HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/21/2004 - STAFF REPORTS (27) DATE: July 21, 2004
TO: City Council
FROM: Assistant City Manager -Administration>�
SUBJECT: Proposed 911 Emergency Communications System Response Fee
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council approve by title only and waive further reading of
Ordinance No. _Approving the Addition of Chapter 3.39 of Title 3 of the Palm Springs
Municipal Code Establishing a 911 Emergency Communication System Response Fee.
SUMMARY:
The City's 911 Emergency Communications Center provides direct and immediate access
to emergency police, fire and medical services for land line telephone subscribers within
the community. Unfortunately, the existing equipment in the 911 Communications Center
is antiquated and not meeting the needs of the community. In addition, the radio system
and repeater system that is presently used to communicate with public safety personnel
are of poor quality which can affect radio transmission of emergency calls for service. In
order to improve the performance and ensure the continued reliability of the City's 911
Communications System, staff is proposing a fee be assessed on every land line within
the City. The proposed 911 Emergency Communications System Response Fee is
directly related to the significant benefit telephone subscribers derive from the operation
of, and improvements to, the City's 911 Emergency Communications Center. Projects that
could be funded by this proposed fee include: 911 telephone system expansion and
upgrade, including capability of determining exact location of 911 calls made from cellular
telephones; development of alternate 911 system facilities for backup capability in the
event of catastrophic failure of the City's primary communications center; life cycle
replacement of communications system infrastructure equipment; operating, repair and
maintenance expenses for the 911 system including costs for personnel, training, facility
maintenance, technical infrastructure, consultants, attorney fees, and direct and indirect
costs.
BACKGROUND:
Generally, cities have the authority to impose cost recovery fees under Article XI, Sections
7 and 9, of the California Constitution. The 911 Emergency Communications System
Response Fee would fall into a category called "user fees." Such constitutional authority to
enact user fees is backed by case law where these types of cost recovery fees have
withstood legal challenges. Fees are distinguished from taxes in several important
respects. Most importantly, fees do not require voter approval to be enacted. Second, the
amount of the fee may not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing a particular
service or facility for which the fee is charged. Third, fee revenue can only be used for the
service for which the fee was enacted. Lastly, the service or facility for which a fee is
charged must bear a relationship to the person or entity paying the fee.
In 1993, the City and County of San Francisco became the first agency in California to
implement a cost recovery fee for emergency 911 service provision. Initially, their fee was
enacted to recover capital costs incurred to construct a new emergency communications
system and facility. Subsequent amendments allowed for the recovery of operational costs
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(except personnel costs) and made the fee permanent. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, the
County of Santa Cruz, and the cities of Santa Cruz, Union City and Watsonville have
adopted the fee, though initiative petitions will be placed on the November 2004 ballot to
accept or reject the,fee in Santa Cruz County and Watsonville. Several other Bay Area
cities, including San Jose, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Vallejo and Mountain View, are currently
in the process of implementing a fee. The monthly land line fee imposed by these
jurisdictions ranges from $1.47 to $3.49 per month. Locally, the City of Indio is considering
imposing a 911 Emergency Communication System Response Fee. Although the City has
not determined the exact fee amount, it is estimated that the fee will be around $3.00 per
land line subscriber per month.
Proposed Fee Structure
Staff is recommending that a flat monthly fee of$1.06 be assessed on every land-based
non-exempt telephone line with a Palm Springs billing address. The actual fee amount,
which will be established by separate resolution, was derived by determining the total
number of access and trunk lines in the City. The estimated number of exempt lines is
then subtracted from the total number of lines to determine the number of eligible lines that
will be assessed the fee. This figure is then divided by the total number of eligible lines to
determine the fee. Attachment A details the cost calculations that were used in
determining the proposed fee.
The proposed fee is based on a single access land line. Multiple access lines known as
"trunk lines," "super-trunk lines" and/or"hi-capacity lines" will be assessed at a higher rate.
Based on information received from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC),
trunk lines carry between 5-10 single access lines, or an average of 7.5. Accordingly,
these bundled lines would be charged a monthly fee 7.5 times that of a single access line.
This averaged factor is consistent with the number used by other jurisdictions who have
implemented or will be implementing the fee. Information provided by telecom providers
suggests that hi-capacity and super-trunk line consist of at least 18 separate trunk lines.
Accordingly, these bundled lines would be charged a monthly fee 135 times that of a
single access line, or 18 times 7.5. This proportionality approach is consistent with the fee
structure of the City and County of San Francisco and other cities throughout the state.
At this time, staff is only recommending that land lines be assessed the fee, because they
are the only lines that connect directly to the 911 Emergency Communications Center. It
is expected that the State will redirect cellular 911 calls from the California Highway Patrol
to the City's 911 Emergency Communications Center in the next several years. When that
occurs, the City Council can decide whether to impose the 911 Emergency
Communication System Response Fee on cell phones subscribers. If the fee is imposed
on cell phone subscribers, staff believes that the fee per land line customer will be
reduced.
