Section 190.455

Title XII PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

Chapter 190

Effective - 28 Aug 2018, 2 histories, see footnote   (history) 

  190.455.  Subscriber fees — election, ballot — deposit of moneys — confidentiality of proprietary information — immunity from liability, when — limitations on fees. — 1.  Except as provided under subsection 9 of this section, in lieu of the tax levy authorized under section 190.305 or 190.325, or the sales tax imposed under section 190.292 or 190.335, the governing body of any county, city not within a county, or home rule city with more than fifteen thousand but fewer than seventeen thousand inhabitants and partially located in any county of the third classification without a township form of government and with more than thirty-seven thousand but fewer than forty-one thousand inhabitants may impose, by order or ordinance, a monthly fee on subscribers of any communications service that has been enabled to contact 911.  The monthly fee authorized in this section shall not exceed one dollar and shall be assessed to the subscriber of the communications service, regardless of technology, based upon the number of active telephone numbers, or their functional equivalents or successors, assigned by the provider and capable of simultaneously contacting the public safety answering point; provided that, for multiline telephone systems and for facilities provisioned with capacity greater than a voice-capable grade channel or its equivalent, regardless of technology, the charge shall be assessed on the number of voice-capable grade channels as provisioned by the provider that allow simultaneous contact with the public safety answering point.  Only one fee may be assessed per active telephone number, or its functional equivalent or successor, used to provide a communications service.  No fee imposed under this section shall be imposed on more than one hundred voice-grade channels or their equivalent per person per location.  Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the monthly fee shall not be assessed on the provision of broadband internet access service.  The fee shall be imposed solely for the purpose of funding 911 service in such county or city.  The monthly fee authorized in this section shall be limited to one fee per device.  The fee authorized in this section shall be in addition to all other taxes and fees imposed by law and may be stated separately from all other charges and taxes.  The fee shall be the liability of the subscriber, not the provider, except that the provider shall be liable to remit all fees that the provider collects under this section.

  2.  No such order or ordinance adopted under this section shall become effective unless the governing body of the county or city submits to the voters residing within the county or city at a state general, primary, or special election a proposal to authorize the governing body to impose a fee under this section.  The question submitted shall be in substantially the following form:

"Shall _________  (insert name of county or city) impose a monthly fee of _________  (insert amount) on a subscriber of any communications service that has been enabled to contact 911 for the purpose of funding 911 service in the _________  (county or city)?".

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If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the question, the fee shall become effective on the first day of the second calendar quarter after the director of revenue receives notification of adoption of the fee.  If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are opposed to the question, the fee shall not become effective unless and until the question is resubmitted under this section to the qualified voters and such question is approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting on the question.

  3.  Except as modified in this section, all provisions of sections 32.085 and 32.087 and subsection 7 of section 144.190 shall apply to the fee imposed under this section.

  4.  All revenue collected under this section by the director of the department of revenue on behalf of the county or city, except for two percent to be withheld by the provider for the cost of administering the collection and remittance of the fee, and one percent for the cost of collection which shall be deposited in the state's general revenue fund, shall be deposited in the Missouri 911 service trust fund created under section 190.420.  The director of the department of revenue shall remit such funds to the county or city on a monthly basis.  The governing body of any such county or city shall control such funds remitted to the county or city unless the county or city has established an elected board for the purpose of administering such funds.  In the event that any county or city has established a board under any other provision of state law for the purpose of administering funds for 911 service, such existing board may continue to perform such functions after the county or city has adopted the monthly fee under this section.

  5.  Nothing in this section imposes any obligation upon a provider of a communications service to take any legal action to enforce the collection of the tax imposed in this section.  The tax shall be collected in compliance, as applicable, with the federal Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, 4 U.S.C. Sections 116 to 124, as amended.

  6.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, proprietary information submitted under this section shall only be subject to subpoena or lawful court order.  Information collected under this section shall only be released or published in aggregate amounts that do not identify or allow identification of numbers of subscribers or revenues attributable to an individual communications service provider.

  7.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in no event shall any communications service provider, its officers, employees, assigns, agents, vendors, or anyone acting on behalf of such persons, be liable for any form of civil damages or criminal liability that directly or indirectly results from, or is caused by:

  (1)  An act or omission in the development, design, installation, operation, maintenance, performance, or provision of service to a public safety answering point or to subscribers that use such service, whether providing such service is required by law or is voluntary; or

  (2)  The release of subscriber information to any governmental entity under this section unless such act, release of subscriber information, or omission constitutes gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct.

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Nothing in this section is intended to void or otherwise override any contractual obligation pertaining to equipment or services sold to a public safety answering point by a communications service provider.  No cause of action shall lie in any court of law against any provider of communications service, commercial mobile service, or other communications-related service, or its officers, employees, assignees, agents, vendors, or anyone acting on behalf of such persons, for providing call location information concerning the user of any such service in an emergency situation to a law enforcement official or agency in order to respond to a call for emergency service by a subscriber, customer, or user of such service or for providing caller location information or doing a ping locate in an emergency situation that involves danger of death or serious physical injury to any person where disclosure of communications relating to the emergency is required without delay, whether such provision of information is required by law or voluntary.

