STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7827--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 28, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARCLAY, OAKS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Local Governments -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the county law, in relation to communication service
surcharges applied to Oswego county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The county law is amended by adding a new section 309 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 309. Establishment of county of Oswego wireless surcharge. 1.
4 Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary, the county of
5 Oswego, acting through its local county legislative body, is hereby
6 authorized and empowered to adopt, amend or repeal local laws to impose
7 a surcharge in an amount not to exceed thirty cents per month on wire-
8 less communications service in Oswego county. The surcharge shall be
9 imposed on each wireless communications device and shall be reflected
10 and made payable on bills rendered for wireless communications service
11 that is provided to a customer whose place of primary use is within the
12 county. For purposes of this section, the term "place of primary use"
13 shall mean the street address that is representative of where the
14 customer's use of the wireless communications service primarily occurs,
15 which address must be: (a) the residential street address or the primary
16 business street address of the customer; and (b) within the licensed
17 service area of the wireless communications service supplier.
18 2. Any local law adopted pursuant to this section shall state the
19 amount of the surcharge and the date on which the wireless communi-
20 cations service supplier shall begin to add such surcharge to the bill-
21 ings of its customers. Any wireless communications service supplier
22 within Oswego county which has imposed a surcharge pursuant to the
23 provisions of this section shall be given a minimum of forty-five days
24 written notice prior to the date it shall begin to add such surcharge to
25 the billings of its customers or prior to any modification to or change
26 in the surcharge amount.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10480-03-5
A. 7827--A 2
1 3. (a) Each wireless communications service supplier serving Oswego
2 county shall act as collection agent for the county and shall remit the
3 funds collected pursuant to a surcharge imposed under the provisions of
4 this section to the chief fiscal officer of Oswego county every month.
5 Such funds shall be remitted no later than thirty days after the last
6 business day of the month.
7 (b) Each wireless communications service supplier shall be entitled to
8 retain, as an administrative fee, an amount equal to two percent of its
9 collections of a surcharge imposed under the provisions of this section.
10 (c) Any surcharge required to be collected by a wireless communi-
11 cations service supplier shall be added to and stated separately in its
12 billings to customers.
13 (d) Each wireless communications service customer who is subject to
14 the provisions of this section shall be liable to Oswego county for the
15 surcharge until it has been paid to Oswego county except that payment to
16 a wireless communications service supplier is sufficient to relieve the
17 customer from further liability for such surcharge.
18 (e) No wireless communications service supplier shall have a legal
19 obligation to enforce the collection of any surcharge imposed under the
20 provisions of this section, provided, however, that whenever the wire-
21 less communications service supplier remits the funds collected to Oswe-
22 go county, it shall also provide Oswego county with the name and address
23 of any customer refusing or failing to pay a surcharge imposed under the
24 provisions of this section and shall state the amount of such surcharge
25 remaining unpaid.
26 (f) Each wireless communications service supplier shall annually
27 provide to Oswego county an accounting of the surcharge amounts billed
28 and collected.
29 4. All surcharge monies remitted to Oswego county by a wireless commu-
30 nications service supplier shall be expended only upon authorization of
31 the local county legislative body and only for payment of eligible wire-
32 less 911 service costs as defined in subdivision sixteen of section
33 three hundred twenty-five of this chapter. The county of Oswego shall
34 separately account for and keep adequate books and records of the amount
35 and source of all such monies and of the amount and object or purpose of
36 all expenditures thereof. If, at the end of any fiscal year, the total
37 amount of all such monies exceeds the amount necessary for payment of
38 the above mentioned costs in such fiscal year, such excess shall be
39 reserved and carried over for the payment of those costs in the follow-
40 ing fiscal year.
41 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that
42 the provisions of subdivision 1 of section 309 of the county law, as
43 added by section one of this act shall apply to bills rendered to wire-
44 less communications service customers by a wireless communications
45 service supplier on and after the expiration of the notice period
46 required pursuant to the provisions of subdivision 2 of such section
47 309; provided further, that a wireless communications service supplier
48 may treat the address used by such supplier for any wireless communi-
49 cations customer under a service contract or agreement in effect on the
50 effective date of the local law imposing such surcharge, as that wire-
51 less communications customer's place of primary use for the remaining
52 term of such service contract or agreement, excluding any extension or
53 renewal of such service contract or agreement, for purposes of determin-
54 ing the taxing jurisdiction with respect to taxes on wireless communi-
55 cations service.
