How many times, how many years will we report this story with no change?
The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y., finds that most of the "911" fees that New Yorkers pay on their cell phone bills do not go for improvements to the emergency system, as intended.
The newspaper reports:
The cell phone bill says "9-1-1 Service Fee": $1.20. You pay it every month to New York state.
But only 6 cents end up at a 911 center.
Instead, the state spends the money on itself: overtime, fringe benefits, travel, vehicles, new boots, clip-on ties, sun block, spray paint, groceries, dry cleaning and other daily expenses for agencies ranging from the state police to the departments of corrections and parks, state records show.
The National Guard, for example, spent almost $1 million at Oswego's Best Western Captain's Quarters hotel and steak and seafood restaurant and the Econo Lodge Riverfront Inn. That housed and fed up to 21 soldiers who patrolled the nuclear power plants for three years after Sept. 11, 2001.
The state imposed the fee to raise enough money to upgrade 911 technology so dispatchers can find you when you call from your cell phone and can't talk.
The story continues:
Every county in New York now has that technology, but the state continues to tax cell customers $1.20 per month.
Cities around the country routinely tell voters they need the revenue to pay for digital 911 technology, but just as often, it turns out there is no requirement that the money be spent that way.
See this battle in California as an example.
You can get an idea how much this fee brings in by checking audits.
Here is one from Virginia (PDF) from a few years back. It shows unallowed spending from the 911 fund in a handful of towns.