Proposed Fee Exemptions and Exempt Costs
Though there is no legal requirement that mandates exemptions from governmental fees
for certain telephone service subscribers, it is recommended that the following exemptions
be granted from the fee: Universal Lifeline service customers, payphones, non-profit tax-
exempt hospitals, and non-profit tax-exempt schools. Government agencies would be
exempt as well. For Lifeline customers, who are exempt from the State 911 surcharge,
granting an exemption would be in line with the rationale for establishing the lifeline
service, e.g., providing discounted rates to low income and elderly customers to ensure
phone access during emergencies.
Based on information obtained from Verizon, it is estimated that 15% of all phone lines in
the City would be exempt from the fee. Granting exemptions to these groups would reduce
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annual fee revenue by approximately $164,431. To the extent the Council wishes to add or
delete exemptions, the per access line charge would not be impacted. Rather, the amount
of fee revenue received would decrease or increase accordingly.
While such exemptions would be appropriate public policy, and consistent with the
approach taken by other jurisdictions, it should be noted that the City must absorb the
proportionate share of operating costs devoted to exempt users. In other words, the fee
cannot be increased for non-exempt users to replace the revenue lost by granting
exemptions to certain groups. This provision would be incorporated into the fee ordinance.
Proposed Fee Cap
To the extent there are businesses in Palm Springs that have multiple hi-capacity lines,
the potential exists for those companies to incur substantial annual fee costs over and
above their proportional use of the 911 system. Therefore, it is recommended that an
annual fee cap be implemented and set at $10,000 per individual subscriber on a "per
account, per location" basis. The number of super-trunk lines in the City is unknown at this
time so staff can not estimate the number of accounts that could be impacted.
A complicating factor is that the phone company may not be able to administer a cap due
to billing system limitations. If a cap is imposed, City staff would likely have to administer it
through a rebate program or some other means. Staff will continue to work with the phone
service company to clarify this issue so that it can be incorporated into the ordinance.
Calculation of Eligible Costs for Recovery
Article XI, section 7 of the California Constitution enables local governments to recoup the
"full" cost of providing a facility or service, including indirect costs. The City's 911
Emergency Communications Center handles all 911 calls for emergency police, fire, and
medical services for the City of Palm Springs at an annual direct program cost of$1.2
million. The dispatchers provide a vital link between the caller and public safety personnel
in the field. As the Communication Center provides services directly to the community, the
cost of such service is eligible for cost recovery through imposition of the 911 Emergency
Communication System Response Fee.
As staff gathered information from other jurisdictions implementing the fee, it became
apparent that each agency has different cost recovery needs. Some cities are seeking to
recover operational costs, including maintenance, personnel, training and equipment
replacement expenses; some are seeking to recoup capital costs associated with
constructing new communications facilities. Some cities are seeking to recover both
capital and operating costs. It follows that different methodologies are being employed to
calculate costs eligible for recovery, as well as the percentage of costs that will be
recovered.
While it has been the City's past policy and practice to set fees at a level that obtains full
cost recovery, including indirect costs, staff is recommending that the proposed fee be set
at 75% of the total emergency communications center costs. The reason for setting this
fee at less than full cost recovery is to avoid potential disputes that might arise over what
is an allowable expense and how costs are calculated.
Other Recommended Items/Points of Consideration
According to the City's telephone service company, the number of access lines fluctuates,
sometimes substantially, on a regular basis. This would necessitate periodic review to
ensure the proper number is being used. Regular review would also be undertaken to
calculate eligible recovery costs. It is recommended that this review be conducted annually
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and provision be made to include the proposed fee in the Master Fee Schedule to better
facilitate the periodic review process.
There has been some opposition to the implementation of this type of fee throughout the
state, mainly from the wireless industry and several tax advocacy groups. These groups
claim that the proposed fee is nothing more than a "blatant attempt to raise taxes by
circumventing the California Constitution." Moreover, they argue that under state law, 911
is an emergency communications system, not an emergency response program. Recently,
a number of wireless companies filed suit against the City of Union City over their 911 fee.
These companies argue that the proposed 911 Emergency Communications Response
Fee violates the State Constitution and is an illegal tax. This lawsuit has not yet been
heard so its impact, if any, on the City's proposed ordinance are unknown. The City
Attorney's Office has prepared a separate legal analysis on the validity of the proposed fee
and the potential implications of the lawsuit that has been filed against Union City
(Attachment B).