  8.  The fee imposed under this section shall not be imposed on customers who pay for service prospectively, including customers of prepaid wireless telecommunications service.

  9.  The fee imposed under this section shall not be imposed in conjunction with any tax imposed under section 190.292, 190.305, 190.325, or 190.335.  No county or city shall simultaneously impose more than one tax authorized in this section or section 190.292, 190.305, 190.325, or 190.335.  No fee imposed under this section shall be imposed on more than one hundred exchange access facilities or their equivalent per person per location.  The fee imposed under this section shall not be imposed in conjunction with any tax imposed for central dispatching of emergency services in any home rule city with more than four hundred thousand inhabitants and located in more than one county or any county containing a portion of such city, and such city or counties shall not simultaneously impose more than one tax or fee for central dispatching of emergency services; provided however, if any such county approves the fee authorized under this section, collection of such fee shall be in lieu of any tax authorized for central dispatching of emergency services in the county and any portion of the city within the county.

  10.  No county or legally authorized entity shall submit a proposal to the voters of the county under this section or section 190.335 until either:

  (1)  All providers of emergency telephone service as defined in section 190.300 and public safety answering point operations within the county are consolidated into one public agency as defined in section 190.300 that provides emergency telephone service for the county, or such providers and the public safety answering point have entered into a shared services agreement for such services;

  (2)  The county develops a plan for consolidation of emergency telephone service, as defined in section 190.300, and public safety answering point operations within the county are consolidated into one public agency, as defined in section 190.300, that provides emergency telephone service for the county; or

  (3)  The county emergency services board, as defined in section 190.290, develops a plan for consolidation of emergency telephone service, as defined in section 190.300, and public safety answering point operations within the county that includes either consolidation or entering into a shared services agreement for such services, which shall be implemented on approval of the fee by the voters.

  11.  Any plan developed under subdivision (2) or (3) of subsection 10 of this section shall be filed with the Missouri 911 service board under subsection 4 of section 650.330.  Any plan that is filed under this subsection shall provide for the establishment of a joint emergency communications board as described in section 70.260 unless a joint emergency communication board or emergency services board for the area in question has been previously established.  The director of the department of revenue shall not remit any funds as provided under this section until the department receives notification from the Missouri 911 service board that the county has filed a plan that is ready for implementation.  If, after one year following the enactment of the fee described in subsection 1 of this section, the county has not complied with the plan that the county submitted under subdivision (2) or (3) of subsection 10 of this section, but the county has substantially complied with the plan, the Missouri 911 service board may grant the county an extension of up to six months to comply with its plan.  Not more than one extension may be granted to a county.  The authority to impose the fee granted to the county in subsection 1 of this section shall be null and void if after one year following the enactment of the fee described in subsection 1 of this section the county has not complied with the plan and has not been granted an extension by the Missouri 911 service board, or if the six-month extension expires and the county has not complied with the plan.

  12.  Each county that does not have a public agency, as defined in section 190.300, that provides emergency telephone service as defined in section 190.300 for the county shall either:

  (1)  Enter into a shared-services agreement for providing emergency telephone services with a public agency that provides emergency telephone service, if such an agreement is feasible; or

  (2)  Form with one or more counties an emergency telephone services district in conjunction with any county with a public agency that provides emergency telephone service within the county.  If such a district is formed under this subdivision, the governing body of such district shall be the county commissioners of each county within the district, and each county within such district shall submit to the voters of the county a proposal to impose the fee under this section.

  13.  A county operating joint or shared emergency telephone service, as defined in section 190.300, may submit to the voters of the county a proposal to impose the fee to support joint operations and further consolidation under this section.

  14.  All 911 fees shall be imposed as provided in the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, 4 U.S.C. Sections 116 to 124, as amended.

  15.  Nothing in subsections 10, 11, 12, and 13 of this section shall apply to a county with a charter form of government where all public safety answering points within the county utilize a common 911 communication service as implemented by the appropriate local and county agencies prior to August 28, 2018.

  16.  Any home rule city with more than four hundred thousand inhabitants and located in more than one county and any county in which it is located shall establish an agreement regarding the allocation of anticipated revenue created upon passage of a ballot proposition submitted to the voters as provided for in sections 190.292, 190.305, 190.325, 190.335, and 190.455, as well as revenue provided based upon section 190.460 and the divided costs related to regional 911 services.  The allocation and actual expenses of the regional 911 service shall be determined based upon the percentage of residents of each county who also reside in the home rule city.  The agreement between the counties and the home rule city may either be between the individual counties and the home rule city or jointly between all entities.  The agreement to divide costs and revenue as required in this section shall not take effect until the passage of a ballot proposition as provided for in section^* 190.292, 190.305, 190.325, 190.335, or 190.455.  The population shall be determined based upon the most recent decennial census.  This subsection shall not apply to a county of the first classification without a charter form of government and with less than five percent of its population living in any home rule city with more than four hundred thousand inhabitants and located in more than one county.

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(L. 2018 H.B. 1456)

*Word "sections" appears in original rolls.