The State shall create a special fund designated as the Enhanced 911 Emergency Reporting System Fund, which shall be used to reimburse the State, counties, local governments and providers of telecommunications services in this State for costs associated with the E-911 Emergency Reporting System.

69 Del. Laws, c. 256, §  2;  73 Del. Laws, c. 115, §  7;  79 Del. Laws, c. 332, §  1; 

As used in this chapter:

(1) “911 Emergency Report Center” shall have the same meaning assigned to such term in § 10002(1) of this title.

(2) “911-Enhanced Emergency Reporting System” shall have the same meaning assigned to such term by § 10002(2) of this title.

(3) “Board” shall mean the Enhanced 911 Emergency Reporting System Service Board.

(4) “Business telephone service” shall mean network access telephone service where the use of such service is primarily for business purposes.

(5) “FCC E-911 Order” shall have the same meaning assigned to such term in § 10002(8) of this title.

(6) “Fund” shall mean the 911 Emergency Reporting System Fund created by this chapter.

(7) “Provider” shall have the same meaning assigned to such term in § 10002(10) of this title.

(8) “Residential telephone service” shall mean network access telephone service where the use of such service is primarily for social or domestic purposes.

(9) “Secretary” shall mean the Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

(10) “System” shall mean a 911-Enhanced Emergency Reporting System.

(11) “Wholesale services” shall mean services that a provider furnishes to another provider, rather than to end-use customers.

(12) “Wireless E-911 State plan” shall have the same meaning assigned to such term in § 10002(16) of this title.

(13) “Wireless provider” shall have the same meaning assigned to such term in § 10002(18) of this title.

(14) “Wireless service” shall have the same meaning assigned to such term in § 10002(19) of this title.

69 Del. Laws, c. 256, §  2;  73 Del. Laws, c. 115, §  8;  74 Del. Laws, c. 110, §  138;  79 Del. Laws, c. 332, §  1; 

(a) The Fund shall be funded by means of a monthly surcharge of up to 60 cents per month imposed by providers on subscribers of telecommunications services in this State as follows.

(1) Residential telephone service. — The surcharge shall be imposed by each provider providing such service on all Delaware residential subscribers per residence exchange access line or per Basic Rate Interface (“BRI”) ISDN arrangement, where the residence exchange access service is provided via a BRI ISDN arrangement. The surcharge shall not be applied to residence exchange access lines provided to Lifeline subscribers.

(2) Business telephone service. — The surcharge shall be imposed by each provider providing such service on all Delaware business subscribers per business exchange access line and trunk or per BRI ISDN arrangement where the business exchange access service is provided via a BRI ISDN arrangement. Each Centrex access line shall be charged the equivalent of 1/9 of the surcharge; provided, however, that where a Centrex customer has fewer than 9 lines, the maximum monthly charge for those lines will be the surcharge imposed on each business exchange access line or trunk divided by the customer’s Centrex lines. Each Primary Rate Interface ISDN system shall be charged a rate equal to 5 times the surcharge. The surcharge shall not be applied to lines provided under wholesale arrangements.

(3) Wireless service. — The surcharge shall be imposed by each wireless provider on all wireless service customers for each wireless telephone number for which they are billed by such provider.

(4) Nontraditional communication services. — The surcharge shall be imposed by each provider of nontraditional communications service on subscribers of such services where such provider is required to or opts to provide 911 service.

(b) The surcharge amounts shall be deposited into the Fund as described below, along with any other state funds the General Assembly may from time to time appropriate.

(c) The provider shall impose the surcharge on the person purchasing the service but shall collect it on behalf of the State. The surcharges collected by a provider shall not be subject to taxes or charges levied by the State or any political subdivision thereof, nor shall they be considered revenue of the provider for any purpose.

(d) Each provider imposing the surcharge shall state such surcharge as a clearly identifiable, separate item on all subscriber invoices rendered after January 1, 2002.

(e) The surcharge shall not apply to wholesale services.

(f) All surcharges imposed by subsection (a) of this section shall be collected by providers from subscribers to telecommunications service with each invoice for service and shall be paid by providers on a monthly basis to the Department of Finance no later than the 15th day of the month following its collection and shall be deposited into the fund on a monthly basis.

(g) Each provider collecting such surcharges shall be entitled to recover the actual incremental costs of billing, collecting and remitting such surcharges, as well as the costs of compliance with any memorandum of understanding as described in subsection (h) of this section, through a credit against them. This cost is defined as the additional incremental expense incurred by the provider that is in addition to the normal expense of billing and collecting the charges for the provision of the provider’s normal telephone service. Where moneys collected by the provider are equal to or less than the total charge for the telephone service provided to subscribers or customers by that provider, not including the surcharge, all moneys collected will be applied to the charges for the actual telephone service provided.

