to know that nearby counties have no 911 service.

"If the state doesn't make 911 funding a top priority, it's going to continue to be in crisis," he said. "Every state around us has passed wireless 911 funding. (Someone) using the U.S. 36 corridor expects the same level of service they get in Illinois and Kansas.

"We're the last state in country that hasn't gotten this worked out."

R.D. Porter, the state 911 coordinator, said funding has been an issue for more than 10 years. It boils down to citizen expectations.

"They expect the same level of service as they get on a landline phone. They expect to get that service no matter where they're at in the state of Missouri," he said. "What they don't have is the understanding that it's not there."

Porter says some counties have no tax base to support 911 of any sort.

Last year, $425,000 in Homeland Security grant money was spent to do a study to determine the state of 911 in Missouri. Porter credited Gov. Matt Blunt, who after the study was released called on legislators to address the issue.

"(But) all he can do is ask ... he can't make them do it," Porter said. "This is a public safety issue. This isn't a political issue. And folks on both sides of the aisle need to understand that."

Republican Speaker of the House Rod Jetton has created a House subcommittee to investigate how best to tackle wireless 911 funding.

It will be led by Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City.

The subcommittee will hold hearings across the state to get feedback from local officials and residents.

Jetton hopes for a report by December. He proposed using a more regional approach, routing such calls through a regional 911 center instead of the county-run centers used now.

"The problem is territories. Nobody wants to give up their 911 systems," he said.

Jetton said the user-fee option is one option to look at for funding, pointing out that no matter what the solution is, "we'll not be about to do it for free."

"The local governments are going to have to communicate to voters and tax payers why this is so important," he said. "It's definitely a huge need. The emergencies aren't slowing down."

Kansas City Star Endorses Wireless Surcharge

Editorial: August 9, 2007

Missouri needs 911 fee for cell phone users

In many areas of Missouri, a cell phone call to 911 for help is routed to a dispatcher far away from the caller with the emergency.

Often dispatchers cannot pinpoint the location of 911 calls.

They lack the equipment. Cell phone callers, including children, who can’t identify their location are at risk because of Missouri’s inadequate 911 system.

About 20 counties in Missouri have no 911 emergency service, even via landlines. Yet 911, where available, is a proven lifesaver, the fastest way to get emergency help.

Previous ballot proposals to improve 911 service in Missouri probably failed because proposed emergency call surcharges on cell phones would have gone, in part, to phone companies.

That should not be part of any new proposal that goes to Missouri voters.

Missouri pays for 911 largely through county-assessed tariffs on landline phones. Cell phone users do not pay anything to the state to connect to 911 services. That’s not fair.

As more people switch to using cell phones, use of landlines is dropping.

To make up the difference between 911 costs and available funding, many counties have to dip into their regular budgets.

Betty Knight, Platte County presiding commissioner, says her county pays more than $450,000 out of its general fund to supplement what it receives from its county landline tax.

A Missouri legislative committee is considering proposals by the Mid-America Regional Council and others to implement a 911 surcharge both for wireless and Voice Over Internet services.

No one likes all of the perplexing extra fees on phone bills already, and efforts should be made to reduce them. But a 911 surcharge would clearly enhance public safety.

Kansas has a 50-cents-a-month statewide emergency calling fee for cell phone and Voice Over Internet service.

Missouri Public Safety Director Mark James has called for a 75-cents-a-month surcharge to pay for expanded services.

This is welcome leadership that could save lives.

Jefferson County Missouri Facing 911 Funding Crisis because of cell phones

Call 911, but who pays? Emergency services footing more of the bill
By Sarah AuBuchon Jefferson County Journal
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 1:31 PM CDT

Members of the Jefferson County 911 Board of Directors say they are losing money each time a cell phone user calls the center with an emergency.Board members testified Aug. 6 before the Missouri House Interim Committee asking for legislation that would allow them to put into effect a surcharge on cell phone bills for 911 usage.

Board member David Kennedy said the room was full of representatives from 911 call centers statewide who testified about the lack of revenue from cell users.

"Jefferson County has seen cellular 911 calls escalate to 50 percent of the calls received with no decrease in other calls, but no funding flows to the center to pay for handling those calls," Kennedy said.

De Soto Rural Fire Chief Paul Mayer, who is also on the 911 board, said the call center has had to dramatically raise the rates charged to emergency service entities, such as police and fire departments, to help offset some of the lost revenue.

