Bill offers counties vote on phone tax to improve 911

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Since statewide ballot measures to impose a cellular phone tax that would fund upgrades to local 911 systems have been twice rejected, some lawmakers are proposing a county-by-county approach to the issue.

A bill sponsored by state Rep. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, would allow voters in each of Missouri's 114 counties plus St. Louis city to decide for themselves whether to impose a tax on local cell phone customers. Supporters of the bill say it would enhance safety.

When a 911 call is placed from a land-based phone line, the dispatcher immediately knows the caller's location. With 911 calls from cell phones, however, that information isn't available. If the caller doesn't know where they are or is seriously injured and loses consciousness, emergency personnel have no way of finding them.

Approval of local taxes would allow counties to purchase equipment that would allow cell callers to be found using global positioning technology.

All of Missouri's neighboring states save Kansas have implemented enhanced 911 systems.

Under the bill, which the House Local Government Committee considered Thursday, county governments choosing to pursue the tax could present their voters with one of three options:

A flat 60-cent monthly fee on wireless phones and land-based phone lines.

A 60-cent monthly fee on wireless phones to go along with existing fees on land lines.

A wireless fee not to exceed $1 a month derived from a formula based on a county's population and the number of cell phones in local use. Existing land-line fees would remain unchanged under this option.

Engler said the choices would give counties the flexibility to determine what would work best for them. The formula-based option would be particularly attractive for densely populated areas with high cell phone usage. For example, St. Louis County would need just a 12-cent monthly tax to generate enough revenue to upgrade its 911 system, according to an estimate Engler provided.

Lobbyists for cell phone service providers said they support the concept of a 911 tax but oppose the current bill because it could lead to tax rates that vary from county to county.

Jeff Kipping, a lobbyist for Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless, said it makes more sense for counties that choose to adopt a tax to have the same rate.

"It is fair to consumers and doesn't discriminate based on where they live," Kipping said.

A 1998 state law put a proposed 50-cent a month cell phone tax on the statewide ballot in April 1999. It failed with 57.5 percent of voters opposed.

The same law allowed another bite at the apple in August 2002. That effort was even more soundly defeated, falling in every county and St. Louis city with 65.3 percent statewide opposition.

The bill is HB 1199.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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