To amend sections 4931.61, 4931.62, 4931.63, 4931.64, 4931.65, 4931.66, and 4931.70 of the Revised Code to extend until 2013 the wireless 9-1-1 charge, to raise the minimum, annual fund disbursement amount for each county from $25,000 to $90,000, and to broaden local uses of that revenue.

Section 1. That sections 4931.61, 4931.62, 4931.63, 4931.64, 4931.65, 4931.66, and 4931.70 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 4931.61. (A) Beginning on the first day of the third month following the effective date of this section May 6, 2005, and ending December 31, 2008 2012, there is hereby imposed, on each wireless telephone number of a wireless service subscriber who has a billing address in this state, a wireless 9-1-1 charge of thirty-two cents per month. The subscriber shall pay the wireless 9-1-1 charge for each such wireless telephone number assigned to the subscriber. Each wireless service provider and each reseller of wireless service shall collect the wireless 9-1-1 charge as a specific line item on each subscriber's monthly bill. The line item shall be expressly designated "State/Local Wireless-E911 Costs ($0.32/billed number)." If a provider bills a subscriber for any wireless enhanced 9-1-1 costs that the provider may incur, the charge or amount is not to appear in the same line item as the state/local line item. If the charge or amount is to appear in its own, separate line item on the bill, the charge or amount shall be expressly designated "[Name of Provider] Federal Wireless-E911 Costs." For any However, in the case of the thirty-two cent wireless 9-1-1 charge payable by a subscriber of prepaid wireless service, a wireless service provider or reseller shall collect the wireless 9-1-1 charge in do any of the following manners:

(1) At Collect the charge at the point of sale. For purposes of prepaid wireless services, point of sale includes the purchasing initial airtime minutes and at the time of each later purchase of additional airtime minutes by the subscriber along with any necessary activation of those minutes. If the provider or reseller is unable to track such transactions, the provider or reseller shall charge the thirty-two cent wireless 9-1-1 charge on each point-of-sale transaction, regardless of the number of separate airtime minute purchases that occur within the same month.

(2) If the subscriber has a positive account balance on the last day of the month and has used the service during that month, collect the charge by reducing that balance not later than the end of the first week of the following month by the amount of the charge or an equivalent number of air time airtime minutes;

(3) By dividing Divide the total earned prepaid wireless telephone revenue from sales within this state received by the wireless service provider or reseller during the month by fifty, multiplying the quotient by thirty-two cents, and remitting remit this amount pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 4931.62 of the Revised Code.

(B) The wireless 9-1-1 charge shall be exempt from state or local taxation.

Sec. 4931.62. (A)(1) Beginning with the second month following the month in which the wireless 9-1-1 charge is first imposed under section 4931.61 of the Revised Code, a wireless service provider or reseller of wireless service, not later than the last day of each month, shall remit the full amount of all wireless 9-1-1 charges it collected for the second preceding calendar month to the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, with the exception of charges equivalent to the amount authorized as a billing and collection fee under division (A)(2) of this section. In doing so, the provider or reseller may remit the requisite amount in any reasonable manner consistent with its existing operating or technological capabilities, such as by customer address, location associated with the wireless telephone number, or another allocation method based on comparable, relevant data. If the wireless service provider or reseller receives a partial payment for a bill from a wireless service subscriber, the wireless service provider or reseller shall apply the payment first against the amount the subscriber owes the wireless service provider or reseller and shall remit to the coordinator such lesser amount, if any, as results from that invoice.

(2) A wireless service provider or reseller of wireless service may retain as a billing and collection fee two per cent of the total wireless 9-1-1 charges it collects in any month and shall account to the coordinator for the amount retained.

(3) The coordinator shall return to, or credit against the next month's remittance of, a wireless service provider or service reseller the amount of any remittances the coordinator determines were erroneously submitted by the provider or reseller.

(B) Each subscriber on which a wireless 9-1-1 charge is imposed under division (A) of section 4931.61 of the Revised Code is liable to the state for the amount of the charge. If a wireless service provider or reseller fails to collect the charge under that division from a subscriber of prepaid wireless service, or fails to bill any other subscriber for the charge, the wireless service provider or reseller is liable to the state for the amount not collected or billed. If, except that a wireless service provider or reseller that collects charges under that division and fails to remit the money to the coordinator, the wireless service provider or reseller is liable to the state for any amount so collected and not remitted. Additionally, in the case of prepaid wireless services, the provider or reseller is liable to the state for the amount of the charge assessed in the manner chosen by the provider under division (A) of section 4931.61 of the Revised Code, including those occurring through a third-party vendor or retail outlet selling the provider's or reseller's prepaid wireless services.