"De Soto's 911 fees went up 93 percent," he said. "Cell phones are a huge part of that."Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer said the sheriff's office pays more than $600,000 per year in 911 fees."It's a pretty good chunk out of our budget," he said.

Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, said out of 114 Missouri counties, there are 21 with no 911 service and only 12 with the capability to track the location of a cell phone.

Roorda said federal regulation calls for all Missouri counties to have 911 service and to be upgraded to "Phase 2," which includes cell phone tracking, within the next several years.Roorda said there is now a surcharge on cell phone bills for 911 service, but the money does not actually go to 911 entities."

Cell phone companies are charging a 911 surcharge for infrastructure as part of the Phase 2 requirements," he said.House Interim Committee Chair Rep. Mark Bruns, R-113, testified before the committee that the 911 system is "in definite need of evaluation.""It's in desperate need of funds," he said.

"Frankly, the most important thing that will come out of the committee is (determining) how we can go about appropriating the funds."

Roorda said he filed a bill last year that would allow Jefferson and other counties the authority to put a tax increase for cell phones before voters, but the measure failed.

"We ought to support certain things as taxpayers," he said. "It's unfair that landline users have carried the burden for so long."

Missouri Department of Public Safety Director Mark James said that with no state fee levied on cell users for 911, it is becoming more difficult to sustain and upgrade the service.

"Missouri's 911 response system is one of the worst in the nation," he said. "Over three-fourths of the 911 centers have equipment that is six years old or older, some are on the verge of closing and 21 counties have no 911 service at all."

Missouri Public Safety Director Testifies on the Current Status of 911 in Missouri

Complete transcript of testimony from Mark S. James, Director, Department of Public Safety, on the current status of 911 in the State of Missouri, August 6th, 2007:

Representative Bruns and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak briefly on the current status of 911 in the State of Missouri.

When an emergency occurs, 911 is the link between first responders and the communities they serve. Ask any child the number to call in an emergency and they will quickly recite, “911”.

But is help really on its way when you call 911 in the State of Missouri? The startling answer is if you are calling by wireless phone, probably not.

The reality is there is a greater than two-thirds chance that emergency responders cannot find you if you are calling 911 by cell phone in Missouri.

More disturbing is the fact that a recent engineering study concluded that most Missouri 911 systems are outdated and even non-existent in 21 Missouri counties. According to the report, 77 percent of Missouri 911 centers have equipment more than six years old, cannot locate cell phone callers, and in a widespread emergency such as multiple tornadoes or a catastrophic earthquake, few 911 centers would have the ability to communicate with each other.

Years ago before wireless technology was even dreamed of, the Missouri General Assembly had the courage to implement a 75-cent fee per hardwire telephone service in Missouri to fund 911 centers.

With few exceptions, most 911 centers in Missouri are funded only for hardwire services but have taken on the extra responsibility of wireless 911 callers.

The problem our 911 centers now face is that the number of “wireless” phones in Missouri have exceeded and are replacing the number of hardwire phones.

So while the wireless 911 demands are increasing, the hardwire 911 revenue stream is decreasing.

Some of our 911 centers are on the verge of closing because of this lack of funding.

Other than the 75-cent hardwire fee, 911 funding has been left to local and county jurisdictions to fend for themselves.

Missouri now has the dubious distinction of being the only state in the nation to not have a wireless-fee recovery mechanism to fund the needs of “wireless” 911 on a statewide basis.

Missouri’s 911 systems need a significant overhaul. The striking deficiencies are not only shocking, but dangerous.

Missourians attempting life-saving calls from their wireless phones expecting police, firefighters and ambulances to respond may not be found depending on where they are in the State.

Ours is one of the worst in the nation and actions must be taken to correct this life-threatening problem.

It is clear that only decisive action and leadership by the State of Missouri will fix this problem. Leaving the problem for local jurisdictions will not work.

A few localities have passed local taxes or fees and have good systems, 21 Missouri counties cannot afford any 911 systems on their own, and most fall somewhere in between.

Further compounding the problem is that the average Missourian has no idea of how dangerous the current situation is in the State of Missouri as evidenced by the fact that the issue of funding wireless 911 has been defeated twice by ballot election.

So often the warnings of public safety officials go unheeded until a catastrophe occurs and then the finger-pointing and blame-game gets played out in the media.

