Restricted Expenditures — Communications
Payment of Telephone Emergency Service Fees and Surcharges
State law prohibits the following fees and surcharges from being imposed on or collected from state governmental entities. The Public Utility Commission of Texas website has a comprehensive list of telecommunications fees, taxes and surcharges, and applicable exemptions for governmental entities.
A state agency may not pay for a:
- 911 emergency service fee imposed on local exchange access lines
- 911 emergency service fee imposed on wireless telecommunications connections
- 911 equalization surcharge imposed on intrastate long distance services
- 9-1-1 Prepaid Wireless Emergency Service Fee
- Poison control surcharge. This surcharge is often misapplied because it is merely a portion of the 911 equalization surcharge.
- Local district-imposed 911 emergency service fee regarding the 911 Emergency Number Act. This applies only to an emergency communication district created before Jan. 1, 1988, located in a county with a population of more than 3.3 million, and in certain areas adjacent to that county.
- Local district-imposed 911 emergency service fee regarding the Emergency Communication District Act. This applies only to an emergency communication district created before Jan. 1, 1988, located in a county with a population of more than 860,000.
- Local district-imposed 911 emergency service fee regarding the Emergency Telephone Number Act. This applies only to an emergency communication district created before Jan. 1, 1988, located in a county with a population of more than 20,000, or in a group of two or more contiguous counties, each with a population of 20,000 or more.
- County-imposed service fee in certain unincorporated areas. This applies to a county with a population of more than 1.5 million, in which an emergency communication district has not been created under the 911 Emergency Number Act.
- Fee charged by a home-rule municipality.
- Texas Universal Service Fund