(C)(1) If the public utilities commission has reason to believe that a wireless service provider or reseller has failed to bill, collect, or remit the wireless 9-1-1 charge as required by divisions (A)(1) and (B) of this section or has retained more than the amount authorized under division (A)(2) of this section, and after written notice to the provider or reseller, the commission may audit the provider or reseller for the sole purpose of making such a determination. The audit may be of include, but is not limited to, a sample of the provider's or reseller's billings, collections, remittances, or retentions for a representative period, and the commission shall make a good faith effort to reach agreement with the provider or reseller in selecting that sample.

(2) Upon written notice to the wireless service provider or reseller, the commission, by order after completion of the audit, may make an assessment against the provider or reseller if, pursuant to the audit, the commission determines that the provider or reseller has failed to bill, collect, or remit the wireless 9-1-1 charge as required by divisions (A)(1) and (B) of this section or has retained more than the amount authorized under division (A)(2) of this section. The assessment shall be in the amount of any remittance that was due and unpaid on the date notice of the audit was sent by the commission to the provider or reseller or, as applicable, in the amount of the excess amount under division (A)(2) of this section retained by the provider or reseller as of that date.

(3) The portion of any assessment not paid within sixty days after the date of service by the commission of the assessment notice under division (C)(2) of this section shall bear interest from that date until paid at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of the Revised Code. That interest may be collected by making an assessment under division (C)(2) of this section. An assessment under this division and any interest due shall be remitted in the same manner as the wireless 9-1-1 charge.

(4) An assessment is final and due and payable and shall be remitted to the commission unless the assessed party petitions for rehearing under section 4903.10 of the Revised Code. The proceedings of the commission specified in division (C)(4) of this section are subject to and governed by Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code, except that the court of appeals of Franklin county has exclusive, original jurisdiction to review, modify, or vacate an order of the commission under division (C)(2) of this section. The court shall hear and determine such appeal in the same manner and under the same standards as the Ohio supreme court hears and determines appeals under Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code.

The judgment of the court of appeals is final and conclusive unless reversed, vacated, or modified on appeal. Such an appeal may be made by the commission or the person to whom the order under division (C)(2) of this section was issued and shall proceed as in the case of appeals in civil actions as provided in Chapter 2505. of the Revised Code.

(5) After an assessment becomes final, if any portion of the assessment remains unpaid, including accrued interest, a certified copy of the commission's entry making the assessment final may be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas in the county in which the place of business of the assessed party is located. If the party maintains no place of business in this state, the certified copy of the entry may be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas of Franklin county. Immediately upon the filing, the clerk shall enter a judgment for the state against the assessed party in the amount shown on the entry. The judgment may be filed by the clerk in a loose-leaf book entitled "special judgments for wireless 9-1-1 charges" and shall have the same effect as other judgments. The judgment shall be executed upon the request of the commission.

(6) An assessment under this division does not discharge a subscriber's liability to reimburse the provider or reseller for the wireless 9-1-1 charge. If, after the date of service of the audit notice under division (C)(1) of this section, a subscriber pays a wireless 9-1-1 charge for the period covered by the assessment, the payment shall be credited against the assessment.

(7) All money collected by the commission under this division shall be paid to the treasurer of state, for deposit to the credit of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund.

Sec. 4931.63.  (A) There is hereby created the wireless 9-1-1 administrative fund in the state treasury. A sufficient percentage, determined by the chairperson of the public utilities commission but not to exceed four per cent through the first full fiscal year and two per cent thereafter, of the periodic remittances of the wireless 9-1-1 charge under section 4931.62 of the Revised Code shall be deposited to the credit of the fund, to be used by the commission to cover such nonpayroll costs and, at the discretion of the commission such payroll costs, of the commission as are incurred in assisting the coordinator in carrying out sections 4931.60 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code and in conducting audits under division (C) of section 4931.62 of the Revised Code. In addition, the compensation of the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, and any expenses of the coordinator in carrying out those sections, shall be paid from the fund.