I pray that we don’t have to have a catastrophe occur before we have the courage to start fixing this situation.

For all of the above reasons, I strongly encourage you to take these hearings on the road throughout the State of Missouri.

Doing so will accomplish your hearing first-hand from the many local and county public safety professionals I hear from on a daily basis as to how dire things are.

Just last week, the 9 Regional Homeland Security Oversight Committees in Missouri were unanimous in ranking 911 as the state’s most important Homeland Security issue.

At the same time, the US Department of Homeland Security adjudged that our 911 system is in such bad shape that spending our limited federal grant on it would be but a drop in the bucket and that the State of Missouri should find the appropriate funding mechanism to fix it.

Conducting hearings around the state will help to inform Missourians about the condition of 911 statewide and help to reinforce the needed action by the General Assembly.

At the strategic level I would suggest that this committee consider the following issues:

1. Review the current numerous disparate statutes on the books concerning 911 and compare them with the recommended language developed by the 911 Oversight Committee.

2. Review the recommendations contained within the engineering study with regards to needed technology.

3. Consider the funding needs for establishing and modernizing 911 on a statewide basis. Any state funding mechanism should come with the requirement of consolidation of systems for efficiency and effectiveness.

Finally, I would like to thank Governor Blunt for his support on this issue and for his asking the help of the General Assembly in researching the problem and offering solutions.

I also thank Speaker Jetton for convening this bipartisan committee of Representatives, and you, many of whom have been career public safety officials and who bring vast amounts of experience to this issue, for serving on this committee.

As Director of the Department of Public Safety and Chairman of the State 911 Oversight Committee, I pledge any and all support of these two organizations to help your committee in its due diligence.

I would now gladly entertain any questions the committee might have of me.

Missouri 911 Funding Could "Disconnect"

KOMU.com:

MOBERLY - 911 centers get tens of thousands of calls a year, but they're running out of money. KOMU looked into why they're losing money even though they're funded through a phone tax.
In most counties in Missouri right now if you own a land-line, you pay your local 911 center between $.75 cents and a $1 a month.

But if you call from your cell phone, like most people do today, you're calling for free and that's why some 911 centers in mid-Missouri are in trouble.

"We are a financially challenged community, operating at a deficit," said Randolph County Commissioner Doug Galaske.

The Randolph County 911 center took 30,000 calls last year and is going broke.
Responders echo the trend there isn't enough money.

"If something is not done, a lot of these 911 centers are going to fold," said Moberly Police Commander Kevin Palmatory.

A land-line fee isn't enough anymore.

"The funding that we've set the system upon is disappearing, that land-line," said Galaske. "And what's replacing it, the cell phone, isn't contributing anything to the money, and that's what's led to the problem."

This creates other problems.

"If it happens to be a cell phone, right now at this stage in the game, we can't tell where they are," said Palmatory.

Most counties in Missouri don't have money to buy equipment to find cell phone callers.
After hearing from counties around Missouri Wednesday, the committee will hear from cell phone service providers about a solution next week and then begin drafting a report or proposal for the state legislature.

Missouri is the only state in the country without a cell phone charge for 911 calls.

Officials say Missouri 911 centers just can't afford to take cell phone calls for free.

"We're just asking them, look you've got this service, you're getting this service, just pay," said Palmatory.

14 counties in Missouri have no 911 system in place.

The committee hopes for a state-wide solution to help improve 911 centers across the board, and will submit its proposal to the legislature in December.

If a cell phone tariff bill passes it would go into effect next August.

Summary of the Statewide 911 Assessment:

Talking points from the Missouri 911 Infrastructure Assessment by L. Robert Kimball & Associates Architects and Engineers:

· 21 counties in Missouri (18%) have no 911 service at all. This is almost as many as the total number of counties in our eight neighboring states combined (26).

· Out of 171 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in the state, only 68 have enhanced wireless 911 service. (Enhanced 911 service is defined as an emergency telephone system that includes network switching, database and customer premises equipment capable of providing selective routing, transfer and certain maintenance functions.)

· There are 3.2 million wireline telephone subscribers in Missouri.

· There are 3.8 million wireless telephone subscribers in Missouri.

· The lifecycle of 911 equipment is seven years. 77% of Missouri’s PSAP equipment is more than six years old.

