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Montezuma County 9‑1‑1 board raises local surcharge to $2.17 to cover rising costs
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Summary
The Montezuma County 9‑1‑1 Authority approved increasing the local 9‑1‑1 surcharge from $1.97 to $2.17, a move staff said will bring roughly $61,000 more annually and help cover equipment and service costs; the change requires carrier notice and a June 1 effective date.
The Montezuma County 9‑1‑1 Authority voted to raise the local emergency telephone surcharge from $1.97 to $2.17 at its quarterly meeting, a 20‑cent increase the presenter said would yield about $5,000 a month.
Lauren, who presented revenue figures for the authority, said the jurisdiction collected $765,409 last year, including $101,805 that came from state prepaid‑phone allocations, and that roughly $59,000 of the state money is earmarked to pay the county’s Lumen 9‑1‑1 line and ECAPS costs. “Currently, we're at a dollar 97. We would be increasing to $2.17, which is the baseline set by the PUC,” she said.
The increase aligns the county with the Public Utilities Commission’s baseline and does not require a PUC hearing; the presenter told the board $2.17 is “as high as you can go without going to a hearing and actually apply for more.” Staff estimated the change would add about $61,000 a year to local revenues but noted some state prepaid funds are already committed to provider contracts and system maintenance.
The board discussed timing and procedural requirements: under PUC rules letters must be sent to carriers 60 days before the rate takes effect. Staff advised that to meet a June 1 effective date the county must issue carrier notices by April 2; county receipts for the higher rate would likely begin to appear in July when carriers submit collections.
Speaker 7 moved and Speaker 4 seconded a resolution (recorded in the meeting as Resolution TBD2026) establishing the new rate; the motion carried when the board voted in favor. The board did not specify an exact vote tally in the transcript.
The change is intended to keep pace with technology and inflationary costs that officials said are increasing the expense of maintaining dispatch and 9‑1‑1 infrastructure. The board’s next step is administrative: send the required carrier notices and file the formal resolution to memorialize the new rate.
