State 911 Programs Face Significant Oversight Challenges, NASNA Says

surcharge receipts before trying to establish a new funding model, NASNA said Wednesday, releasing a paper on challenges and best practices. Many states with 911 programs don’t have broad enough authority to ensure provider accountability, the paper said, with 28 states saying their 911 programs lack authority to ensure every provider collecting the surcharges remits the fee and 25 states saying their programs can’t obtain provider remittance data. Also, 30 state programs lack authority to audit remittances for accuracy, NASNA found. While 12 said other entities have auditing authority, “some indicated that they do not know whether these oversight activities actually occur or not,” NASNA said. “Regardless of who does it, if state statute does not provide for a check and balance, there is simply no way to know whether all providers that are required to remit their 911 fees actually do so. … That lack of basic oversight and enforcement may result in under-collection of funds.” Not all state 911 programs have authority to oversee use of 911 fees, NASNA said. In 12 states, the 911 program lacks authority to obtain PSAP records documenting use of 911 fees, it said. In 15 states, the program lacks authority to audit PSAP records for compliance, it said. In 18 states, the program can’t take enforcement action toward PSAPs where fund misuse is discovered, it said. Some state programs that have authority to oversee and take action against PSAPs lack resources to do it, NASNA said. The FCC estimated diversion led to $223.4 million of 911 fee revenue going to other purposes in 2014, and our May report found the three states said to do the most diversion seemed unlikely to quit the practice soon (see 1605310046).