· Nearly all of the customer premises equipment (CPE) in Missouri PSAPs cannot be upgraded to accommodate new communications technologies being used by the public because it is so old and outdated.

· Most PSAPs lacked the ability to account for the number of wireless 911 calls versus wireline calls but estimated receiving 642,377 wireless calls per year.

· Missouri has no law mandating the provision of enhanced 911. As a result, 911 service is not available statewide and the level of service that exists is not consistent. In a widespread emergency, few of Missouri’s 911 systems will be able to communicate effectively with one another, if at all.

· A statewide IP-enabled infrastructure connecting PSAPs in a redundant environment should be a state goal.

· A fee of 75 cents per month per wireless (i.e., cellular and VOIP) 911 access would generate approximately $34.2 million per year.

· Missouri is the ONLY state in the nation that does not have a state wireless service recovery fee mechanism to fund wireless 911.

· Without a state wireless service recovery fee, Missouri will never attain statewide enhanced 911 service and some existing PSAPs will cease to exist because of lack of funding.

Director of Public Safety says that MISSOURI's 911 system is "one of the worst in the nation"

Missouri is the only state without a statewide fee or tax for wireless 911 service.

Voters have twice rejected ballot measures to raise taxes for 911 service, most recently in 2002.

Public Safety Director Mark James told lawmakers Monday that service needs to improve, and recommended a 75-cent monthly fee per cell phone number.

That fee would generate about $33.8 million a year, nearly as much as what's collected now through the fee on landline numbers, state emergency officials said."Ours is one of the worst in the nation, and actions must be taken to correct this life-threatening problem," James said. "I pray that we don't have to have a catastrophe occur before we have the courage to fix this situation."

About three-fourths of Missouri's 171 emergency call centers also have outdated equipment and need technology improvements, such as the ability to share data with each other in a major disaster, James said.

Read full article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/12A09210FBF39F8D8625732F007A12E0?OpenDocument

Missourinet reports that calling 911 by cell is IFFY in MISSOURI

9-1-1 is the universal emergency telephone number, but concerns are being raised at the State Capitol that, in more and more instances, if you dial 9-1-1 you might not get the emergency help you need.

State Public Safety Director Mark James puts it bluntly to a special House committee evaluate the state 9-1-1 system, "The reality is there is greater than two-thirds chance that emergency responders cannot find you if you are calling 9-1-1 by cell phone in Missouri."

Rep. Mark Bruns (R-Jefferson City) chairs the Interim Committee to Evaluate the 9-1-1 System. Bruns sees two big problems.

There are 3.2 million landline telephones in Missouri and 3.7 million cell phones and while Missouri charges a 75-cent fee on landlines to fund the 9-1-1 system, it is the only state that doesn't charge a similar fee on cell phones.

The revenue generated by the fee can no longer keep up with the costs of running the system.

The other problem, according to Bruns, is the disparity of 9-1-1 access in metropolitan and rural areas of the state.

He notes that 21 rural counties don't have 9-1-1 systems.

Testimony before the committee disclosed that most 9-1-1 systems are outdated and more revenue needs to be generated to make upgrades and expand it to cover the entire state.

A big problem faces the committee: Missouri voters rejected 9-1-1 cell phone fees twice; in 1998 and 2002.

Missouri 911 - SAVING LIVES in spite of inadequate technology

Johnson County, MO Central Dispatch: Saving Lives In Spite of Inadequate Technology

Johnson County, MO Central Dispatch is a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in western Missouri. Currently, like most PSAPs in the state, Johnson County Central dispatch is unable to locate wireless 9-1-1 calls. They are able to receive wireless calls but have no location data or a call back number if calls get disconnected.

Copies of two recent Phase 0 wireless 9-1-1 calls clearly highlighting the need for Phase II wireless E9-1-1 and federal grants to support technology upgrades are available at http://www.nena.org/pages/Content.asp?CID=222&CTID=10

On June 9th, 2006, at 2:48 a.m. Johnson County Central Dispatch received a frantic wireless Phase 0 call from a woman requesting help because of a domestic abuse situation. The recording only lasts for about 25 seconds in which the caller is short of breath, panicked and shouting that her husband has abused her and taken the phone from her. Then the caller begins to scream hysterically as her husband takes the phone from her and the call is disconnected. As of today, Johnson County Central Dispatch has not received any additional calls, nor do they know the status of the caller. They likely never will.