Landline telecom service providers initially argued that the fee would put them at a
competitive disadvantage if cellular phones were not included in fee calculations. More
recently, providers have argued that the fee is a tax subject to the voter approval
requirements of Proposition 218. The City Attorney believes that the fee meets all the
requirements of a "user fee" as allowed under applicable State law. The larger providers
have also argued that cities are unlikely to pursue fee enactment with the various smaller
companies that provide telecom services. Should Council adopt the fee, all telecom
providers with customers in Palm Springs will be required to collect and remit the fee.
Fiscal Impact
It is estimated that there are approximately 86,180 land lines in the City of Palm Springs.
Assuming that this number is correct, and taking into account the number of possible
exemptions, a proposed fee of$1.06 per subscriber line per month will generate
approximately $927,859 annually.
Implementation
Based on the lesson learned from other cities that have implemented a similar fee, staff
estimates that it will take three to four months after adoption of the ordinance and
resolution implementing the fee before the fee begins appearing on monthly billing
statements. Accordingly, staff believes that revenues from this fee may not be realized
until February 2005.
APPROVED
Acting C I ager
Attachments:
1. 911 Emergency Communication System Response Fee Calculations
2. Memorandum from City Attorney— Legal Aspects of the Proposed 911 Fee
3. Draft Ordinance Establishing a 911 Emergency Communication System Response Fee
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Attachment A
911 Emergency Communications Systems Voter Approval None
Response Fee
Approved by City Council
The City Council has the authority to establish by ordinance a 911 Emergency Communication Systems
Response Fee. This fee, which is imposed on all telephone lines in service within the jurisdictional boundaries
of the City, can be used to maintain and operate a 911 communications center or to fund various special
project costs including mobile communications systems;backup facilites for 911 communciations;
technological improvements to existing 911 facilities;and infrastructure equipment to ensure reliability and
interoperability with neighboring agencies.
DISPATCH CENTER COST
CATEGORY FY 03.04 Budget
Personnel $1,157,503
Materials and Supplies $26,753
Special Charges $52,889
TOTAL BUDGET $1,237,145
75% Budget $927,859
80% Budget $989,716
Single Access Lines
Verizon reports that there are 86,180 single access lines within the City of
Palm Springs. If you exempt life-line customers, government agencies,
coin-operated telephones, non-profit hospitals,and educational facilties
from the fee,the revised total of single access lines is estimated at
73,253.
Monthly 911 Emergency Communication Systems Response Fee
(Costs/Single Access Lines/12 Months)
All Single Access Lines Less Exemptions
75% BUDGET $927,859 $0.90 per month $1.06 per month
80% BUDGET $989,716 $Os96._ per month $L13i per month
Single Access Lines 86,180
less exempted lines 73,253
RECOMMENDED MONTHLY FEE
$1.06 per month per access line
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ORDINANCE NO
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS ADDING CHAPTER 3.39
TO THE PALM SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO 911
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM RESPONSE FEE
The City Council of the City of Palm Springs, California does hereby find and ordain as
follows:
Section 1. Recitals
WHEREAS, in order to improve the performance and ensure the continued enhanced
performance of the City's 911 Communications Center system, the City must impose a
fee for such enhanced performance.
WHEREAS, the City's 911 Communication System (herein"911 Communication
System) provides immediate access to emergency services for telephone subscribers.
Subscribers to telephone service derive significant benefit from the operation of the
integrated system installed at the Emergency Communications Center at 200 S. Civic
Drive, in the City of Palm Springs. Telephone subscribers will benefit from upgrading
and then maintaining the improved 911 Communication System so it operates at a state of
the art level and will further benefit from providing a backup 911 Communication
System and facility that can be immediately available and operational in the event of a
failure. The costs associated with upgrading and thereafter operating and maintaining the
911 Communication System and facility and backup 911 Commrinnieation System and
facility should be allocated arnong all telephone subscribers because telephone
subscribers will reap these significant benefits.
WHEREAS, the 911 Corn munications System is currently staffed by fourteen (14)
dispatchers and two (2) supervisors. The dispatchers are the front line to public safety and
receive the first call for emergency service. Due to increased population and service
many times dispatchers must place emergency calls on hold to handle radio and
telephone traffic. This in turn causes delays in emergency response and service to the
community. This Emergency Response Fee will also be used to fund new dispatchers
and call-taker positions.
WHEREAS, the purpose of this ordinance is to require subscribers to telephone service in
the City of Palm Springs to pay a service or user fee that is directly related to the benefit
subscribers derive from the improvements to and operation of the upgraded and improved
911 Communication Systems that will be financed by those fee revenues. The Emergency
Response Fee is the most practical and equitable revenue mechanism to finance the
acquisition and construction of land, equipment, software, and facilities that are needed to
provide au adequate and reliable emergency communication system and to operate that
emergency communication systern. The fee is intended to recover all costs related to the
benefits the 911 Communication Systems will provide to non-exempt telephone
Draft Ordinance Version L I
subscribers. The fees imposed by the provisions of this ordinance shall not exceed the
reasonable cost of providing the services described.