(h) Each provider collecting such surcharges shall not be responsible for uncollectable surcharges. The State may also enter into a memorandum of understanding with each provider which shall include, but need not be limited to, the terms related to the collection and distribution of funds pursuant to this chapter and provide for reporting to the Board the names and addresses of subscribers that fail to pay the surcharge. However, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the State or the Board from taking appropriate actions to collect such surcharges designated by a provider as uncollectable.

(i) Each provider collecting such surcharge is fulfilling a governmental function and in so doing is immune from suit for damages of any kind and is not liable for refunds except to the extent that the provider has failed to collect or remit surcharges to the Fund in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

(j) The Fund is created as a nonappropriated special fund. Balances in the Fund on June 30 of each year shall carry forward and shall not revert to the General Fund.

69 Del. Laws, c. 256, §  2;  73 Del. Laws, c. 115, §  9;  74 Del. Laws, c. 137, §  2;  76 Del. Laws, c. 183, §  5;  79 Del. Laws, c. 332, §  1; 

(a) Disbursements from the Fund shall be made for the following purposes.

(1) Nonrecurring costs, including but not limited to costs for purchasing and installing the customer premises terminal equipment (“CPE”) required to establish or upgrade public safety answering points, purchasing E-911 network equipment or upgrading equipment as required to ensure proper functioning of the E-911 service and related software, developing wireless data bases, and initial training in the use of CPE equipment.

(2) Recurring costs, including but not limited to costs for network access fees and other telephone charges, software, equipment, data base management, maintenance and improvement, public education, language translation services, ongoing training in the use of CPE equipment, and network and equipment maintenance.

(3) Expenses of the Board and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security incurred under this chapter for the purposes of administering the Fund and expenses incurred in connection with the Board’s responsibilities under Chapter 100 of this title.

(b) Each county shall receive an amount from the Fund equal to $0.50 per month, less the costs identified in § 10103(g) of this title, for each residence exchange access line or residential Basic Rate Interface (“BRI”) ISDN arrangement from which the monthly surcharge is collected in that county or the amount received by that county in calendar year 2000 from telephone providers from E-911 surcharges, whichever is greater. Disbursements from the Fund shall be made to the counties by the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the wireline residential surcharges are deposited into the Fund by the provider. The amount disbursed to a county for any calendar year shall be subject to a true up at the end of the such year to reflect the amount received by the county in calendar year 2000 from E-911 surcharges but only in the event that such amount is greater than the amount disbursed from the Fund to the county in the current calendar year. The counties shall use these revenues to offset the costs incurred by them in connection with the administration, staffing, street addressing, necessary capital equipment, and training necessary to support the provision of E-911 emergency reporting service. Costs incurred shall be verified by an annual audit as directed by the Board.

(c) [Repealed.]

(d) Disbursements may not be made for:

(1) Personnel costs for public safety answering points, except as set forth in subsection (b) of this section.

(2) Construction, purchase, renovation or furnishings for real estate to house public safety answering points, except as set forth in subsection (b) of this section.

(3) Vehicles, including ambulances, fire engines or other emergency vehicles, associated equipment and utilities.

(4) Two-way radios.

(e) Pro rata sharing of Fund amounts. — If the total amount of money in the Fund after paying the amounts due to the counties under subsection (b) of this section is insufficient to pay reimbursable costs at any given time, each entity requesting reimbursement shall receive a pro rata share of the total amount in the Fund at such time. Any remaining unpaid reimbursable costs shall be carried forward for payment as soon as sufficient funds become available.

(f) Providers may request reimbursement on a monthly basis, and payments from the Fund to providers shall be made by the State Treasurer within 60 days of receipt of such request.

(g) The annual expenditures from the Fund shall not exceed the annual revenues deposited into it.

(h) An annual audit of the Fund shall be completed by an independent auditor to be designated by the Board.

73 Del. Laws, c. 115, §  9;  74 Del. Laws, c. 110, §  138;  74 Del. Laws, c. 137, §  3;  76 Del. Laws, c. 183, §§  6, 7, 8;  79 Del. Laws, c. 332, §  1;  80 Del. Laws, c. 372, §  1; 

The Secretary and, to the extent the collection of surcharges under this chapter is delegated to or performed by the Director of Revenue, each is authorized to adopt such regulations as are necessary to carry out the purpose of this subchapter and subchapter II of this chapter.

73 Del. Laws, c. 115, §  9;  74 Del. Laws, c. 137, §  4;  79 Del. Laws, c. 332, §  1; 

79 Del. Laws, c. 332, §  1;