[HISTORY: Adopted by Dutchess County as indicated in article
histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
STATUTORY REFERENCES
Enhanced emergency telephone system surcharge — See
County Law Art. 6, §§ 300-308.
Establishment of Dutchess County wireless surcharge — See
County Law § 308-a.
Wireless communications surcharge — See Tax Law § 186-a.
[Adopted 12-6-1993 by L.L. No. 1-1994]
The Dutchess County Legislature hereby determines that it is
in the best interest of the citizens of the County of Dutchess to
implement an enhanced 911 emergency telephone system to serve the
County of Dutchess. The Dutchess County Legislature further determines
that in order to finance the costs associated with obtaining and maintaining
the necessary telecommunication equipment for such system, a surcharge
should be imposed pursuant to Article 6 of the County Law.
The County of Dutchess hereby establishes an enhanced 911 emergency
telephone system serving the County of Dutchess, and declares its
intention that E-911 service shall begin operations within the County
of Dutchess on or before June 1, 1995.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The area within the geographic boundaries of the County of
Dutchess.
[Amended 12-7-2009 by L.L. No. 6-2009]
The costs associated with obtaining and maintaining the telecommunication
equipment, all operations and maintenance costs and the telephone
service costs necessary to establish and provide an E-911 system.
Any service that:
[Amended 12-7-2009 by L.L. No. 6-2009]
Enables real-time, two-way voice communications;
Requires a broadband connection from the user's location;
Requires internet-protocol-compatible customer premises equipment
(CPE); and
Permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the
public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public
switched telephone network.
An enhanced emergency telephone service which automatically
connects a person dialing the digits 9-1-1 to an established public
service answering point and which shall include, but not be limited
to, selective routing, automatic number identification and automatic
location identification.
For the purpose of paying for the costs associated with obtaining
and maintaining the telecommunication equipment and telephone services
needed to provide an enhanced 911 emergency telephone system to serve
the County of Dutchess, the County of Dutchess hereby imposes a surcharge
in the amount of $0.35 per access line per month on the customers
of every service supplier within the County. This surcharge shall
be imposed on a per-access-line basis on all bills rendered for local
exchange access service within the County of Dutchess with the following
exceptions:
A.
All service suppliers are hereby authorized and directed to begin
billing their customers for the surcharge established herein prior
to the date the E-911 system service is to begin; all service suppliers,
except for the VOIP service suppliers, shall begin to add the surcharge
to the billings of its customers issued or dated on or after March
1, 1994. The VOIP service suppliers shall begin to add the surcharge
to the billings of its customers issued or dated March 1, 2010.
[Amended 12-7-2009 by L.L. No. 6-2009]
B.
The appropriate service supplier or suppliers serving the 911 service
area shall act as collection agent for the County of Dutchess and
shall remit all funds collected as the surcharge to the chief fiscal
officer of the County. Such funds shall be remitted no later than
30 days after the last business day of the month during which said
funds were collected.
C.
The surcharge required to be collected by the service supplier shall
be added to and stated separately in its billings to the customer.
D.
The service supplier shall annually provide to the County of Dutchess
an accounting of the surcharge amounts billed and collected. Such
annual accounting shall be furnished to the chief fiscal officer of
the County of Dutchess no later than 60 days after the last business
day of the calendar year for which the accounting is rendered.
E.
The service supplier shall be entitled to retain as an administrative
fee an amount equal to 2% of its collections of the surcharge.
A.
Each service supplier customer who is subject to the provisions of
this article shall be liable to the County of Dutchess for the surcharge
until it has been paid to the County of Dutchess, except that payment
to a service supplier is sufficient to relieve the customer from further
liability for such surcharge.
B.
The service supplier shall have no obligation to take any legal action
to enforce the collection of any surcharge. However, whenever the
service supplier remits the funds collected as the surcharge to the
County of Dutchess, it shall also provide the County with the name
and address of any customer refusing or failing to pay the surcharge
imposed by this article and shall state the amount of such surcharge
remaining unpaid.