WHEREAS, the provisions of this ordinance are not enacted for regulatory purposes or
for general revenue purposes. This fee is not designed nor intended to recover the
expense of capture, detention and prosecution of persons charged with crimes. The fee
imposed by the provisions of this ordinance does not serve the sane purpose as any
Utility User Tax currently in effect in the City of Palm Springs. The funds for the Utility
User Tax are deposited into the City's General Fund and are utilized for general
govennmental purposes, whereas fees collected under this ordinance are used only for the
specific purposes described herein.
WHEREAS, this is not a property-based fee, nor is it an increased tax, but instead is a fee
based on use of a specific service.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Palm Springs, California, does
ordain as follows:
Section 2. The City Council of the City of Palm Springs finds that the above recitals
are true and correct.
Section 3. Chapter 3 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code is hereby amended to add a
new Section 3.39 to read in its entirety as follows:
"EMERGENCY RESPONSE FEE:
Sections:
3.39.010 Title/Purpose.
3.39.020 Definitions.
3.39.030 Findings.
3.39.040 Imposition of Emergency Response Fee.
3.39.050 Exemptions.
3.39.060 Annual Report.
3.39.070 Collection of Fee.
3.39.080 Emergency Cormmunications 911 Emergency Response Fund.
3.39.090 Liability for Fee.
3.39.100 Registration, Reporting and Remitting.
3.39.110 Interest and Penalties.
3.39.120 Failure to Collect and Report Fee; Determination of Fee by
Finance Director.
3.39.130 Refunds.
3.39.140 Failure to Pay Fee; Administrative Remedy
3.39.150 Administrative Agreements.
3.39.160 California Public Utilities Commission Jurisdiction.
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3.39.010 Title/Purpose
A. In order to ensure and improve the performance of the City's 911
communication system, the City must impose a fee. This Chapter shall be known as
the "Emergency Response Fee Ordinance" and the fee imposed herein shall be known as
the "Emergency Response Fee."
B. The purpose of this Chapter is to require subscribers to telephone service
in the City to pay a fee which is directly related to the benefit subscribers derive from the
improvements to and operation of the 911 communication system that will be financed by
fee revenues.
C. The emergency response fee is the most practical and equitable revenue
mechanism to finance the acquisition and construction of land, equipment, software, and
facilities which are needed to provide an adequate and reliable 911 communication
system under a single uriifonrr management structure and to operate that 911
communication system. The fee is intended to recover all costs related to the benefits the
911 system will provide to nonexempt telephone subscribers.
D. The fee imposed by the provisions of this Chapter is intended solely to
provide revenue for eligible project costs and eligible operating costs, as defined in this
Chapter. Fee revenues shall be deposited by the Finance Director in the 911 Emergency
Response Fund established pursuant to Section .090 of the Pahn Springs Municipal
Code. The provisions of this Chapter are not enacted for regulatory purposes or for
general revenue purposes.
3.39.020 Definitions.
Except where the context or particular provisions require otherwise, the following
definitions shall govern the construction of this Chapter.
A. "911 communication system" means an enhanced emergency telephone
service which automatically connects a person dialing the digits 9- 1 - 1 to an answering
point established within the City and shall incorporate all aspects of the call delivery
system, the call processing system and the call dispatch system, including„ but not
limited to, selective routing, automatic number identification(ANI), automatic location
and identification (ALI), Computer aided Dispatching Systems (CAD), and Automatic
Vehicle Locater Systems (AVL).
B. "911 Emergency Communications Center"means a communications
facility that is assigned the responsibility to receive 911 calls originating in a given area
and, as appropriate, to dispatch public safety services or to extend, transfer, or relay
911 calls to appropriate public safety agencies. Within the meaning of this Chapter, and
without limitation, 911 Emergency Conn mutations Center shall mean the City of Palm
Springs 911 Emergency Communications Center located at 200 S Civic Drive.
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C. "Access Line"means any connection from a customer location within the
City to a provider of local telephone service offered to the public for compensation.
Within the meaning of this Chapter, and without limitation, access lines include
connections providing residential basic exchange service,business basic exchange
service, PBX service(private branch exchange), foreign exchange service and Centrex
service.
D. "Eligible operating costs"means the portion of operating costs reflecting
the benefit estimated to be provided by the operation of the 911 communications system
to telephone subscribers who are required to pay the fee imposed by the provisions of this
Chapter on access lines and trunk lines subject to the fee. Eligible operating costs shall
not include exempt operating costs.
E. "Exempt operating costs" means the portion of operating costs reflecting
the benefits estimated to be provided by operation of the 911 communication system to
telephone subscribers who are exempted from the fee by Section .050 or are
otherwise not required to pay any fee unposed by the provisions of this Chapter.
