1. a. Notwithstanding section 34A.6, the administrator shall adopt by rule a monthly surcharge of up to fifty cents to be imposed on each wireless communications service number provided in this state. The surcharge shall be imposed uniformly on a statewide basis and simultaneously on all wireless communications service numbers as provided by rule of the administrator.
b. The administrator shall provide no less than one hundred days' notice of the surcharge to be imposed to each wireless communications service provider. The administrator, subject to the fifty cent limit in paragraph "a", may adjust the amount of the surcharge as necessary, but no more than once in any calendar year.
c. The surcharge shall be collected as part of the wireless communications service provider's periodic billing to a subscriber. In compensation for the costs of billing and collection, the provider may retain one percent of the gross surcharges collected. The surcharges shall be remitted quarterly by the provider to the administrator for deposit into the fund established in subsection 2. A provider is not liable for an uncollected surcharge for which the provider has billed a subscriber but which has not been paid. The surcharge shall appear as a single line item on a subscriber's periodic billing indicating that the surcharge is for E911 emergency telephone service. The E911 service surcharge is not subject to sales or use tax.
2. Moneys collected pursuant to subsection 1 shall be deposited in a separate wireless E911 emergency communications fund within the state treasury under the control of the administrator. Section 8.33 shall not apply to moneys in the fund. Moneys earned as income, including as interest, from the fund shall remain in the fund until expended as provided in this section. Moneys in the fund shall be expended and distributed annually as follows:
a. An amount as appropriated by the general assembly to the administrator for implementation, support, and maintenance of the functions of the administrator.
b. (1) The administrator shall retain funds necessary to reimburse wireless carriers for their costs to deliver E911 services. The administrator shall assure that wireless carriers recover all eligible costs associated with the implementation and operation of E911 services, including but not limited to hardware, software, and transport costs. The administrator shall adopt rules defining eligible costs which are consistent with federal law, regulations, and any order of a federal agency.
(2) The administrator shall provide for the reimbursement of wireless carriers on a quarterly basis. If the total amount of moneys available in the fund for the reimbursement of wireless carriers pursuant to subparagraph (1) is insufficient to reimburse all wireless carriers for such carriers' eligible expenses, the administrator shall remit an amount to each wireless carrier equal to the percentage of such carrier's eligible expenses as compared to the total of all eligible expenses for all wireless carriers for the calendar quarter during which such expenses were submitted.
c. (1) The remainder of the surcharge collected shall be remitted to the administrator for distribution to the joint E911 service boards and the department of public safety pursuant to subparagraph (2) to be used for the implementation of enhanced wireless communications capabilities.
(2) The administrator, in consultation with the E911 communications council, shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A governing the distribution of the surcharge collected and distributed pursuant to this lettered paragraph. The rules shall include provisions that all joint E911 service boards and the department of public safety which answer or service wireless E911 calls are eligible to receive an equitable portion of the receipts.
A joint E911 service board or the department of public safety, to receive funds from the wireless E911 emergency communications fund, must submit a written request for such funds to the administrator in a form as approved by the administrator. A request shall be for funding under an approved E911 service plan for equipment which is directly related to the reception and disposition of incoming wireless E911 calls. The administrator may approve the distribution of funds pursuant to such request if the administrator finds that the requested funding is for equipment necessary for the reception and disposition of such calls and that sufficient funds are available for such distribution.
If insufficient funds are available to fund all requests, the administrator shall fund requests in an order deemed appropriate by the administrator after considering factors including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(a) Documented volume of wireless E911 calls received by each public safety answering point.
(b) The population served by each public safety answering point.
(c) The number of wireless telephones in the public safety answering point jurisdiction.
(d) The public safety of the citizens of this state.
(e) Any other factor deemed appropriate by the administrator, in consultation with the E911 communications council, and adopted by rule.
(3) The administrator shall submit an annual report by January 15 of each year advising the general assembly of the status of E911 implementation and operations, including both land-line and wireless services, and the distribution of surcharge receipts.
3. The amount collected from a wireless service provider and deposited in the fund, pursuant to section 22.7, subsection 6, information provided by a wireless service provider to the administrator consisting of trade secrets, pursuant to section 22.7, subsection 3, and other financial or commercial operations information provided by a wireless service provider to the administrator, shall be kept confidential as provided under section 22.7. This subsection does not prohibit the inclusion of information in any report providing aggregate amounts and information which does not identify numbers of accounts or customers, revenues, or expenses attributable to an individual wireless communications service provider.
4. For purposes of this section, "wireless communications service" means commercial mobile radio service, as defined under sections 3(27) and 332(d) of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.; federal communications commission rules; and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. "Wireless communications service" includes any wireless two-way communications used in cellular telephone service, personal communications service, or the functional or competitive equivalent of a radio- telephone communications line used in cellular telephone service, a personal communications service, or a network access line. "Wireless communications service" does not include services whose customers do not have access to 911 or a 911-like service, a communications channel utilized only for data transmission, or a private telecommunications system.
98 Acts, ch 1101, §9, 16; 99 Acts, ch 96, §5
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