TITLE 31

COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW

CHAPTER 48

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ACT

31-4803.  Authority to establish and for voters to approve funding for a consolidated emergency communications system. (1) The board of commissioners of any county may establish a consolidated emergency communications system by virtue of authority granted by this chapter or by chapter 23, title 67, Idaho Code. The service area may be regional, multicounty, countywide, or any part or parts of the county, and may include or exclude a city or cities. If the board of county commissioners has adopted a resolution stating that the county is unable to establish a countywide consolidated emergency communications system, or if the voters reject a countywide consolidated 911 system, then a 911 service area may be established by action of any city or cities within the county. The 911 service area shall be described in the ordinance of creation. The ordinance shall further provide for an election on the question as provided in subsection (2) of this section. The ordinance of creation shall define the governing board, designate the administrator, and the agency to service the 911 calls. The costs of the election ordered by the county shall be a proper charge against the county current expense fund. The costs of the election for a 911 service area shall be a proper charge against the city or cities initiating the election.

(2)  The voters of any county or 911 service area may authorize funding to support implementation of a consolidated emergency communications system pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The authorization to provide such funding must be made by the registered voters of the county or of the 911 service area at either a primary or general election. A notice for any election shall be published for twenty (20) days as required by section 60-109, Idaho Code. A sixty percent (60%) majority of the votes cast in favor of the question shall be necessary to authorize the emergency communications fee.

(3)  If a 911 system is to be financed in whole or in part by an emergency communications fee, the governing board shall submit the question to the electors of the county or 911 service area in substantially the following form:

"Shall the governing board of ………… be authorized to institute an emergency communications fee in an amount no greater than one dollar ($l.00) per month to be used to fund an emergency telephone system, commonly known as 911 service?".

(4)  No emergency communications fee for a consolidated emergency communications system shall be charged without voter approval as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

(5)  Any net savings in operating expenditures realized by any taxing district utilizing a consolidated emergency communications system shall be used by that taxing district for a reduction in the property tax charges of that taxing district.

(6)  If the voters of any county or 911 service area have previously approved funding of a consolidated emergency communications system in the manner provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, no further vote is necessary to authorize the emergency communications fee set forth in this act.

(7)  Effective October 1, 2004, and every year thereafter, the emergency communications fee provided for in this act shall be reviewed and modified as required by this subsection by the board of commissioners of a countywide system or by the governing board of a 911 service area as follows:

(a)  The level of the emergency communications fee shall be reviewed and, as appropriate and necessary, readjusted by action of the board of commissioners or the governing board on an annual basis. The board of commissioners or governing board shall set the level of the fee based upon the revenue requirements necessary to implement an annual budget prepared under the direction of the board of commissioners or governing board for the initiation, maintenance, operation, enhancement and governance of a consolidated emergency communications system, including both basic and, if applicable, enhanced consolidated emergency systems.

(b)  The revenues from emergency communications fees shall be exclusively expended pursuant to the budget established in paragraph (a) of this subsection. Use of such revenues for any other purpose is expressly prohibited.

(c)  The process of reviewing and setting the level of emergency communications fees shall be governed by the meeting and public notice provisions of section 31-710(4), Idaho Code. For the purposes of this section, the setting of a fee shall be deemed to be the promulgation of a rule such that public participation provisions of section 67-5222, Idaho Code, shall apply to the meetings of the board of commissioners or of a governing board pursuant to this section.

History:

[31-4803, added 1988, ch. 348, sec. 1, p. 1028; am. 1989, ch. 196, sec. 1, p. 492; am. 1990, ch. 200, sec. 3, p. 450; am. 1994, ch. 86, sec. 2, p. 203; am. 2003, ch. 290, sec. 3, p. 787.]