F. `Eligible project costs"means the portion of project costs reflecting the
benefit estimated to be provided by the project to telephone subscribers who are required
to pay the fee imposed by the provisions of this Chapter on access lines and trunk lines
subject to the fee. Eligible project costs shall not include exempt project costs.
G. "Exempt project costs"means the portion of project costs reflecting the
benefits estimated to be provided by the project to telephone subscribers who are
exempted from the fee by Section .050 of this Chapter or are otherwise not required
to pay any fee imposed by the provisions of this Chapter.
H. "Fee"means the Emergency Response Fee imposed under the provisions
of this Chapter.
I. "Lifeline service"means discounted telephone service available to eligible
low-income residential customers.
J. "Local telephone service"means access to a local telephone system,
providing two-way telephonic quality communication with substantially all persons
having telephone or radio telephone stations constituting a part of the local telephone
system, whether or not the service uses transmission wires. "Local telephone service"
shall not include land mobile services or maritime mobile services as defined in Section
2.1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as this Section existed on January 1,
1970. Notwithstanding this exclusion, "local telephone service" shall include wireless
telephone services to the extent that the 911 Emergency Cormnuuications Center
implements and maintains a primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) by which 9-
1-1 calls from wireless telephones are geographically routed to the 911 Emergency
Communications Center for handing.
Draft Ordinance Version 1.1
K. "Operating costs" means any costs to operate, repair or maintain the 911
communication system or baclaip 911 cormnmication system, including but not limited
to costs for personnel, planning, training, software and hardware maintenance and
upgrades, facility maintenance and repair, depreciation equipment replacement, technical
infrastructure, attorneys fees, and direct and indirect costs.
L. "Project costs"means any costs of acquiring, re-financing and developing
land on which to locate a 911 communication system facility or backup 911
communication system facility, acquiring and installing computerized call delivery
processing and dispatch equipment and software, and/or any other acquisition or
construction necessary to house 911 communication system equipment and staff in a
seismically safe and fireproof facility or baclwp facility, including any debt service
payments related thereto.
M. "Service location"means the premises of a telephone subscriber at which
a working service point or primary station set provides the subscriber with basic
exchange service and to which extension services are charged.
N. "Service supplier"means any person supplying local telephone service,
pursuant to authority granted by the California Public Utilities Commission, to any
telephone subscriber at a location within the City of Palm Springs. Service suppliers may
include, without limitation, local exchange carriers, interexchange carriers, competitive
access providers, cable television providers offering telecoinni nications services, and
any other entity offering direct comlections between their premises and the premises of
telephone subscribers.
O. "Telephone corporation" shall have the same meaning as defined in
Section 234 of the Public Utilities Code of the State of California or the most comparable
successor definition.
P. "Telephone subscriber"means any person required to pay a fee imposed
under the provisions of this Chapter.
Q. "Trunk Line"means a line between a service supplier's switching device
and a private branch exchange, automatic call distributing system, or other similar device,
at a telephone subscriber location.
3.39.030 Findings.
A. The 911 cormmunication system provides immediate access to emergency
services for telephone subscribers. Subscribers to telephone service derive significant
benefit from ongoing operation of the modernized integrated system. This
improved 911 communication system has enhanced call delivery, call processing and call
dispatch and has provided for more speedy and reliable emergency services. Telephone
subscribers will benefit from maintaining and upgrading the improved 911
communication system so it continues to operate at a state of the art level and will further
Draft Ordinance aWrszionl..
benefit from providing a backup 911 communication system and facility that can be
immediately available and operational in the event of a failure at the Palm Springs
Emergency Communications Center. A portion of the costs associated with
operating, maintaining and upgrading the 911 communications system and facility and
backup 911 communications system and facility should be allocated among all telephone
subscribers because telephone subscribers will reap this significant benefit.
B. Every telephone access line can provide independent access to the 911
communication system. Therefore, allocating operating costs on a per line basis fairly
distributes these costs according to the benefit telephone subscribers derive from
availability of a modernized 911 communication system.
C. The concentration of a large number of access lines in a single location
diminishes the marginal benefit of improved access provided by each additional access
line; therefore, it is appropriate to place a cap on the number of access lines per account
per service location on which the fee is charged.
D. Subscribers who maintain trunk lines derive more benefit, in terns of
access to emergency communication service, from each telephone line than other
subscribers and should pay a higher fee. Based on information from the California Public
Utilities Commission and the Federal Conununications Commission, the City Council
now finds that, on average, a trunk line provides 7.5 times more access to the 911
communication system than does a single access line.
3.39.040 Imposition of Emergency Response Fee.
A. There is hereby imposed an emergency response fee on every person who
maintains access to the 911 con nianication system by subscribing to local telephone
service within the City of Palm Springs. For purposes of this Chapter, with respect to
mobile telecommunications services, a person shall be construed to subscribe to local
telephone service within the City of Palm Springs if he or she has a"place of primary
use", as such teen is defined in the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, 4 U.S.C. §
124(8), within the geographic boundaries of the City.
