[StBernard] Bill raising telephone fees to support 911 service is approved by Senate committee

[Westley Annis]

Bill raising telephone fees to support 911 service is approved by Senate
committee

Published: Monday, April 02, 2012, 11:13 PM

 By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune 

BATON ROUGE -- A Senate committee Monday authorized increases in telephone
fees for 911 emergency service in both Orleans and St. Bernard parishes,
despite opposition from the cellular telephone industry. The Committee on
Local and Municipal Affairs approved a $4 million to $4.5 million increase
in fees for the New Orleans 911 system, and an unspecified increase in the
fees for similar service in St. Bernard Parish.

Both Senate Bill 361 dealing with the 911 fees in Orleans Parish and Senate
Bill 630 for fee increases for St. Bernard's 911 system are sponsored by
Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, on behalf of the 911 systems in both
parishes The two bills now head to the Senate floor on unanimous votes.

Morrell's bill for New Orleans would raise the residential fee from $1 to $2
a month, and the commercial fee from $2 to $3 a month.

The bill would establish a $1.26-per-month wireless fee, $2 per month for
residential broadband connection and $3 per month for commercial broadband
connection. The fees show up as line-items on monthly bills, Morrell said.

New Orleans officials said the new fees could generate up to $4.5 million a
year for the 911 service in New Orleans, now operated by the Orleans Parish
Communications District.

The Orleans fees would not be submitted to voters but the new St. Bernard
fees would, Morrell said.

The St. Bernard fees have been in place for years but have never been
increased, parish officials said.

Officials of the St. Bernard Communications District testified that the
rates are now 3 percent of the monthly telephone bill for residential and
commercial lines and 85 cents per month for wireless telephones.

Morrell's bill raises those fees to $1 a month for each residential line,
$2.07 monthly for each commercial line and $1.26 a month for cellphone or
other wireless communications service.

An estimate of what the new fees will generate for St. Bernard was not
given.

While the cellular industry opposed both bills, officials testified only
against the New Orleans measure.

Morrell said New Orleans wants to better finance 911 service without taking
money from the city's police, fire and emergency services departments.

The fee increase will lessen the burden on those agencies for 911, city
lobbyist Rodney Braxton said. "It will put more police on the street,
firefighters on fire trucks and EMS personnel on ambulances."

Braxton told the committee that the charge will be assessed on the service
by address. If someone has a New Orleans area code but lives in Monroe, the
fees would not apply, he said.

Duane Cowart, a lobbyist for Verizon Wireless, said the city has not
demonstrated a need for the increases. "What will the money be spent on?" he
asked. "They should not do this just because they can. ... We don't want the
cost of service to be too much."
Cowart said the new fees would place New Orleans at the top of the list of
fees assessed for 911 service, but did not say what other cities are
charging.

He said cellphone companies will get calls complaining about the increases
when they are not the ones pushing the higher fees.

"It is a part of the cost of doing business. My constituents call me all the
time to complain about the crappy service" provided by cellphone companies,
Morrell said.

.......

Ed Anderson can be reached at eanderson at timespicayune.com or 225.342.5810.



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