16-9-103. Imposition of tax; liability of user for tax; collection; uncollected amounts; discontinuing service prohibited.

(a) In addition to any other powers for the protection of the public health, a governing body may incur any nonrecurring or recurring costs for the installation, maintenance or operation of a 911 system and may pay these costs by imposing a 911 emergency tax for this service in those portions of the governing body's jurisdiction for which 911 service is to be provided.

(b) In accordance with the provisions of this subsection, and after a public hearing the governing body may, by ordinance in the case of cities and by resolution in the case of counties or special districts, impose a monthly uniform tax on service users within its designated 911 service area in an amount not to exceed seventy-five cents ($.75) per month on each local exchange access line, per wireless communications access or other technological device that under normal operation is designed or routinely used to access 911. Only one (1) governing body may impose a 911 emergency tax for each 911 system. Except as provided by W.S. 16-9-109 for prepaid wireless communication access and regardless of the level at which the tax is set, if an assessment is made on both local exchange access facilities and wireless communications access, the amount of the tax imposed per local exchange access facility and the amount of the tax imposed per wireless communications access or access by other technological device that under normal operation is designed or routinely used to access 911, shall be equal. Except as provided by W.S. 16-9-109, the proceeds of the 911 emergency tax shall be set aside in an enterprise fund or other separate accounts from which the receipts shall be used to pay for the 911 system costs authorized in W.S. 16-9-105, and may be imposed at any time following the execution of an agreement with the provider of the service at the discretion of the governing body.

(c) No 911 emergency tax shall be imposed upon more than one hundred (100) local exchange access lines or their equivalent per customer billing.

(d) Collection of any 911 emergency tax from a service user pursuant to this act shall commence at the time specified by the governing body in accordance with this act. Taxes imposed under this act and required to be collected by the service supplier shall be added to and stated separately in the billings to the service user.

(e) Every billed service user shall be liable for any 911 emergency tax imposed under this act until it has been paid to the service supplier or governing body.

(f) An action to collect taxes under subsection (d) of this section may be brought by or on behalf of the public agency imposing the tax. The service supplier shall annually provide the governing body a list of the amounts uncollected along with the names and addresses of delinquent service users. The service supplier is not liable for uncollected amounts.

(g) Any 911 emergency tax imposed under this act shall be collected at the time charges for the telecommunications are collected under the regular billing practice of the service supplier.

(h) Service shall not be discontinued to any service user by any service supplier for the nonpayment of any tax under this act.

(j) The 911 emergency tax imposed pursuant to this section shall only be imposed upon service users whose address is in those portions of the governing body's jurisdiction for which emergency telephone service shall be provided; however, such 911 emergency tax shall not be imposed upon any state or local governmental entity.

(k) Effective January 1, 2015, and every fiscal year through June 30, 2019, the governing body primarily responsible for the expenditure of revenues collected pursuant to this act shall file with the Wyoming public service commission a statement of its gross receipts and expenditures authorized by this act for the prior fiscal year. The Wyoming public service commission is authorized to promulgate rules in consultation with the governing bodies to develop a statement of revenues and expenditures that, to the maximum extent possible, is uniform across governing bodies.

(m) Except as provided in subsection (k) of this section, this section shall not apply to the 911 emergency tax imposed on prepaid wireless communication access by W.S. 16-9-109.