On Saturday, May 20th, at 5:43 p.m. Johnson County Central Dispatch received a Wireless Phase 0 call. Initially, the only sound that could be heard was a very faint sound of "help me", but the caller was non-responsive to questions from the 9-1-1 call taker. For the next 4 minutes, constant attempts by personnel within Johnson County Central Dispatch to determine the caller’s location were responded to with an occasional “help me". While the line remained open all attempts to communicate with the caller were met with silence until the 15th minute of the call. Realizing there was a problem, including the sound of a smoke detector in the background, the
9-1-1 telecommunicator did not disconnect the call and remained on the line. In the 18th minute the caller was finally able to speak and after numerous questions the telecommunicator was able to determine the location of the caller. Emergency services were dispatched to an address in the City Limits of Warrensburg, MO, thought the specific apartment number was not known.

Once on the scene, responders needed to determine which apartment the caller was in. The 9-1-1 telecommunicator began playing the classic game of “hot and cold” with responders on the scene as they banged on doors asking the telecommunicator if they could hear knocking getting louder over the phone. 28 minutes into the call responders were successful in gaining entrance into the apartment and found the caller unconscious with her cell phone on the ground next to her.The 21 year pregnant woman put something on the stove and took a shower. She came out of the shower and was overcome by the smoke of something burning on the stove. She collapsed and called 9-1-1 from her cell phone as she was passing out. Thanks to the dedication of Johnston County Central Dispatch, the caller was saved. However this very well could have ended in tragedy and would likely have ended much faster had the location of the caller been known.Both of these calls are clear examples of the importance of the precise location of all 9-1-1 calls, and the critical importance of federal funding for grants to PSAPs to upgrade their technology to locate wireless 9-1-1 calls.
Transcript of Johnson County, MO Wireless Phase 0
Domestic Abuse 9-1-1 Call


Caller: …trying to hurt me. Give me the phone.

Telecommunicator: Johnson County 9-1-1. What is your emergency?

Caller: Um, yes. My husband just sit here and, and abused me.

Telecommunicator: OK, what’s your address?

Caller: He tried to take a phone from me….

Telecommunicator: What’s your address?

Caller: …so that I, so that I, so that I could call somebody.

Telecommunicator: What is your address?

Caller:

Male Voice: Get off the phone!

Caller:

Telecommunicator: What is your address?

Caller:

Missouri 911 System Among Worst In US TOP STORY KMIZ-TV

Problems with Missouri's 911 systems are under the microscope.

Right now 18 counties do not have landline 911 service and half of Missouri's counties lack the ability to track cell phone calls at all.

The state public safety director is calling for a 75 cent fee on cell phone bills to help improve 911 services from cell phones.

We found out that some of the 911 systems that need the most improvements are right here in Mid-Missouri.

The lack of service for cell phones is a growing problem because the majority of 911 calls are now made from mobile phones.

In Mid-Missouri, if you're Callaway, Cole, Randolph, Montgomery or Saline counties it's difficult for dispatchers to trace the call.

"We have one of the worst systems in the nation. There is a two-thirds chance that if you were to dial 911 from a cell phone in the state of Missouri that you would not be found by public safety officials," says Mark James, Missouri Department of Public Safety.

Right now Callaway County has phase one capability that can only alert dispatchers to the general area of a call.

An upgrade to phase two would make it possible to pinpoint a caller's location. The improvements carry a number of benefits but one possibly life-saving change--a drastic decrease in response times.

Right now Callaway County commissioners are in the process of getting bids on the equipment that will carry a heavy price tag.

Missouri is the only state without a statewide fee or tax for wireless 911 services. Missouri voters have voted down ballot measures to raise 911 taxes twice previously.

The hearings on the 911 system are being held by a special legislative committee. There are expected to be more throughout the state in the future.

Missouri 911 System Among Worst In US KMIZ TV Top Story

The state public safety director is calling for a 75 cent fee on cell phone bills to help improve 911 services from cell phones.

Problems with Missouri's 911 systems are under the microscope.

Right now 18 counties do not have landline 911 service and half of Missouri's counties lack the ability to track cell phone calls at all.

The state public safety director is calling for a 75 cent fee on cell phone bills to help improve 911 services from cell phones.

We found out that some of the 911 systems that need the most improvements are right here in Mid-Missouri.

