308-A - Establishment of city wireless surcharges.
* § 308-a. Establishment of city wireless surcharges. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary, any city with a population of one million or more, acting through its board, is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt, amend or repeal local laws to impose a surcharge in an amount not to exceed thirty cents per month on wireless communications service in the city. The surcharge shall be imposed on each wireless communications device and shall be reflected and made payable on bills rendered for wireless communications service that is provided to a customer whose place of primary use is within the city. For purposes of this section, the term "place of primary use" shall mean the street address that is representative of where the customer's use of the wireless communications service primarily occurs, which address must be: (a) the residential street address or the primary business street address of the customer; and (b) within the licensed service area of the wireless communications service provider. All surcharge monies remitted to the city shall be used to pay for costs associated with the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and administration of public safety communications networks serving such city. 2. Any local law adopted pursuant to this section shall state the amount of the surcharge and the date on which the wireless communications service supplier shall begin to add such surcharge to the billings of its customers. Any wireless communications service supplier within such city which has imposed a surcharge pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be given a minimum of forty-five days written notice prior to the date it shall begin to add such surcharge to the billings of its customers or prior to any modification to or change in the surcharge amount. 3. (a) Each wireless communications service supplier serving such city shall act as collection agent for the city and shall remit the funds collected pursuant to a surcharge imposed under the provisions of this section to the chief fiscal officer of the city every month. Such funds shall be remitted no later than thirty days after the last business day of the month. (b) Each wireless communications service supplier shall be entitled to retain, as an administrative fee, an amount equal to two percent of its collections of a surcharge imposed under the provisions of this section. (c) Any surcharge required to be collected by a wireless communications service supplier shall be added to and stated separately in its billings to customers. (d) Each wireless communications service customer who is subject to the provisions of this section shall be liable to such city for the surcharge until it has been paid to the city except that payment to a wireless communications service supplier is sufficient to relieve the customer from further liability for such surcharge. (e) No wireless communications service supplier shall have a legal obligation to enforce the collection of any surcharge imposed under the provisions of this section, provided, however, that whenever the wireless communications service supplier remits the funds collected to the city, it shall also provide the city with the name and address of any customer refusing or failing to pay a surcharge imposed under the provisions of this section and shall state the amount of such surcharge remaining unpaid. (f) Each wireless communications service supplier shall annually provide to such city an accounting of the surcharge amounts billed and collected. 4. All surcharge monies remitted to the city by a wireless communications service supplier shall be expended only uponauthorization of the board and only for payment of system costs or other costs associated with the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and administration of public safety communications networks serving such city. The city shall separately account for and keep adequate books and records of the amount and source of all such monies 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 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. * NB There are 19 § 308-a's