Nevada committee hears bill to expand uses, balances for 911 surcharge funds

The Assembly Committee on Government Affairs heard testimony April 25 on Senate Bill 208, which would expand permissible uses of county 9‑1‑1 surcharge funds to include construction and upgrading of emergency telephone system facilities and raise fund‑balance caps for larger counties.

Senator John Steinbeck, sponsor of SB208, told the committee that the bill "expands the permissible uses of surcharge revenue to include costs associated with constructing and upgrading facilities for emergency telephone systems," and emphasized the bill does not change the surcharge rate collected from residents. "This bill does not raise the surcharge fees that are charged our citizens as that is controlled at the county level," Steinbeck said.

The bill would increase the maximum fund balance in counties with populations over 700,000 to $15,000,000 and raise the threshold for counties between 100,000 and 700,000 to $7,500,000, changes Steinbeck and supporting witnesses said reflect the rising cost of multi‑million‑dollar projects and recurring charges.

Nut graf: Supporters, including county emergency management and public‑safety officials, told the committee the changes would allow jurisdictions to plan multi‑year capital projects and to construct or upgrade dispatch centers used as public safety answering points. They stressed the measure does not impose a new tax and—after stakeholder discussions—keeps language allowing purchases of law enforcement body cameras under certain local funding choices.

Rich Hogan, chief financial officer for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said Southern Nevada maintains multiple primary public safety answering points and is planning a joint communication center to add geographic redundancy. "Raising the fund balance that can be carried forward from $5 to $15,000,000 is a bit of a practical matter," Hogan said, arguing that a $5 million cap is often insufficient for large projects.

Deputy Fire Chief Brian O'Neil of Clark County Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management, testified that technology and facility improvements that enable Next Generation 9‑1‑1 would let responders reach calls with the right resources more quickly and make 9‑1‑1 a more consistent public good across jurisdictions.

Multiple local governments and public‑safety organizations submitted or offered testimony in support, including the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, Washoe County government affairs liaison Cadence Matejevich, professional firefighters' representative Ryan Beeman, and representatives from the cities of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas. Witnesses noted the bill was amended after stakeholder meetings to (1) clarify facility spending is limited to space used for dispatch (not unrelated parts of a building), (2) restore language concerning body‑worn camera purchases to reflect local funding practices, and (3) raise the fund‑balance thresholds for larger counties.

Committee Chair Considine opened and closed the hearing; the transcript records testimony and questions but no committee vote on SB208 during this session.

Ending: Supporters urged the committee to advance the bill so counties and public‑safety answering points can pursue larger capital projects and keep pace with rapidly changing communications technology. The measure will proceed according to the committee's normal workflow; no final action is recorded in the transcript of this hearing.