Byline: Michelle Breidenbach Staff writer
New York state customers who use Internet-based telephone services will be charged 35 cents each month to contribute to county 911 centers, according to a new state law.
Gov. David Paterson signed the bill earlier this month. The governor and state legislators imposed the fee because they thought it was not fair for people who use Voice over Internet Protocol providers, or VoIPs, to skip out on a fee that is charged to customers who use cell phones and land telephone lines.
The money will be collected by the state and given to counties for 911 technology.
The new law will not affect most VoIP users in Onondaga County. Time Warner, the biggest provider in the county, started charging the 35-cent fee before state law required it, said Ben Dublin, Onondaga County's director of intergovernmental relations.
The state charges cell phone customers $1.20 per month. But not all of the revenue winds up at a 911 center. In recent years, the state has raided the money for the general fund and has also spent it on overtime, travel, clothes, groceries and other supplies at agencies ranging from the state police to parks.
Only about 6 cents of each $1.20 makes it to a county 911 center. Because it cannot rely on that revenue, the counties decided to add their own charges on top of the state fee. Onondaga County was allowed to tack another 30 cents on to the cell phone fee.
Paterson also signed a bill that allows Onondaga County to raise the fee on land-line customers from 35 cents to $1 each month.
The new 35-cent fee for VoIP providers also will go to the counties, said Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the state budget division.
The state set up the new 35-cent fee off its books, so it will be harder for state officials to dip into it for other purposes.
The new fee begins Jan. 1.
Contact Michelle Breidenbach at mbreidenbach@syracuse.com or 470-3186.
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