Section 308-Q. Establishment of county of Sullivan wireless surcharge  


Latest version.
  • 1.
      Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary, the county of
      Sullivan, acting through its legislative body, 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 county of Sullivan. 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
      county. 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 supplier.
        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  the county of Sullivan 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 the
      county of Sullivan shall act as collection  agent  for  the  county  and
      shall  remit  the  funds collected pursuant to a surcharge imposed under
      the provisions of this section to the chief fiscal officer of the county
      of Sullivan 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 the county of Sullivan
      for  the  surcharge  until  it  has  been paid to the county of Sullivan
      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 county of Sullivan, it shall also provide  the  county  of  Sullivan
      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 the county of Sullivan an accounting of the surcharge amounts
      billed and collected.
        4. All surcharge monies remitted  to  the  county  of  Sullivan  by  a
      wireless  communications  service  supplier  shall be expended only upon
      authorization of the county legislative body and  only  for  payment  of
      eligible  wireless  911 service costs, as defined in subdivision sixteen
      of section three hundred twenty-five of  this  chapter.  The  county  of
    
      Sullivan  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 3 § 308-q's