The South Dakota 9-1-1 Coordination Board is reminding telephone users 9-1-1 surcharge increases to $1.25 on July 1.
The 2012 Legislature approved to increase the surcharge from 75 cents per month to $1.25 per month. The fee is collected by all monthly billed telephone and wireless service providers, such as CenturyLink, Verizon, Midcontinent Communications, AT&T, Golden West Telecommunications, Knology, Vonage and others.
The Legislature also assessed the 2 percent 9-1-1 surcharge increase on all prepaid wireless services collected at the retail point of sale. It is a rapidly growing segment of wireless phone users through the companies of TracFone, Wal-Mart's Straight Talk service and others.
The surcharge is a fee imposed in virtually every state to pay the cost of operating 9-1-1 public safety dispatch centers.
