Hoping to offset the losses from the diminishing landline public service surcharge, the Tompkins County Legislature passed a new law Tuesday to impose a surcharge on prepaid wireless devices.
The new legislation replaces the previous law imposing a monthly surcharge of 30 cents to postpaid wireless devices, and replace it with a similar law that would include a 30-cent surcharge on all prepaid wireless devices while retaining the surcharge on postpaid devices.
The county reports revenues of about $240,000 per year from the current monthly surcharge on postpaid wireless devices. Prepaid devices are estimated to account for 20 percent to 30 percent of the wireless market, which could bring in an additional $40,000 to $60,000 annually to help offset the losses from the surcharge collected from landlines, according to County Director of Emergency Response Lee Shurtleff.
IthacaJournal.com:
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