B. The amount of the fee imposed by this Section shall be established by City
Council Resolution and shall be paid, on a per-line basis, by the person paying for such
local telephone service; however, no telephone subscriber shall be required to pay fees in
excess of$10,000 per account per service location in any calendar year. The cost of
wireless telecommunications services shall not be considered for purposes of this
subsection B. The amount of the cap established by this subsection shall be adjusted
annually by the Consumer Price Index: All Urban Consumers for the Los Angeles,
Anaheim, and Riverside Area for All Items as reported by the United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
C. Only one payment of the fee herein imposed shall be required for any
access or trunk line, notwithstanding that access lines of more than one person are used in
Draft Ordinance Versaon .
furnishing local telephone service to a telephone subscriber.
D. Revenues generated by the emergency response fee shall be deposited in
the 911 emergency response fund established pursuant to Section_.090.
3.39.050 Exemptions
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as imposing a fee upon the access lines
of:
A. A lifeline customer of a service supplier; or
B. A telephone corporation; or
C. Coin-operated telephones; or
D. A nonprofit hospital which is exempt from federal income tax under
Section 501(a) of the United States Code; or
E. A nonprofit educational organization which is exempt fi-om income tax
under Section 501(a) of the United States Code; or
F. Any person when imposition of such fee upon that person would violate
the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of California, or
preemptive federal or State law.
3.39.060 Annual Report.
A. No later than October 1 of each year, the Finance Director shall estimate
the percentage of access lines that were subject to payment of the emergency response fee
during the immediately prior fiscal year. This percentage shall be identified as the
percentage of project costs and operating costs that are eligible project costs and eligible
operating costs for the following fiscal year. The Finance Director's report shall also
identify the adjusted amount of the fee cap established by subsection B. of Section
3.39.040 that will apply in the following calendar year.
B. No later than October 1 in each odd numbered year, the Finance Director
will evaluate information from industry sources, regulatory bodies and City experience
to determine whether the fee rates for trunk lines continue to reasonably reflect the
increased estimated access to the 911 communication system provided to trunk line
subscribers relative to access line subscribers.
3.39.070 Collection of Fee.
A. The fee imposed by this Chapter shall be collected from the telephone
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subscriber by the service supplier. Service suppliers shall hold fee revenues in trust for
the City and shall remit the fee revenues collected to the City Finance Department on a
monthly basis on or before the last day of the following month.
B. The fee required to be collected by service suppliers under this Chapter
shall be added to and stated separately as the City of Palm Springs Emergency Response
Fee in the service supplier's billings to telephone subscribers.
C. If the amormt paid by a telephone subscriber is less than the full arnount of
the charges for service and the emergency response fee which have accrued for the billing
period, a proportionate share of both the charges for service and the fee shall be deemed
to have been paid.
D. The duty to collect the fee from a telephone subscriber shall commence
with bills issued on or after the effective date of this Chapter.
E. The service supplier, at its option, may assess a service charge of up to
one-eighth (1/8) of one percent (1%) of Emergency Response Fees actually collected by
the service supplier and remitted to the City. The service charge may be deducted from
the Emergency Response Fees remitted to the City at the time of remission.
3.39.080 Emergency Communications 911 Emergency Response Fund.
A. Establishment of Fund. The Emergency Communications 911 Emergency
Response Fund is hereby established to receive all monies collected pursuant to this
Chapter, and any other monies transferred into the fiord.
B. Use of Fund. The fund shall be used solely for the following purposes:
1. For the payment of costs of acquiring, re-financing and developing land on
which to locate a 911 communication system facility or backup 911 communication
system facility, acquiring and installing computerized call delivery processing and
dispatch equipment and software, and/or any other acquisition or construction necessary
to house 911 communication system equipment and staff in a seismically safe and
fireproof facility or backup facility, including any debt service payments related thereto;
2. For the payment of operating, repair and maintenance expenses for
the 911 communication system and backup 911 communication system, including but
not limited to costs for persomiel, platming, training, software and hardware maintenance
and upgrades, facility maintenance and repair, depreciation, equipment replacement,
technical infrastructure, attorneys fees and direct and indirect overhead costs;
C. Administration of Fund. Expenditures from the fund shall be made upon
the recommendation of the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief. Expenditures and
encumbrances from this fund shall be subject to the budget and fiscal provisions of the
City. C
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Draft Ordinance Version 1.1
3.39,090 Liability for Fee.
A. Any fee required to be paid by a telephone subscriber under the provisions
of this Chapter shall be deemed a debt owed by the telephone subscriber to the City
until it has been paid to the City, except that payment to a service supplier is sufficient
to relieve the subscriber from further liability for the fee.
