Sec. 772.215. COLLECTION OF FEE. (a) Each billed service user is liable for the fee imposed under Section 772.214 until the fee is paid to the service supplier. The fee must be added to and stated separately in the service user's bill from the service supplier. The service supplier shall collect the fee at the same time as the service charge to the service user in accordance with the regular billing practice of the service supplier. A business service user that provides residential facilities and owns or leases a publicly or privately owned telephone switch used to provide telephone service to facility residents shall collect the 9-1-1 emergency service fee and transmit the fees monthly to the district.

(b) The amount collected by a service supplier from the fee is due monthly. The service supplier shall remit the amount collected in a calendar month to the district not later than the 60th day after the last day of the calendar month. With each payment the service supplier shall file a return in a form prescribed by the board.

(c) Both a service supplier and a business service user under Subsection (a) shall maintain records of the amount of fees it collects for at least two years after the date of collection. The board may require at the board's expense an annual audit of a service supplier's books and records or the books and records of a business service user described by Subsection (a) with respect to the collection and remittance of the fees.

(d) A business service user that does not collect and remit the 9-1-1 emergency service fee as required is subject to a civil cause of action under Subsection (g). A sworn affidavit by the district specifying the unremitted fees is prima facie evidence that the fees were not remitted and of the amount of the unremitted fees.

(e) A service supplier is entitled to retain an administrative fee from the amount of fees it collects. The amount of the administrative fee is two percent of the amount of fees it collects under this section.

(f) A service supplier is not required to take any legal action to enforce the collection of the 9-1-1 emergency service fee. However, the service supplier shall provide the district with an annual certificate of delinquency that includes the amount of all delinquent fees and the name and address of each nonpaying service user. The certificate of delinquency is prima facie evidence that a fee included in the certificate is delinquent. A service user account is considered delinquent if the fee is not paid to the service supplier before the 31st day after the payment due date stated on the user's bill from the service supplier.

(g) The district may institute legal proceedings to collect fees not paid and may establish internal collection procedures and recover the cost of collection from the nonpaying service user. If the district prevails in legal proceedings instituted to collect a fee, the court may award the district court costs, attorney's fees, and interest in addition to other amounts recovered. A delinquent fee accrues interest at an annual rate of 12 percent beginning on the date the payment becomes due.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 936, Sec. 12, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 638, Sec. 13, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.