(B) There is hereby created the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund, which shall be in the custody of the treasurer of state but shall not be part of the state treasury. The periodic remittances of the wireless 9-1-1 charge remaining after the deposit required by division (A) of this section shall be deposited to the credit of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund. The treasurer of state shall deposit or invest the moneys in this fund in accordance with Chapter 135. of the Revised Code and any other provision of law governing public moneys of the state as defined in section 135.01 of the Revised Code. The treasurer of state shall credit the interest earned to the fund. The treasurer of state shall disburse money from the fund solely upon order of the coordinator as authorized under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code. Annually, until the fund is depleted, the treasurer of state shall certify to the coordinator the amount of moneys in the treasurer of state's custody belonging to the fund.

Sec. 4931.64. (A) Prior to the first disbursement under this section and annually thereafter not later than the twenty-fifth day of January, until the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund is depleted, the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator shall do both of the following for the purposes of division (B) of this section:

(1) Determine, for a county that has adopted a final plan under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code for the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 within the territory covered by the countywide 9-1-1 system established under the plan, the number of wireless telephone numbers assigned to wireless service subscribers that have billing addresses within the county. That number shall be adjusted between any two counties so that the number of wireless telephone numbers assigned to wireless service subscribers who have billing addresses within any portion of a municipal corporation that territorially lies primarily in one of the two counties but extends into the other county is added to the number already determined for that primary county and subtracted for the other county.

(2) Determine each county's proportionate share of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund for the ensuing calendar year on the basis set forth in division (B) of this section; estimate the ensuing calendar year's fund balance; compute each such county's estimated proceeds for the ensuing calendar year based on its proportionate share and the estimated fund balance; and certify such amount of proceeds to the county auditor of each such county.

(B) The Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, in accordance with this division and not later than the last day of each month, shall disburse the amount credited as remittances to the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund during the second preceding month, plus any accrued interest on the fund. Such a disbursement shall be paid to each county treasurer. The amount to be so disbursed monthly to a particular county shall be a proportionate share of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund balance based on the ratio between the following:

(1) The number of wireless telephone numbers determined for the county by the coordinator pursuant to division (A) of this section;

(2) The total number of wireless telephone numbers assigned to subscribers who have billing addresses within this state. To the extent that the fund balance permits, the disbursements to each county shall total at least twenty-five ninety thousand dollars annually.

(C)(1) Each county that has not adopted a final plan for the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code shall be deemed as having done so for the purposes of making the determinations and disbursements under divisions (A)(1) and (2) and (B) of this section through the third full calendar year following the effective date of this section May 6, 2005.

(2) For each county described in division (C)(1) of this section and through the third full calendar year following the effective date of this section May 6, 2005, the coordinator shall retain in the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund an amount equal to what would be the county's disbursements under division (B) of this section if it had adopted such a final plan, plus any related accrued interest, to be set aside for that county until the board of county commissioners notifies the coordinator that a final plan for the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 has been adopted, but not beyond the end of such third year. Provided notification is made prior to the end of that third year, the coordinator shall disburse and pay to the county treasurer, not later than the last day of the month following the month the notification is made, the total amount so set aside for the county plus any related accrued interest. After the end of the third full calendar year following the effective date of this section May 6, 2005, any money and interest so retained and not disbursed as authorized under this division shall be available for disbursement only as provided in division (B) of this section.

(D) Immediately upon receipt by a county treasurer of a disbursement under division (B) or (C) of this section, the county shall disburse, in accordance with the allocation formula set forth in the final plan, the amount the county so received to any other subdivisions in the county that pay the costs of a public safety answering point providing wireless enhanced 9-1-1 under the plan.

(E) Nothing in sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code affects the authority of a subdivision operating or served by a public safety answering point of a 9-1-1 system to use, as provided in the final plan for the system or in an agreement under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code, any other authorized revenue of the subdivision for the purposes of providing basic or enhanced 9-1-1.

Sec. 4931.65.  (A) A countywide 9-1-1 system receiving a disbursement under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code shall provide countywide wireless enhanced 9-1-1 in accordance with sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code beginning as soon as reasonably possible after receipt of the first disbursement or, if that service is already implemented, shall continue to provide such service. Except as provided in divisions (B) and (C) of this section, disbursement shall be used solely for the purpose of paying either or both any of the following:

(1) Any costs of designing, upgrading, purchasing, leasing, programming, installing, testing, or maintaining the necessary data, hardware, software, and trunking required for the public safety answering point or points of the 9-1-1 system to provide wireless enhanced 9-1-1, which costs are incurred before or on or after the effective date of this section May 6, 2005, and consist of such additional costs of the 9-1-1 system over and above any costs incurred to provide wireline 9-1-1. On or after the provision of technical and operational standards pursuant to division (D)(1) of section 4931.68 of the Revised Code, a subdivision shall consider the standards before incurring any costs described in this division.

