Holden plans to resubmit 911 tax to voters

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Three years ago, Missouri voters rejected a 50-cent monthly tax on wireless phones that would have funded a statewide 911 emergency system for mobile callers.

Now, Gov. Bob Holden plans to give the tax another try.

Holden has decided to resubmit the issue to voters in an election either this August or next April, spokesman Jerry Nachtigal said Monday.

"The governor and other proponents believe that cell phone users will be willing to pay a little more a month to have this potentially lifesaving service," Nachtigal said.

The 911 emergency number currently is available only to some wireless customers, primarily in urban areas.

Many rural areas lack the equipment to handle 911 calls from wireless phones. As a result, such a call may be routed to the nearest place capable of receiving it, which could be many miles away.

Even then, it can be difficult to pinpoint the location from which the call was placed without the caller describing the surroundings.

1999 vote

Lawmakers in 1998 authorized a ballot measure to make 911 the statewide emergency number for wireless phones, partly as an effort to make state law conform with an order from the Federal Communications Commission.

The order required wireless phone providers to have a 911 number. The measure was defeated by 57 percent of voters in April 1999.

But the original legislation included language allowing a governor to resubmit the issue to voters at any time.

In 1999, the 50-cent tax was estimated to cost Missourians about $5 million annually.