65.7629 Powers and duties of board.

Loading PDF...

Page 1 of 3 65.7629 Powers and duties of board. The board shall administer the provisions of KRS 65.7621 to 65.7643, and shall have the following powers and duties: (1) To review, evaluate, and approve or disapprove the plans or plan modifications that are submitted to the board for complying with the wireless E911 service requirements established by the FCC order and by any rules or regulations which are or may be adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in carrying out the FCC order; (2) To develop standards to be followed by the board in reviewing, evaluating, approving, or disapproving the plans or plan modifications that are submitted to the board; (3) To collect the CMRS service charge from each CMRS connection: (a) With a place of primary use, as defined in 4 U.S.C. sec. 124, within the Commonwealth; or (b) For prepaid CMRS connections: 1. With a place of primary use, as defined in 4 U.S.C. sec. 124, within the Commonwealth; or 2. With a geographical location associated with the first six (6) digits, or NPA/NXX, of the mobile telephone number is inside the geographic boundaries of the Commonwealth. The CMRS service charge shall be seventy cents ($0.70) per month per CMRS connection, and shall be collected in accordance with KRS 65.7635 beginning August 15, 1998. The amount of the CMRS service charge shall not be increased except by act of the General Assembly; (4) To review the rate of the CMRS service charge at least once every twenty-four (24) months and, at its discretion, to decrease the rate or recommend that the General Assembly increase the rate if the board determines that changing the rate is necessary to achieve the purposes of KRS 65.7621 to 65.7643. The first cost study shall be completed on or before July 1, 1999, and shall be submitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the board shall recommend, on the basis of the cost study, whether legislation to increase the CMRS service charge should be proposed during the 2000 Regular Session of the General Assembly; (5) To administer and maintain the CMRS fund according to the provisions of KRS 65.7627, and promptly to deposit all revenues from the CMRS service charge into the CMRS fund; (6) To make disbursements from the CMRS fund, according to the allocations and requirements established in KRS 65.7631; (7) To establish procedures and guidelines to be followed by the board in reviewing, evaluating, and approving or disapproving disbursements from the CMRS fund and requests for disbursements made in accordance with KRS 65.7631; Page 2 of 3 (8) To resolve conflicts regarding reimbursable costs and expenses under KRS 65.7631 (3) and (4); (9) To submit annual reports to the Auditor of Public Accounts no later than sixty (60) days after the close of each fiscal year, which shall provide an accounting for all CMRS service charges deposited into the CMRS fund during the preceding fiscal year and all disbursements to CMRS providers and PSAPs during the preceding fiscal year; (10) To employ consultants, engineers, and other persons and employees as may be, in the judgment of the board, essential to the board's operations, functions, and responsibilities, and to fix and pay their compensation from funds available to the CMRS board; (11) To acquire, by gift, purchase, installment purchase, or lease, any equipment necessary to carry out the board's purposes and duties; (12) To retain any and all information, including all proprietary information, that is submitted to the board by CMRS providers and PSAPs, for the purposes of maintaining it and verifying its accuracy; (13) To retain, with approval by the Auditor of Public Accounts, an independent certified public accountant who shall audit, once every twenty-four (24) months, the books of the board, CMRS providers, and PSAPs eligible to request or receive disbursements from the CMRS fund under KRS 65.7631 for the following purposes: (a) To verify the accuracy of collection, receipts, and disbursements of all revenues derived from the CMRS service charge and the number of wireless E911 calls received by each PSAP eligible to request or receive disbursements from the CMRS fund; (b) To determine whether the revenues generated by the CMRS service charge equal, exceed, or are less than the costs incurred in order to comply with the FCC order; and (c) To determine the sufficiency of the funds currently being withheld for administrative purposes under KRS 65.7631(1). The independent certified public accountant shall make a report of the audits to the board and to the appropriate chief executive officer or officers of the CMRS providers and PSAPs. The board shall incorporate the auditor's findings in its studies of the CMRS service charge required by subsection (4) of this section. All information with respect to the audits shall be released to the public or published only in aggregate amounts which do not identify or allow identification of numbers of subscribers or revenues attributable to individual CMRS providers; (14) To ensure that all carriers have an equal opportunity to participate in the wireless E911 system; (15) To ensure that wireless E911 systems are compatible with wireline E911 systems; (16) To determine the appropriate method for disbursing funds to PSAP's based on wireless workload under KRS 65.7631(3)(b); Page 3 of 3 (17) To develop standards and protocols for the improvement and increased efficiency of 911 services in Kentucky; and (18) To provide direct grants or state matches for federal, state, or private grants for the establishment or improvement of the 911 emergency telecommunications system in the Commonwealth. Effective: July 12, 2006 History: Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 219, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 69, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2001 Ky. Acts ch. 42, sec. 1, effective June 21, 2001. -- Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 535, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1998. Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2002). The amendments made to subsection (3) of this statute in 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 69, sec. 3, "take effect for customer service bills issued after August 1, 2002." 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 69, sec. 6.