A. There is imposed a 911 emergency surcharge in the amount of fifty-one cents ($.51) to be billed to each subscriber access line by a communications service provider, on each active number for a commercial mobile radio service subscriber and on the number of VoIP lines for which the VoIP service provider enables the capacity for simultaneous calls, regardless of actual usage, to be connected to the public switched telephone network during the period for which the fixed charge is imposed. The surcharge is imposed on all subscribers whose place of primary use, as defined in the federal Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, is in New Mexico; provided, however, that the surcharge shall not be imposed upon subscribers receiving reduced rates pursuant to the Low Income Telephone Service Assistance Act [Chapter 63, Article 9C NMSA 1978]; and provided further that the surcharge shall not apply to prepaid wireless communication service; and provided further that a 911 emergency surcharge shall not be assessed on the provision of broadband internet access service.

B. All communications service providers shall be required to bill and collect the surcharge from their subscribers whose places of primary use, as defined in the federal Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, are in New Mexico. The surcharge required to be collected by the communications service provider shall be added to and stated clearly and separately in the billings to the subscriber. The surcharge collected by the communications service provider shall not be considered revenue of the communications service provider.

C. A billed subscriber is liable for payment of the 911 emergency surcharge until it has been paid to the communications service provider.

D. A communications service provider has no obligation to take legal action to enforce the collection of the surcharge; an action may be brought by or on behalf of the department. A communications service provider, upon request and not more than once a year, shall provide to the department a list of the surcharge amounts uncollected, along with the names and addresses of subscribers who carry a balance that can be determined by the communications service provider to be nonpayment of the surcharge. The communications service provider shall not be held liable for uncollected surcharge amounts.

History: Laws 1989, ch. 25, § 5; 1993, ch. 48, § 6; 2001, ch. 110, § 3; 2005, ch. 203, § 3; 2017, ch. 122, § 2.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, imposed a 911 emergency surcharge on certain VoIP lines, clarified that the emergency surcharge is imposed on all subscribers whose place of primary use is in New Mexico, and provided that the surcharge does not apply to prepaid wireless communication service and shall not be assessed on the provision of broadband internet access service; in Subsection A, after "subscriber access line by a", deleted "telecommunications company and" and added "communications service provider", after "radio service subscriber", deleted "whose billing address" and added "and on the number of VoIP lines for which the VoIP service provider enables the capacity for simultaneous calls, regardless of actual usage, to be connected to the public switched telephone network during the period for which the fixed charge is imposed. The surcharge is imposed on all subscribers whose place of primary use, as defined in the federal Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act", and after the semicolon, added the remainder of the subsection; in Subsection B, deleted "Commercial mobile radio" and added "All communications", deleted "Telecommunications companies shall be required to bill and collect the surcharge from their subscribers", in two places, after "The surcharge required to be collected by the", deleted "commercial mobile radio service provider or telecommunications company" and added "communications service provider", after "revenue of the", deleted "commercial mobile radio" and added "communications", after the next occurrence of "service provider", deleted "or telecommunications company"; in Subsection C, after "paid to the", deleted "commercial mobile radio" and added "communications", and after "service provider", deleted "or telecommunications company"; in Subsection D, replaced "commercial mobile radio" with "communications" throughout the subsection, and after each occurrence of "service provider", added "or telecommunications company"; and deleted former Subsection E, which provided a former commencement period for the emergency surcharge.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, increased the surcharge and included each active number for a commercial mobile radio service subscriber whose billing address is in New Mexico as a category upon which the surcharge is assessed; deleted reference to the network and database surcharge; and deleted the former provisions that related to the commencement of the 911 emergency surcharge and the network and database surcharge, the requirement that the local governing body notify the division and the telecommunications company providing local exchange service of the boundaries of the 911 service area and the cost to acquire the 911 emergency service equipment; and required a local governing body that seeks funding for the 911 system to file an application with the division; added Subsection B to provide for the collection of the surcharge by commercial mobile radio service providers and telecommunications companies; added Subsection C to provide that subscribers are liable for the surcharge billed; added Subsection D to provide that commercial mobile radio service providers and telecommunications companies are not liable for payment of the uncollected surcharge and have no obligation to enforce collection and to require them to provide the department with information about uncollected amounts and delinquent subscribers; and added Subsection E to provide that the surcharge shall commence with the first billing period of each subscriber on or after July 1, 2005.

The 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, substituted "to be billed to each subscriber access line by a telecommunications company" for "to be billed by local exchange telephone companies on all local exchange access lines in the state"; substituted "imposed upon subscribers" for "imposed upon local exchange service customers"; substituted "subscriber" for "customer" in two places; and substituted "telecommunications company" for "local exchange telephone company".

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, deleted "Additional Local Surcharge" following "Notification" in the catchline and rewrote this section to the extent that a detailed comparison is impracticable.