B. Any fee required to be collected under the provisions of this Chapter shall
be deemed a debt owed to the City of Palm Springs by the person required to collect and
remit such fee.
C. Nothing in this Section shall impose any duty on a service supplier to take
any legal action to enforce the collection of the fee hereinabove imposed. However,
whenever a service supplier remits funds collected as an emergency response fee to the
City, the service supplier shall also provide the City with the name and address of
any telephone subscriber refusing or failing to pay the fee for a period of four or more
billing periods and shall state the amount of such fee remaining unpaid. The Finance
Director shall notify the telephone subscriber that the Finance Director has assumed
responsibility to collect the fees due for the stated periods and demand payment of such
fees.
D. Any person owing money to the City under the provisions of this
Chapter shall be liable in an action brought in the name of the City for the recovery of
such amount.
3.39.100 Registration, Reporting and Remitting.
A. Each service supplier providing local telephone service to telephone
subscribers within the City shall register with the Finance Director upon a form
prescribed by the Finance Director and shall set forth the name under which the service
supplier transacts or intends to transact business, and such other information as the
Finance Director may require.
B. Each service supplier shall, on or before the last day of each month, make
a return to the Finance Director, on forms provided by the Finance Director, stating the
amount of fees collected by the service supplier during the preceding month. At the time
the return is filed, the full amount of the fee collected shall be remitted to the Finance
Director. The Finance Director may require further readily attainable information in the
return. Returns and remittances are due irmnediately upon cessation of business for any
reason.
3.39.110 Interest and Penalties.
A. Fees required to be collected from a telephone subscriber which are not
remitted to the Finance Director on or before the due date provided in this Chapter
are delinquent. C;�
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B. Service Suppliers. Interest and penalties for delinquency in remittance of
any fee not remitted shall be assessed as follows:
1. Any service supplier who fails to remit any fee imposed by this
Chapter within 10 days after receipt of written notice from the Finance Director of
such failure shall pay a penalty of 10 percent (10%) of the amount of the fee.
2. If the Finance Director determines that the nonpayment of
any remittance due hereunder is due to fraud, a penalty of 100 percent(100%) of the
amount of the fee shall he added thereto in addition to the penalty stated in paragraph 1 of
this subsection.
3. In addition to the penalties imposed in this subsection B, any
service supplier who fails to remit any fee imposed by this Chapter, shall pay interest on
the amount of the fee, exclusive of penalties, from the date on which the remittance first
became delinquent until paid. Interest shall be paid at the rate of one percent per month,
or fraction thereof.
C. Telephone Subscribers. Failure by a telephone subscriber to pay any fee
herein imposed shall result in the following interest and penalties on the telephone
subscriber:
1. Any telephone subscriber who fails to pay any fee imposed by this
Chapter within 120 days of the date of the receipt of notice of the amount of fee due from
the service supplier shall pay a penalty of 10 percent (10%) of the amount of the fee.
2. Any telephone subscriber who fails to pay any delinquent
remittance within ISO days after the date of the receipt of notice of the amount of fee
due from the service supplier shall pay a second delinquency penalty of 10 percent
(10%) of the amount of the fee in addition to the ten percent penalty first imposed.
3. In addition to the penalties imposed in this subsection C arry
telephone subscriber who fails to pay any fee unposed by this Chapter, shall pay interest
on the amount of the fee, exclusive of penalties, fi-om the date on which the fee first
became delinquent until paid plus an additional collection charge for each delinquent
account in an amount to be determined by riles and regulations of the Finance Director.
The Finance Director shall establish collection charges which reimburse the costs
incurred by the City for collecting delinquent fees. Interest shall be paid at the rate of one
percent per month, or fraction thereof.
4. The penalties, interest and collection charges imposed in this
subsection C shall not be collected by the service supplier, but shall be determined and
collected by the City as set forth hereinafter.
D. Every penalty imposed and such interest as accrues wider the provisions
of this Section shall become a part of the fee herein required to be paid. 96616
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3.39.120 Failure to Collect and Report Fee; Determination of Fee by
Finance Director.
If any service supplier shall fail or refuse to collect any fee imposed by this
Chapter and to make, within the time provided in this Chapter, any report and remittance
of said fee or any portion thereof required by this Chapter, the Finance Director shall
proceed in such manner as the Finance Director deems best to obtain facts and
infonmation on which to base an estimate of the fee due. As soon as the Finance Director
is able to procure facts and information upon which to base the assessment of any fee
imposed by this Chapter and payable by any service supplier who has failed or refused to
collect the saine and to make such report and remittance, the Finance Director shall
proceed to determine and assess against such service supplier the fee, interest and
penalties provided by this Chapter. In case such determination is made, the Finance
Director shall give a notice of the amount so assessed by serving it personally or by
depositing it in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the service supplier
at its last known place of business. The service supplier may wiflrin 10 days after the
serving or mailing of such notice make application in writing to the Finance Director for
a hearing on the amount assessed. If application by the service supplier for a hearing is
not made within the time prescribed, the fee, interest and penalties, if any, determined by
the Finance Director shall become final and conclusive and immediately due and payable.
