5000 Residents Opt Out Of 9-1-1 Service Fee
The city of Ventura reports that 5,000 resident of their city have opted out of their novel approach to 9-1-1 services. As we've reported in the past, Ventura chose an innovative way to meet the needs of emergency services. The city adopted a $1.49 monthly surcharge for telephones to cover the cost of 9-1-1 services.
Ordinarily this would be a 'tax' and subject to a vote of the people, but in an interesting twist, the city allows residents to voluntarily 'opt out' of the monthly surcharge and pay a $17.88 fee in the event the resident actually needed and used the service. Of the 4,986 forms filed as of Thursday, 3,093 were submitted online and 1,893 came in hard-copy form, spokeswoman Anne Hallock said. The total figure, however, represents only a small percentage of the 158,000 estimated phone lines eligible for the fee.
Comments