The lack of service for cell phones is a growing problem because the majority of 911 calls are now made from mobile phones.

In Mid-Missouri, if you're Callaway, Cole, Randolph, Montgomery or Saline counties it's difficult for dispatchers to trace the call.

"We have one of the worst systems in the nation. There is a two-thirds chance that if you were to dial 911 from a cell phone in the state of Missouri that you would not be found by public safety officials," says Mark James, Missouri Department of Public Safety.

Right now Callaway County has phase one capability that can only alert dispatchers to the general area of a call.

An upgrade to phase two would make it possible to pinpoint a caller's location. The improvements carry a number of benefits but one possibly life-saving change--a drastic decrease in response times.

Right now Callaway County commissioners are in the process of getting bids on the equipment that will carry a heavy price tag.

Missouri is the only state without a statewide fee or tax for wireless 911 services. Missouri voters have voted down ballot measures to raise 911 taxes twice previously.

The hearings on the 911 system are being held by a special legislative committee. There are expected to be more throughout the state in the future.

Missouri 911 System Not Cell-Ready TOP STORY KOMU TV 8 NEWS

MID-MISSOURI - If you are in the wrong place, making an emergency call from a cell phone could be dangerous.

When you think 911, you think fast emergency service, but it depends on where you are calling from.

The more cell phones, the more problems for Missouri's 911 system.

There's a greater than 2 out of 3 chance that emergency responders can not find you if you are calling 911 from a cell phone in Missouri.

Emergency responders throughout the state say response time is hindered significantly for those calling in on a cell phone.

"Those cell phones that are calling in, we are not able to track by either telephone number or location and where they're at," said Kevin Bond, Pettis County sheriff.

Counties across the state are at different levels of technology phases when it comes to reading cell phone information.

Most counties are at phase zero, meaning emergency services don't know anything about the caller.

Only a few are at phase one, which only sends the telephone number. Phase two sends the number and a broad location.

Emergency 911 centers are struggling with updates because operators say there isn't' enough money.

"Most counties are real tight on money, so they can barely handle the land line system as it exists. So, when you come along with cell phones and you need more equipment, they don't have the money," said Claude Brandon, 911 coordinator.

A big part of the 911 service funding comes from land line phone taxes, and fewer people are using that service because of cell phones.

Voters across the state rejected a bill twice that would charge a similar fee with cell phone service.

For more surprising facts about Missouri's 911 system, click on the story links above. The first will guide you to talking points from the Missouri 911 Infrastructure Assessment.

The assessment, provided by the National Emergency Number Association, brings to light specific problems with Missouri's system and possible solutions.

TOP STORY KOMU NEWS - 911 System Not Cell-Ready

MID-MISSOURI - If you are in the wrong place, making an emergency call from a cell phone could be dangerous.

When you think 911, you think fast emergency service, but it depends on where you are calling from. The more cell phones, the more problems for Missouri's 911 system.

There's a greater than 2 out of 3 chance that emergency responders can not find you if you are calling 911 from a cell phone in Missouri. Emergency responders throughout the state say response time is hindered significantly for those calling in on a cell phone.

"Those cell phones that are calling in, we are not able to track by either telephone number or location and where they're at," said Kevin Bond, Pettis County sheriff.

Counties across the state are at different levels of technology phases when it comes to reading cell phone information.

Most counties are at phase zero, meaning emergency services don't know anything about the caller. Only a few are at phase one, which only sends the telephone number. Phase two sends the number and a broad location.

Emergency 911 centers are struggling with updates because operators say there isn't' enough money.

"Most counties are real tight on money, so they can barely handle the land line system as it exists. So, when you come along with cell phones and you need more equipment, they don't have the money," said Claude Brandon, 911 coordinator.

A big part of the 911 service funding comes from land line phone taxes, and fewer people are using that service because of cell phones.

Voters across the state rejected a bill twice that would charge a similar fee with cell phone service.

WARNING: 17 COUNTIES IN MISSOURI HAVE NO 911 AS WE KNOW IT

1. MERCER
2. SCHUYLER
3. SCOTLAND
4. CLARK
5. BATES
6. CEDAR
7. OZARK
8. DOUGLAS
9. OZARK
10. SHANNON
11. OREGON
12. IRON
13. REYNOLDS
14. CARTER
15. RIPLEY
16. WAYNE
17. BOLLINGER