What's happening
This bill requires counties with cities over 125,000 people to allocate wireless surcharge funds to those cities, based on their share of 911 calls.
Why it matters
Ensures that large cities within a county receive a fair share of wireless surcharge funds based on their share of 911 calls, which could lead to more reliable and better-funded emergency response systems in those cities.
Addresses potential funding imbalances by requiring counties to allocate resources proportionally, preventing county governments from retaining most surcharge funds at the expense of high-volume city 911 operations.
May encourage cities and counties to improve their 911 call tracking and reporting systems, as the funding each receives will directly depend on accurate accounting of call volumes.
Could set a precedent for how other state or local funds tied to public safety are distributed, potentially prompting similar reforms in other areas where city-county funding conflicts exist.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Share 911 Fees With Cities
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the allocation of the funds from wireless communications surcharges imposed by a county containing a city having a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more persons
In Assembly Committee · Local Governments · Sponsor Nader Sayegh
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4589
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 15, 2019
Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the allocation of the funds from wireless communications surcharges imposed by a county containing a city having a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more persons
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 186-g of the tax law, as added by section 3 of part EEE of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
9. (a) All surcharge monies remitted to the commissioner under this section shall be expended only upon authorization of the legislative body of a city or county that imposes the surcharges pursuant to the authority of subdivision two of this section, and only for payment of system costs, eligible wireless 911 service costs, or other costs associated with the administration, design, installation, construction, operation, or maintenance of public safety communications networks or a system to provide enhanced wireless 911 service serving such city or county, including, but not limited to, hardware, software, consultants, financing and other acquisition costs. Such city or county shall separately account for and keep adequate books and records of the amount and object or purpose of all expenditures of all such monies. If, at the end of any fiscal year, the total amount of all such monies exceeds the amount necessary for payment of the above mentioned costs in such fiscal year, such excess shall be reserved and carried over for the payment of those costs in the following fiscal year.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, a county that includes a city having a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more people shall distribute a portion of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09955-01-9
S. 4589 2
surcharge funds allocated to the county to such city for the purposes of the payment of costs related to maintaining such city's public safety communications network. The amount of such portion shall be calculated by determining what the percentage of the actual, annual number of 911 calls handled by such city is to the actual, annual number of 911 calls handled by the county, and allocating the funding accordingly.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to the allo- cation of the funds from wireless communications surcharges imposed by a county containing a city having a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more persons
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill amends the tax law with respect to the allocation of the funds from wireless communications surcharges imposed by a county containing a city having a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more persons. Based upon the percentage of the 911 calls received, this bill allocates a portion of the wireless communications surcharge currently going to the county to the city for the purpose of operating its public safety answering point (PSAP).
Summary of provisions
Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 186-g of the tax law, as added by section 3 of part BEE of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended to add subsection (b) which provides that a county that includes a city having a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more people shall distribute a portion of the funds collected from wireless communi- cations surcharges allocated to the county to such city for the purposes of the payment of costs related to maintaining such city's public safety communications network. The amount of such portion shall be calculated by determining what the percentage of the actual, annual number of 911 calls handled by such city is to the actual, annual number of 911 calls handled by the county, and allocating the funding accordingly.
Section 2 establishes the effective date
Justification
Existing law imposes a surcharge on wireless communications in order to pay for County 911 service costs. However, existing law does not allo- cate any of the monies collected from the surcharge on wireless communi- cations service to local municipal governments that operate their own public safety answering point (PASP). This bill distributes a portion of the surcharge currently allocated to the counties to cities with popu- lations of 125,000 or more within those counties for the purposes of the payment of the costs related to maintaining the city's public safety communications network. The portion of the surcharge will be calculated based upon the percentage of the actual number of 911 calls handled by the city versus the county.
Prior legislative history
2018: A7860 (Mayer) - enacting clause stricken
Fiscal implications
This bill will allocate money currently going to County PSAP's and increase revenue to cities of populations of 125,000 within those coun- ties to be exclusively allocated for the cost of their PSAPS.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.