[StBernard] St. Bernard can set new rates for 911 service under bill

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Tue May 15 08:25:45 EDT 2012


St. Bernard can set new rates for 911 service under bill

Published: Monday, May 14, 2012, 8:01 PM Updated: Monday, May 14, 2012,
8:19 PM

By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune

BATON ROUGE -- The House gave 99-0 final approval Monday to a bill that
authorizes St. Bernard Parish officials to set new rates for its 911
emergency telephone system. Senate Bill 630 by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New
Orleans, now goes to Gov. Bobby Jindal who can sign it into law, veto it or
let it become law without his name on it.

The bill authorizes St. Bernard Parish 911 Communications District to levy
and collect service charges in a uniform flat-fee schedule rather than on a
percentage of the monthly telephone bill as it is now assessed.

Morrell's bill adds up to a $1 monthly fee on residential lines, a maximum
$2.07 monthly fee on each commercial line, and up to $1.26 a month for each
cell phone or wireless communications device.

The rates would approximate the amount being charged now. An election must
be held to seek higher rates.

Those with a St. Bernard area code living out of state or in another part of
Louisiana, would not be billed for the cell phone assessment.

The Senate also voted 26-10 for a bill to allow New Orleans to impose a $20
fee on tickets written for seat belt violations, making it the first area of
the state to exceed the $25 limit for a first violation and $50 for
subsequent offenses.

House Bill 718 by Rep. Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans, must return to the
House for approval of changes made to the bill in a Senate committee.

Bishop's bill is designed to generate an additional $300,000 a year for the
Orleans Parish Indigent Defender Program, which provides legal services for
criminal defendants who cannot afford lawyers.

Fiscal analysts said the bill could raise more than $400,000 based on the
number or seat belt tickets written in New Orleans last year.

The House Appropriations Committee unanimously agreed that the city of New
Orleans should be paid directly from the funds generated by the land-based
Harrah's casino instead of having to go through the annual appropriations
process.

House Bill 183 by Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, similar to
one passed by lawmakers but vetoed by Gov. Bobby Jindal last year, now heads
to the House floor for debate.

Leger said that the state budget bill, House Bill 1, now contains the $3.6
million the state has contracted to pay the city for enhanced police, fire
and emergency services in the area of Harrah's casino.

Leger said his bill is designed to take the money for the "casino support
services contract" away from the budget bill -- and the vagaries that go
along with putting it together each year -- and place it in a separate bill
that would require the city to get the first $1.8 million of the casino
proceeds, and the next $74 million would go to the state for education
needs.

The city would divide the rest of the money from the Harrah's contract
evenly with the state until the rest of the contract amount is reached.

The panel also approved Leger's companion bill, House Bill 203, that no
longer would require the contract payments to be made to New Orleans every
three months. Leger's bill would allow the payments to be made at any
interval. The bill now goes to the House floor for debate.

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



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