Effective July 1, state fees on cell phone lines that pay for emergency 911 communications services, has gone up to $4.38 per month per line. The fees were previously $4.01 per month per line. Those fees include the wireless enhanced 911 fee (WE911 Fee) at $4.01 per month per line plus an .08 cent wireless tower fee and a .29 cent public safety wireless free. The total of the items will come to $4.38 each month for wireless phone users.
The fee, administered by the West Virginia Public Service Commission through phone carrier companies, is distributed both to the state and to counties.
In Morgan County, the 911 cell phone fee generates roughly $72,600 per month, according to figures provided by Morgan County 911 Director Marshall Younker.
Residents and property owners who have landline phone service and those using Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone services pay a separate fee for 911. The landline fee is $5 per month and generates $18,410 per month in Morgan County, which has 3,682 landlines.
Younker said the number of landlines in Morgan County has consistently declined over recent years, as predicted.
