CAPE COUNTY COMMISSION CHECKS ON ITS OWN 911 TAX

JACKSON -- Don't hang up. Pay up. That's the advice of the Cape Girardeau County Commission, which wants companies providing local telephone service to pay the emergency-911 tax.

County officials are concerned that some telephone companies which provide local service over Southwestern Bell lines are collecting emergency-911 taxes and not passing the money on to the county as required by law.

"We are missing money too," said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, echoing the concerns voiced Tuesday by Scott County officials.

But Jones said Thursday that the commission doesn't know how much money is owed the county.

What Cape County commissioners do know is that Southwestern Bell is collecting and paying the tax.

An accounting firm annually audits Southwestern Bell's records to see if the county is getting the tax money it is owed, Jones said. The check is part of the annual audit of county finances.

Southwestern Bell had refused to provide billing records to the county until about five years ago, Jones said.

The company changed its tune after a Bell employee mistakenly sent the commission billing records, which commissioners refused to return.

"Southwestern Bell has been very cooperative since then," said Jones.

But the commission is concerned with other telephone companies that provide local service over Southwestern Bell lines.

Jones said the commission has asked Southwestern Bell to provide a list of those companies so county officials can check to see if those firms are collecting and paying the tax.

Telephone customers in Cape Girardeau County pay an 8 percent tax on the base charge for local service. That amounts to 73 cents a month for the average residential customer, officials said.

Last year, Cape Girardeau County received nearly $466,000 from the tax, almost all of it from Southwestern Bell.

Through the first six months of this year, the county had received $240,823 to fund emergency-911 telephone service. All but $3,200 was paid by Southwestern Bell.

David Hitt, the county's emergency operations director, serves on the 911 advisory board. Hitt said he doubts there is a large amount of money owed by other telephone firms.