The board may impose a 9-1-1 emergency service fee on district service users, but the fee is capped and must be applied uniformly.
Sec. 772.314. 9-1-1 EMERGENCY SERVICE FEE. (a) The board may impose a 9-1-1 emergency service fee on service users in the district. (b) The fee may be imposed only on the base rate charge or its equivalent, excluding charges for coin-operated telephone equipment. The fee may not be imposed on more than 100 local exchange access lines or their equivalent for a single business entity at a single location, unless the lines are used by residents of the location. The fee may also not be imposed on any line that the Advisory Commission on State Emergency Communications excluded from the definition of a local exchange access line or an equivalent local exchange access line pursuant to Section 771.063. If a business service user provides residential facilities, each line that terminates at a residential unit and that is a communication link equivalent to a residential local exchange access line shall be charged the 9-1-1 emergency service fee. The fee must have uniform application and must be imposed in each participating jurisdiction. (c) The rate of the fee may not exceed six percent of the monthly base rate in a service year charged a service user by the principal service supplier in the participating jurisdiction. For purposes of this subsection, the jurisdiction of the county is the unincorporated area of the county. (c-1) The board may impose the fee at the rate authorized by Subsection (c) regardless of whether an election was held for the district under Chapter 288 (S.B. 750), Acts of the 69th Legislature, Regular Session, 1985, or former Article 1432e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, at which the voters authorized a different rate. (d) The board shall set the amount of the fee each year as part of the annual budget. The board shall notify each service supplier of a change in the amount of the fee not later than the 91st day before the date the change takes effect. (e) In imposing the fee, the board shall attempt to match the district's revenues to its operating expenditures and to provide reasonable reserves for contingencies and for the purchase and installation of 9-1-1 emergency service equipment. If the revenue generated by the fee exceeds the amount of money needed to fund the district, the board by resolution shall reduce the rate of the fee to an amount adequate to fund the district or suspend the imposition of the fee. If the board suspends the imposition of the fee, the board by resolution may reinstitute the fee if money generated by the district is not adequate to fund the district. (f) In a public agency whose governing body at a later date votes to receive 9-1-1 service from the district, the fee is imposed beginning on the date specified by the board. The board may charge the incoming agency an additional amount of money to cover the initial cost of providing 9-1-1 service to that agency. The fee authorized to be charged in a district applies to new territory added to the district when the territory becomes part of the district. (g) For the purposes of this section, the jurisdiction of the county is the unincorporated area of the county. Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 936, Sec. 14, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1203, Sec. 5, eff. June 18, 1999. Amended by: Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 819 (H.B. 2461), Sec. 2, eff. June 10, 2019.