If such application is made, the Finance Director shall give not less than five days'
written notice in the manner prescribed herein to the service supplier to show cause at a
time and place fixed in the notice why the amount specified therein should not be fixed
for such fee, interest and penalties. At the hearing, the service supplier may appear and
offer evidence why the specified fee, interest and penalties should not be so fixed. After
the hearing, the Finance Director shall determine the proper fee to be remitted and shall
thereafter give written notice to the service supplier in the manner prescribed herein of
the determination and the amount of the fee, interest and penalties. The amount
determined to be due shall be payable after 15 days unless an appeal is taken as provided
hereinafter. The decision of the Finance Director shall be final.
3.39130 Refunds.
A. A service supplier may claim a refund or claim a credit against fees to be
collected and remitted of the amount overpaid or paid more than once, or erroneously or
illegally collected or received by filing a claim in accordance with Chapter_of the
Palm Springs Municipal Code; provided, however, that neither a refund or a credit shall
be allowed unless the amount of the fee so collected has either been refunded to the
person entitled thereto or credited to the charges subsequently payable by such person to
the service supplier.
B. A telephone subscriber may obtain a refund of fees overpaid or paid more
than once or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City by filing a claim in
accordance with Chapter of the Palm Springs Municipal Code, but only when the
fee was paid by the telephone subscriber directly to the Finance Director, or when the
telephone subscriber, having paid the fee to the service supplier, establishes to the
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satisfaction of the Finance Director that the telephone subscriber has been unable to
obtain a refund from the service supplier who collected the fee. The City shall be solely
responsible for administering refund claims arising out of the fact that the telephone
subscriber, pursuant to Section 3.39.040(B), has paid in excess of$10,000 in Emergency
Response Fees during a single calendar year.
3.39.140 Failure to Pay Fee; Administrative Remedy.
Whenever the Finance Director determines that a telephone subscriber has
deliberately withheld the amount of the fee owed by him for the amounts remitted to a
set vice supplier or that a telephone subscriber has failed to pay the amount of the fee for
a period of four or more billing periods, or whenever the Finance Director deems it in the
best interest of the City, the Director shall relieve the service supplier of the obligation to
collect fees due under this Chapter from certain named service users for specified billing
periods. The Finance Director shall notify the telephone subscriber that the Finance
Director has assumed responsibility to collect the fees due for the stated periods and
demand payment of such fees. The notice shall be served on the telephone subscriber
personally or by United States mail,postage prepaid thereon, addressed to the telephone
subscriber at the address to which billing was made by the service supplier, or, should the
telephone subscriber have changed address, to the subscriber's last known address. If a
telephone subscriber fails to remit the fee to the Finance Director within 15 days from the
date of the service of the notice, which shall be the date of mailing if service is not
accomplished in person, a penalty of 100 percent (100%) of the amount of the fee set
forth in the notice, but not less than$5, shall be imposed. The penalty shall become a part
of the fee herein required to be paid. Such penalty shall be in addition to any other
penalty imposed by this Chapter.
3.39.150 Administrative Agreements.
The Finance Director may make administrative agreements with service suppliers
to vary the strict requirements of this Chapter so that collection of any fee imposed herein
may be made in conformance with the billing procedures of a particular service supplier
so long as the overall result of said agreements results in collection of the fee in
conformance with the general purpose and scope of this Chapter. A copy of each
agreement shall be on file and available for public examination in the Finance Director's.
3.39.160 California Public Utilities Commission Jurisdiction.
Nothing contained in this Chapter is intended to conflict with applicable rules,
regulations and tariffs of any service supplier subject to the jurisdiction of the California
Public Utilities Commission. In the event of any conflict, the provisions of those rules,
regulations and tariffs shall control.
Section 4. Severability. It is the intention of the City Council that the sections,
subsections, clauses and phrases of this Ordinance are severable, and if any portion of
this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of
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competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or the remainder of the
Ordinance, and the City Council would have enacted such remainder without the portion
found to be invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 5. Legal Construction. The provisions of this Ordinance shall be construed as
necessary to effectively carry out its purposes, which are hereby found and declared to be
in furtherance of the public health, safety and convenience.
Section 6. Publication. The City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs shall certify to the
passage and adoption of this Ordinance, and shall cause the same to be posted and
published in the man tier and the time required by law.
ADOPTED this 21s` day of July, 2004
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
ATTEST: CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
City Clerk Mayor
Reviewed and Approved as to Form:
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