75-cent charge added to pre-paid wireless phone purchases for 911

By SARAH FAY CAMPBELL sarah@newnan.com Starting Jan. 1, 2012, there will be a 75-cent charge added to all purchases of pre-paid wireless phones and phone minutes purchased in the state of Georgia, to fund 911 services. The charge will be an add-on and collected at the point of sale.
In 2008, state legislation was passed allowing 911 fees to be charged on wireless phones, said Coweta County Administrator Theron Gay at Tuesday's meeting of the Coweta County Board of Commissioners. A good bit of money was collected. "The problem was the dollars went to the state and remained at the state. They actually were not used for 911 services," Gay said. Newly-passed legislation creates the add-on fee. If local governments pass an ordinance imposing the charge, they will get the money from the phones and phone minutes based on the population of each "public safety answering point." The money will not be distributed based on point of sale. "If you guys choose not to do that, the fees are still collected, they'll simply remain with the state of Georgia," Gay said. "I think I'll make a motion," said Commissioner Tim Lassetter. The motion was approved 4-0. The 911 call center has been completely funded by the fees charged on phone services. In the past several years, "we have seen a decline in our 911 fees," Gay said. For a while, many people had a landline phone and a wireless phone. But lately, "a lot of people are dropping their land lines," Gay said. It's estimated prepaid phone services make up about 20 percent of the total wireless phone market. The board also approved a resolution renewing the wire line, wireless, and voice-over IP fees for 911.

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