Sec. 772.616. COLLECTION OF FEE. (a) A service supplier or 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 fees imposed on a customer under Section 772.615.

(b) Not later than the 30th day after the last day of the month in which the fees are collected, the service supplier or business service user shall deliver the fees to the district in the manner determined by the district. The district may establish an alternative date for payment of fees under this section, provided that the required payment date is not earlier than the 30th day after the last day of the report period in which the fees are collected. The service supplier or business service user shall file with each payment to the district a receipt in the form prescribed by the district.

(c) Both a service supplier and a business service user under Subsection (a) shall maintain records of the amount of fees the service supplier or business service user collects until at least the second anniversary of the date of collection. The board may require, at the board's expense, an annual audit of the service supplier's or business service user's books and records 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 may retain an administrative fee of two percent of the amount of fees the service supplier 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. 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 and of the amount of the delinquent fee. 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 file legal proceedings against a service user to collect fees not paid by the service user and may establish internal collection procedures and recover the cost of collection from the nonpaying service user. If the district prevails in a legal proceeding filed under this subsection, the court shall award costs, attorney's fees, and interest to be paid by the nonpaying service user. A delinquent fee accrues interest at the legal rate beginning on the date the payment becomes due.

Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 80 (S.B. 1108), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.