(2) Any costs of training the staff of the public safety answering point or points to provide wireless enhanced 9-1-1, which costs are incurred before or on or after the effective date of this section and consist of such additional costs of the 9-1-1 system over and above any costs incurred to provide wireline 9-1-1 May 6, 2005;

(3) Public education regarding enhanced 9-1-1.

(B) Beginning one year following the imposition of the wireless 9-1-1 charge under section 4931.61 of the Revised Code, a subdivision that certifies to the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator that it has paid the costs described in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section and is providing countywide wireless enhanced 9-1-1 may use disbursements received under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code to pay any of its personnel costs of one or more public safety answering points providing countywide wireless enhanced 9-1-1.

(C) After receiving its April 2009, disbursement under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code, a subdivision may use any remaining balance of disbursements it received under that section to pay any of its costs of providing countywide wireless 9-1-1, including the personnel costs of one or more public safety answering points providing that service.

(D) The costs described in divisions (A), (B), and (C) of this section may include any such costs payable pursuant to an agreement under division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4931.66.  (A)(1) A wireless service provider telephone company, the state highway patrol as described in division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, and each subdivision operating one or more public safety answering points for a countywide system providing wireless 9-1-1, shall provide the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator with such information as the coordinator requests for the purposes of carrying out the coordinator's duties under sections 4931.60 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, duties regarding the collection of the wireless 9-1-1 charge and regarding the provision of a report or recommendation under section 4931.70 of the Revised Code.

(2) A wireless service provider shall provide an official, employee, agent, or representative of a subdivision operating a public safety answering point, or of the state highway patrol as described in division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, with such technical, service, and location information as the official, employee, agent, or representative requests for the purpose of providing wireless 9-1-1.

(3) A subdivision operating one or more public safety answering points of a 9-1-1 system, and a telephone company, shall provide to the Ohio 9-1-1 council such information as the council requires for the purpose of making any recommendation or report pursuant to carrying out its duties under division (D)(2) of section 4931.68 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) Any information provided under division (A) of this section that consists of trade secrets as defined in section 1333.61 of the Revised Code or of information regarding the customers, revenues, expenses, or network information of a telephone company shall be confidential and does not constitute a public record for the purpose of section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(2) The public utilities commission, the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, and any official, employee, agent, or representative of the commission, of the state highway patrol as described in division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, or of a subdivision operating a public safety answering point, while acting or claiming to act in the capacity of the commission or coordinator or such official, employee, agent, or representative, shall not disclose any information provided under division (A) of this section regarding a telephone company's customers, revenues, expenses, or network information. Nothing in division (B)(2) of this section precludes any such information from being aggregated and included in any report required under section 4931.70 or division (D)(2) of section 4931.69 of the Revised Code, provided the aggregated information does not identify the number of any particular company's customers or the amount of its revenues or expenses or identify a particular company as to any network information.

Sec. 4931.70. On the first day of By November preceding the 2007-2009 budget biennium 30, 2011, the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator shall submit a report to the general assembly, in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code, that contains both of the following:

(A) A review of the implementation and provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 in this state and a description of how moneys disbursements from the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund have been used. In preparing the report, the coordinator shall consult with the wireless 9-1-1 advisory board.

(B) The coordinator's recommendation for the coming budget biennium of any change in the amount of the wireless 9-1-1 charge and the basis for that recommendation. The recommendation shall reflect the minimum amount necessary during the coming budget biennium, given any balance in the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund to be carried over to that biennium and the projected revenue from the charge, to fully cover the costs described in division (A) of section 4931.65 of the Revised Code as projected for that biennium. The amount also shall reflect the minimum amount necessary for the wireless 9-1-1 charge to cover the costs described in division (A) of section 4931.63 of the Revised Code as projected for the biennium, given the wireless 9-1-1 administrative fund balance to be carried over. In making a recommendation under this division, the coordinator shall consider any recommendation of the wireless 9-1-1 advisory board.

Section 2. That existing sections 4931.61, 4931.62, 4931.63, 4931.64, 4931.65, 4931.66, and 4931.70 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.