Committee flags prepaid billing advice letter and urges statutory fix to protect 9-1-1 revenue
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Summary
Legislative committee members warned that a recent Department of Revenue advice letter and outdated statutory language could reduce prepaid-surcharge revenue and urged PSAPs to educate legislators about possible funding shortfalls and the role of the new statewide 9-1-1 services enterprise.
Jackie and other committee members told attendees that Colorado’s prepaid wireless surcharge — which helped deliver roughly $17 million to local authorities in 2024 — may be at risk because a company asked the Department of Revenue whether its modern prepaid business model fell within the statute. Jackie said the company received an advice letter indicating it might not have to pay the surcharge under current statutory language, creating a potential funding “domino effect.”
Jackie said the legislative committee and Colorado County Officials Association are working to change the statute so that newer prepaid models (for example, month-based unlimited plans and different vending models) remain subject to the surcharge. "As we talk to legislators this season, we do talk about this prepaid advice letter because of the language and so that we can get them on board with knowing that we want to cover prepaid services," Jackie said.
The presenters reviewed existing funding streams and recent figures. They said local emergency telephone charges (ETC) are set by governing bodies and range widely across the state — cited examples ranged from $0.70 to $4.00 per line per month — while a statewide surcharge intended to reimburse ESINET connection costs was set at $0.12 this year and is capped at $0.50. The presenters said the prepaid wireless surcharge was $2.09 for 2025 and is distributed to governing bodies based on wireless 9-1-1 call volume.
Speakers warned about statutory and federal constraints: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules (47 CFR part 9, subpart 1) limit how 9-1-1 fees may be spent, and Colorado Revised Statute 29-11-104 was cited as aligning state law with those rules. The committee noted that fee diversion can make a state ineligible for certain federal grants. "If you choose to divert 911 fees to non 9-1-1 purposes, you may be ineligible for grant money later down the line," Jennifer (staff member) said.
The committee identified one explicit legislative ask for the coming session: correct statutory language so prepaid transactions that fund access to 9-1-1 continue to be captured. This is a request the committee said it intends to advance as a bill rather than seeking immediate budgetary action at the PSAP level. The session presenters recommended that PSAPs bring clear pie charts to meetings with legislators that show what happens if one funding source declines and who would have to make up the difference locally.
This discussion was information gathering and guidance; there were no formal votes recorded. The committee encouraged PSAPs to be prepared to answer legislators’ budget questions and to contact committee members if they need help explaining local funding.
