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McLennan County court urges Texas Legislature to update wireless 911 fee to support NG911
Summary
McLennan County commissioners voted May 19 to pass a resolution urging the Texas Legislature to raise the statewide wireless 911 service fee and adopt an automatic CPI-based adjustment to fund next‑generation 911 operations and cybersecurity.
McLennan County's Commissioners Court on May 19 approved a resolution urging the Texas Legislature to adjust the statewide wireless 911 service fee to a level sufficient to sustain next‑generation 911 (NG911) systems and to adopt an automatic methodology tied to the consumer price index for future adjustments.
Dustin Chapman read the resolution into the record, noting the county met the statutory NG911 implementation requirement but is facing ongoing operational and lifecycle replacement costs. "It is in the best interest of the citizens of McLennan County to continue to have reliable and dependable access to emergency police, fire, and medical services," Chapman said while reading the text of the resolution.
The resolution cites that the wireless 911 fee has remained at $0.50 per device per month since 1997 and states that the current fee structure is increasingly unsustainable for the emergency communication district that operates under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 772. The court directed that copies of the resolution be transmitted to the McLennan County 911 Emergency Assistance District and to state leaders, including the governor and the presiding officers of the Texas Legislature.
Commissioners emphasized the security, redundancy and cyber‑security costs associated with modern NG911 networks that handle voice, text and multimedia emergency communications. The court made and seconded a motion to approve the resolution; after discussion the court voted to approve the resolution.
No specific numerical amount for a proposed new fee was set in the resolution; the document states any adjustment should be "reasonable, data‑driven, and sufficient" and implemented with oversight and transparency. The resolution also calls for an automatic CPI‑based mechanism to adjust the fee going forward.
Next steps: the county will transmit the resolution to state officials to inform legislative deliberations; any statutory change would require action by the Texas Legislature before the statewide fee is changed.
