COUNTY QUESTIONS 911 CHARGES

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau County Commission isn't quite ready to hang up on Southwestern Bell. But it does have some questions over the phone company's decision to increase monthly emergency-911 charges to the county government by nearly $1,200.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones told a Southwestern Bell official Monday that the county won't pay the increase unless the telephone company can clearly show it is entitled to the increase.

"We want you to prove you can do it," Jones told Bell's Terry McDermott, who heads up 911 sales and service in the area.

In an Aug. 28 letter to the county's 911 officials, Southwestern Bell said it was raising the monthly database charge from $2,508 to $3,678 because the number of telephone lines in Cape Girardeau County have increased over the years from 30,000 to 44,000.

The telephone company said the higher charges would be levied, beginning with the October bill.

Southwestern Bell charges $83.60 a month for every 1,000 telephone lines in use in Cape Girardeau County. Bell is also paid for equipment rental and other services associated with 911. In all, the telephone company gets more than $5,400 a month in charges, which are paid from the 911 tax revenue.

The revenue comes from an 8 percent tax paid by telephone customers on the base charge for local service. That amounts to 73 cents a month for the average residential customer, 911 officials have said.

The increase charge levied by Bell won't affect telephone customers. The tax will stay the same, said county Auditor H. Weldon Macke.

The 911 system is administered by a seven-member board, but the County Commission signs off on its budget and the paying of any bills, said Macke.

Jones said he wants SWB to disclose its records. "We feel we are entitled to an explanation."

McDermott said the telephone company would provide billing information as requested by county commissioners. "We are not hiding a thing," he said.