Did you know . . .
Texans place roughly 12.2 million 9-1-1
calls in the Lone Star State each year and
35% of these are from wireless phones..
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9-1-1 calls are answered at 600 Public
Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in Texas.
The majority of 9-1-1 calls are first
answered at a police or sheriff's
department, which either responds with a
law enforcement officer or transfers the
call to the fire department, emergency
medical services or the appropriate
emergency responder.
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Texans have access to 9-1-1 systems which
automatically display the telephone
number of the 9-1-1 caller. In addition,
97% of local 9-1-1 programs also have
technology which display the caller's
address, and by 2003, this 9-1-1
enhancement is expected to be available
statewide.
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All 9-1-1 call centers in Texas are prepared
to receive TTY/TDD calls from hearing or
speech-impaired callers, as well as calls
from non-English speaking callers.
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Currently, 9-1-1 can be dialed from any
location in the State of Texas.
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If you would like to find out which
organization manages 9-1-1 services in
your community, you can look that
information up on the CSEC agency web
site at www.911.state.tx.us/programs/
911prog. If you do not have Internet
access, you can call CSEC at (512) 3056911 v/tty and request this information.
Commission on State
Emergency Communications
333 Guadalupe St., Suite 2-212
Austin, Texas 78701
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9-1-1 in Texas
"Where does the $.50 on
my phone bill go?"
Commission on State
Emergency Communications
Coordinating 9-1-1
emergency communications
in the State of Texas
333 Guadalupe St., Suite 2-212
Austin, Texas 78701
512-305-6911 V/TTY • 512-305-6937 FAX
www.911.state.tx.us
Funds for 9-1-1 Services
Telephone customers pay for 9-1-1 services
through a monthly service fee on home,
business and wireless telephone lines, averaging
around $.50 per month depending on where
you live. Consumers also pay a small surcharge
- less than 1% - on any long distance call made
within the State of Texas. This "equalization"
surcharge helps pay for 9-1-1 services in low
populated or rural areas where the monthly
service fee revenue alone cannot adequately
cover the costs of emergency communications.
Who decides where the money goes?
Each of the 24 regional Councils of
Government (COG) submits a detailed strategic
plan for their area of the state to CSEC. The
plan lists exactly how the COG intends to operate
9-1-1 over the next two years and the related
expenses. The COG provides the expenses
seperately for each of their counties. CSEC takes
this information and combines it into one
statewide strategic plan that is submitted to the
Governor and to the Legislative Budget Board
(LBB.)
9-1-1. CSEC works with each of the COGs to
adjust their budgets to fit within the overall
state budget.
What does the 9-1-1 money pay for?
9-1-1 funds pay for the equipment used
by the 9-1-1 calltakers; the database where all
of the caller's phone and location information
are stored; the phone lines which deliver the
call to the answering center; administrative
costs for the local governments; and
administrative costs for CSEC.
The LBB reviews the strategic plan and then
The chart below depicts the percentage of
The money collected for 9-1-1 is deposited
makes recommendations to the Governor and
the total 9-1-1 budget spent for each of the
into an account within the State Treasury. This
Legislature. The Legislature then votes on how
program areas.
money is then allocated by the Texas Legislature
much money to allocate to the entire state for
to the Commission on State Emergency
Communications (CSEC) to distribute back to
the regional programs that run 9-1-1 in Texas.
The treasury account is a dedicated
9-1-1 Budget Breakdown
account - which means the money
Other 9-1-1 Regional
collected for 9-1-1 can only be used to
Expenses
CSEC Operations
CSEC Operations
Regional Planning
6%
fund 9-1-1. However, it does not mean
4%
Commission
that all of the money collected is
9-1-1 Database
Administration
allocated back to CSEC for the 9-1-1
Regional Planning Commission
Maintenance (Address
16%
Maintenance)
program by the Legislature.
Administration
11%
Local 9-1-1 Operations
With assistance from CSEC, local
governments throughout Texas design
and run their own 9-1-1 programs. Local
programs are either operated by one of
24 regional Councils of Government, 24
Emergency Communications Districts, or
city governments (there are 27
municipal 9-1-1 programs). If you
would like to find out which organization
manages 9-1-1 services in your
community, you can look that
information up on the CSEC agency web
site at www.911.state.tx.us/programs/
911prog.
9-1-1 Network
9-1-1 PSAP Equipment
Database
13%
Wireless 9-1-1 Phase I
9-1-1 Network
20%
Database
9-1-1 Database Maintenance
(Address Maintenance)
Wireless 9-1-1 Phase I
15%
9-1-1 PSAP Equipment
15%
Other 9-1-1 Regional Expenses