STARKVILLE — A year ago, the Mississippi Civil Defense Emergency Managers Association, which represents emergency management operations in all 82 of the state’s counties, pushed Senate Bill 2577, also known as “Operation Quarter Back,” which would have returned an additional 25 cents of the $1 fee charged on 911 calls made by cell phones to counties to operate its E911 systems.
The bill never made it out of committee.
In January, MCDEMA will again be returning to the legislature.
“This time, we’re going for the whole thing,” MCDEMA President Bob Wedgeworth said.
Wedgeworth met with area emergency management officials and administrators Wednesday at the Golden Triangle Planning and Development Partnership offices in Starkville.
It was the third of five regional meetings Wedgeworth has held to inform MCDEMA members of the group’s legislative agenda.
Not only will the MCDEMA-backed bill recover as much of the $1 fee as possible — 96 cents on the dollar — it will also seek to return to the counties the $37 million in cost-recovery fees currently held in a tax-bearing account, money that is ear-marked for cell phone carriers to cover their costs making sure their equipment is E911 compatible.
Emergency management officials say it is critical to recover as much of the fee as possible. The advent of cellphones had meant the reduction of land lines, which has hit counties hard. Of the $1 fee on land lines, 98 cents was returned to the county to fund E911 operations.
For a decade now, emergency management officials says the fees collected do not cover the cost of E911 operations, which have had to add equipment to comply with federally-mandated requirements to accommodate the use of cell phones in emergency situations.
“In Lowndes County, the county and city have been supplementing E911 for $250,000 each year,” said Lowndes County Administrator Ralph Billingsley. “I’ve been with the county for eight years and it’s been like that since I arrived.”
Oktibbeha County has also had to provide $250,000 annual to maintain its E911 operations. Clay County provides $200,000 per year in supplements for its E911 operations.
Currently, state law requires that just 69 cents of the $1 fee be returned to the county for those with continuing service. For prepaid cellphones, just 65 cents on the dollar is required to be returned.
Most of the remainder of the money goes into the cost-recovery fund. By now, most cellphone providers have recovered the costs associated with E911 enhancements and because carriers must meet guidelines to dip into that $37 million pool, claims on the money have fallen off.
“It’s money that’s just sitting there,” Wedgeworth said. “Meanwhile, every county is the state is using taxpayer money just to keep their E911 operations going.”
Wedgeworth said the key to succeeding with the legislature is educating people on how the fees are dispersed.
“If you ask the average person how much he pays for E911, he would probably tell you a dollar because that’s what it says on his bill,” he said. “That’s not what happens, though.”
Melissa Bryant, E911 director for Rankin County, said that while many states do withhold funds for cost-recover for carriers, Mississippi’s rate is far higher than the norm.
“In most states, it’s in the 5-cent range,” she said. “Here it’s almost a third.”
Wedgeworth urged the group to take an active role in pushing the new bill, which will be presented to the legislature when it convenes in January.
He said MCDEMA will also ask for a resolution supporting the bill from each of the state’s 82 counties when the Mississippi Association of Supervisors meets in January.
Billingsley said the real losers aren’t the E911 employees.
“We have to remember that when the county and city has to pay $250,000 every year to keep our E911 system going, that’s money that’s coming out of the taxpayers’ pocket,” he said.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