This chapter shall not be interpreted as precluding other means
of funding all or part of an E-911 system. The County of Dutchess
may apply for and accept federal monies and may accept contributions
and donations from any source for the purpose of funding an E-911
emergency telephone system. All surcharge monies remitted to the County
of Dutchess by a service supplier and all other monies dedicated to
the payment of system costs from whatever source derived or received
by the County of Dutchess shall be expended only upon authorization
of the County Legislature, and only for payment of system costs as
permitted by County Law Article 6. The County of Dutchess shall separately
account for and keep adequate books and records of the amount and
source of all such revenues and of the amount and object or purpose
of all expenditures thereof. If at the end of any fiscal year the
total amount of all such revenues exceeds the amount necessary for
payment of system costs in such fiscal year, such excess shall be
reserved and carried over for the payment of system costs in the following
fiscal year. However, if at the end of any fiscal year such E-911
reserved fund balance exceeds an amount equal to 5% of that necessary
for the payment of system costs in such fiscal year, the County Legislature
shall by local law reduce the surcharge for the following fiscal year
to a level which more adequately reflects the system cost requirements
of its E-911 system. The County Legislature may also by local law
reestablish or increase such surcharge, subject to the provisions
of County Law § 303, if the revenues generated by such surcharge
and by any other source are not adequate to pay for system costs.
[Adopted 12-7-2017 by L.L. No. 2-2018[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also repealed the former
wireless surcharge adopted 12-16-2003 by L.L. No. 8-2003.
A.
Pursuant to the authority of Tax Law § 186-g there are
hereby imposed and there shall be paid surcharges within the territorial
limits of the County of Dutchess on:
(1)
Wireless communications service provided to a wireless communications
customer with a place of primary use within the County of Dutchess,
at the rate of $0.30 per month on each wireless communications device
in service during any part of the month; and
(2)
The retail sale of prepaid wireless communications service sold within
the County of Dutchess at the rate of $0.30 per retail sale, whether
or not any tangible personal property is sold therewith.
B.
Wireless communications service suppliers shall begin to add such
surcharge to the billings of its customers and prepaid wireless communications
sellers shall begin to collect such surcharge from its customers commencing
March 1, 2018.
C.
Each wireless communications service supplier and prepaid wireless
communications seller is entitled to retain, as an administrative
fee, an amount equal to 3% of its collections of the surcharges imposed
by this article, provided that the supplier or seller files any required
return and remits the surcharges due to the New York State Commissioner
of Taxation and Finance on or before its due date.
The surcharges imposed by this article shall be administered
and collected by the New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance
as provided in Paragraph (8) of Tax Law § 186-g and in a
like manner as the taxes imposed by Articles 28 and 29 of the Tax
Law.
All the provisions of Tax Law § 186-g shall apply
to the surcharges imposed by this article with the same force and
effect as if those provisions had been set forth in full in this article
except to the extent that any of those provisions is either inconsistent
with or not relevant to the surcharges imposed by this article.
Net collection received by Dutchess County from the surcharges
imposed by this article shall be expended only upon authorization
of the Dutchess County Legislature and only for payment of system
costs, eligible wireless 911 service costs, or other costs associated
with the administration, design, installation, construction, operation,
or maintenance of public safety communications networks or a system
to provide enhanced wireless 911 service serving Dutchess County as
provided in Paragraph (9) of Tax Law § 186-g, including,
but not limited to, hardware, software, consultants, financing and
other acquisition costs. Dutchess County shall separately account
for and keep adequate books and records of the amount and object or
purpose of all expenditures of all such monies. If, at the end of
any fiscal year, the total amount of all such monies exceeds the amount
necessary for payment of the above-mentioned costs in such fiscal
year, such excess shall be reserved and carried over for the payment
of those costs in the following fiscal year.
This article shall take effect March 1, 2018.
