Legislature(2005 - 2006)BELTZ 211
02/15/2005 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB64 | |
| HB47 | |
| SB93 | |
| SB52 | |
| SB100 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 100 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 64 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 47 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 93 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 52 | ||
SB 100-ENHANCED 911 SURCHARGES
CHAIR BUNDE announced SB 100 to be up for consideration. He
asked if anyone objected to adopting CSSB 100(L&C), version Cook
2/11/05\Y. There were no objections.
CHAIR BUNDE explained that there have been instances in
Anchorage where life threatening and emergency situations could
have been addressed in a timely fashion with a 911 call. The
problem is increasing and local municipalities are required to
provide this service, but at this point don't have an option to
pay for it. SB 100 increases their ability to pay for the
service by charging $2. It could be surmounted by a vote of the
people in the effected area.
2:07:40 PM
MS. LAUREN WICKERSHAM, staff to Senator Bunde, explained where
the changes appear in the bill. The billing should be the same
for wireless and wire line companies.
2:10:14 PM
MR. GRAIG GOODRICH, Deputy Chief, Anchorage Police Department,
supported passing SB 100 this year. He related that 50% of
today's calls come through cell phones, but people are not often
cognizant of their surroundings when placing an emergency call.
When it's on a land line, the police can track it, but that is
not the case with cell phones. The bill talks about all the
surcharges going to the call-taking center and he suggested
language saying that at least a portion of those funds go to the
dispatch centers. In Anchorage the dispatch center is separate
from a law enforcement or call-taking center. That is also the
case in the Kenai Peninsula and other areas around the state, as
well.
2:13:23 PM
CHIEF WALT MONEGAN, Anchorage Police Department, supported SB
100 because it provides the flexibility for local government to
justify realistic surcharge rates to maintain and operate 911
centers. Anchorage currently has a 50-cent surcharge. However,
out of that 50-cents, 21-cents pays for addressing line fees for
every one of the customers they serve for 911, about 316,000
lines. The department needs more money to actually provide a
service. He said it receives about 250,000 calls per year and
58% of them are 911 calls. About half of those are coming from
cells phones and the department does not have the ability to
know the location on those. This amounts to about $800,000 a
year for data base management; add on about $260,000 per year
for infrastructure costs and the department has $3 million more
a year for additional operating costs. That all adds up to about
$4 million in enhanced operations and maintenance costs. The 50
cents generates about $2 million. The rest of the cost is borne
by taxpayers.
2:17:47 PM
CHAIR BUNDE asked if raising the cap to $2 will allow enough
flexibility to address the costs of enhanced 911 for a couple of
years.
CHIEF MONEGAN replied that is correct. He anticipated raising it
by $1 at first.
2:19:19 PM
MS. ERIN KALWARA, Public Safety Assistance Coordinator, Juneau
Police Department, said she administers the 911 program and
supports the changes. She doubted that $2 would hold the
department for more than five years. She had no idea what
technologies will develop in the future and thought a $3 fee
would be needed.
2:21:12 PM
MR. TIM ROGERS, Alaska Municipal League, supported SB 100. The
enhanced system would allow the call takers to see the address
of the originating caller. Passage of the increase in the
surcharge is needed to help the continual upgrade of the 911
system and help in the development of address databases to avoid
untimely response delays. Also, several of the funds for
upgrading 911 systems have disappeared in the last couple of
years.
MR. ROGERS suggested a couple of amendments. Existing statutes
have a differential rate for cities with a population under
100,000 and maintaining the differential will allow smaller
communities to charge in excess of $2. He also would prefer that
the election provision on page 2, lines 8-9, be eliminated for
two reasons.
One, if the authorized surcharge change is proposed,
municipalities don't anticipate the additional
authority needs in the foreseeable future and
secondly, and probably more important, is it would set
the possible precedent for elections on user fee
increases. That is of concern to us. It may also be a
poor precedent for a future state fee increase, as
well, and we think it's best to avoid that if at all
possible.
2:25:18 PM
MR. DAVID TYLER, supported SB 100. But the $2 limit would impact
Fairbanks, because it won't last long. Their local public
process allows them to govern themselves when setting fees. He
also has concerns with the time constraints and costs associated
with the voting requirements.
2:26:59 PM
MR. PAUL HARRIS, Director, Fairbanks Police Department,
supported SB 100, but he wanted other issues to be addressed. He
gave the committee an example of how cell phones enhance the 911
system. He also noted that the $2 would barely cover the
technology and maintenance since a good amount of the money goes
back to the telephone companies to pay for trunk lines. Often
people don't change their addresses when they change their phone
numbers and the master street address database needs to be
updated. On the receiving end of the call, someone who can deal
with an emergency experience must be trained to respond
properly. He supported a $3 cap as being more realistic.
2:31:07 PM
MR. CHUCK KOPP, Kenai Chief of Police, said he also represented
the Alaska Chapter of the National Emergency Numbers
Association. He saw this bill as an ongoing solution to a
growing problem. Public expectation is rising for emergency
services such as reduced response time. He thought the $2 cap
would give all municipalities more flexibility than they have
now. Technology is moving faster than the state department can
respond.
2:34:14 PM
CHAIR BUNDE asked if he thought the 100,000 population
differential would impact Kenai.
MR. KOPP replied that there are 50,000 people in the Kenai
Borough and it definitely would impact it.
2:35:14 PM
MR. JIM ROWE, Executive Director, Alaska Telephone Association
(ATA), supported a non-voter-approved cap of $2 - recognizing
the individual municipalities could exceed that cap through an
election. He was concerned that the surcharge would raise the
local phone bills that already have a number of surcharges. SB
100, however, is concise and addresses many needs. It's
important to ATA that there is parity between wireless and hard-
wired surcharges.
2:38:04 PM
MS. LINDA FREED, Manager, City of Kodiak, supported SB 100. Her
dispatch system is budgeted this year at about $600,000 and
about $50,000 will come in from the enhanced 911 surcharge.
Right now the gap is being made up from their general fund. She
supported the increased cap, but also strongly believed in local
control and local option and encouraged the committee to
consider that a little more strongly in the bill. Kodiak has a
strong public process and would like to see an expansion of the
use of the funds - lines 18 and 19. That has been interpreted to
mean just the 911 portion of their dispatch. Emergency 911 calls
are crisis calls that come into the center, but without
responders to send out, there is very little use for the
technology. She would like to use the funds to help pay for the
additional dispatch costs. For example, Kodiak operates a
regional dispatch service for the entire road system and
provides services for many agencies. This would give the city
the ability to raise the charge and provide funds that would
operate the entire dispatch system, which is not only city, fire
and police, but public works crews, the Coast Guard and State
Troopers. Right now the surcharge brings in less than 10% of its
annual operating cost, not including capital equipment,
replacement costs for E911 and the dispatch center.
2:41:57 PM
CHAIR BUNDE thanked her for her compromise and said he would
hold the bill for further work. He adjourned the meeting at
2:42:41 PM.
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