(A) The local government is authorized to adopt an ordinance to impose a monthly 911 landline charge upon each local exchange access facility subscribed to by telephone subscribers whose local exchange access lines are in the area served or which would be served by the 911 service. The 911 landline charge must be uniform and may not vary according to the type of local exchange access facility used.
The ordinance must be adopted in the same fashion as ordinances that levy taxes under South Carolina law. No collection of charges may be commenced before adoption of the ordinance.
(B) Landline funding must be used only to pay for the following enumerated items:
(1) the lease, purchase, lease-purchase, or maintenance of emergency telephone equipment, including necessary recording equipment, computer hardware, software and database provisioning, addressing, mapping, and nonrecurring costs of establishing a 911 system;
(2) the rates associated with the service supplier's 911 service and other suppliers' recurring charges;
(3) the cost of establishing and maintaining a county 911 office or maintaining as currently staffed a county 911 office for the purpose of operating and maintaining the database of the 911 system. Costs are limited to salaries and compensations and those items necessary in the operation of the 911 office and normal operating costs;
(4) items enumerated may be subscriber billed for a period not to exceed thirty months before activation of the 911 service;
(5) items necessary to meet the standards outlined in this chapter, specifically in Section 23-47-20(C);
(6) enhancements either currently available or available in the future offered by service suppliers and approved by the Public Service Commission;
(7) a local government may contract to implement and establish a 911 system as set forth in this chapter.
(C) Landline funding must not be used for:
(1) purchasing or leasing of real estate, cosmetic or remodeling of communications centers, except those building modifications necessary to maintain the security and environmental integrity of the PSAP;
(2) hiring or compensating dispatchers or call takers other than initial and in-service training;
(3) mobile communications vehicles, fire engines, law enforcement vehicles, ambulances, or other emergency vehicles, or other vehicles;
(4) communications, or other equipment used by first responders or other public safety agents, such as radios, radio towers, and computers; and
(5) consultants or consultant fees for studies of implementation not related to NG9-1-1.
(D) A local government may contract with a service supplier for any term negotiated by the service supplier and the local government and may make payments through subscriber billing to provide any payments required by the contract.
HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 245, Section 1; 2019 Act No. 60 (H.3586), Section 3, eff May 16, 2019.
Effect of Amendment
2019 Act No. 60, Section 3, in (A), in the first and second sentences, substituted "911 landline charge" for "911 charge"; in (B), substituted "Landline funding" for "Funding", in (1), substituted "database" for "data base", in (2), made a nonsubstantive change, and in (3), in the first sentence, substituted "database" for "data base"; in (C), substituted "Landline funding" for "Funding", inserted (4) and redesignated (4) as (5), in (5), inserted "not related to NG9-1-1", and deleted former (5), which related to aerial photography.