Tennessee § 7-86-303 - Budget — Salary and expenses — Funding — Authorized disbursements.

§ 7-86-303. Budget — Salary and expenses — Funding — Authorized disbursements.

The board's budget shall be subject to approval by the general assembly. No member of the board is entitled to a salary for duties performed as a member of the board. Each member is entitled to reimbursement for travel and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties, in accordance with the state comprehensive travel regulations as promulgated by the commissioner of finance and administration and approved by the attorney general and reporter. The board shall be funded by the 911 surcharge established in § 7-86-128. All current funds, including those funds currently in the 911 Emergency Communications Fund, funds collected by the board in future, and interest accrued on these funds shall be deposited in the state treasury in a separate interest-bearing fund to be known as the 911 Emergency Communications Fund. Disbursements from this fund shall be limited solely to the operational and administrative expenses of the board and the purposes as expressed in this part 3. At no time during its existence shall the 911 Emergency Communications Fund, or earnings derived thereof, be used to fund the general expenses of the state, except as authorized by this section. All interest or earnings derived from the fund shall be transferred to the fund when earned, and may be allocated by the board, in accordance with this chapter. In order to maintain adequate 911 funding provided to emergency communications districts, the board shall annually distribute to each emergency communications district a base amount equal to the average of total recurring annual revenue the district received from distributions from the board and from direct remittance of 911 surcharges for fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012; however, in no event shall such distribution be less than the amount the district received in fiscal year 2012. On or before December 1, 2014, the board shall publish on its web site the base amount for each emergency communications district. The board may not reduce the base amount for any emergency communications district unless the local government funding for such emergency communications district is reduced, in which case the board may reduce the base amount by the same amount as the local funding reduction. Any emergency communication district established after January 1, 2015, shall be entitled to receive a base amount from the board in an amount determined by the board. Disbursal of the base amount to emergency communications districts shall be conducted in the following manner: The board shall distribute one-sixth (1/6) of the base amount for each emergency communications district every two (2) months, beginning at the end of the second month of each fiscal year; and Any emergency communications district with a locally established 911 surcharge in effect as of July 1, 2011, less than the maximum allowable surcharge then in effect shall be eligible to apply to the board for an increase in the base amount. The board shall promulgate rules and regulations to facilitate such a request and to set minimum criteria that the emergency communication district must satisfy to obtain increased funding. The board shall not be obligated to increase the base amount if the board lacks sufficient funds or if the board, after reviewing its criteria as set out in its rules, finds the emergency communication district has not met the guidelines. The board's operational expenses shall include the implementation and maintenance of an IP-based next generation 911 network and any future 911 system advancements the board deems necessary; provided, that the board shall provide a report to the information systems council each year to describe any such future 911 system advancements. The board's operational expenses shall also include funding to the Tennessee public utility commission for the Tennessee relay services/telecommunications devices access program (TRS/TDAP), which provides assistance to those Tennesseans whose disabilities interfere with their use of communications services and technologies. Funding provided by the board shall not exceed the total cost of the TRS /TDAP program in 2012 unless approved by the fiscal review committee. Acts 1998, ch. 1108, § 7; 2014, ch. 795, § 6; 2016, ch. 1047, § 5; 2017, ch. 94, § 23. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2014, ch. 795, § 1 provided that the act, which amended this section, shall be known and may be cited as the “911 Funding Modernization and IP Transition Act of 2014”. Amendments. The 2014 amendment, effective January 1, 2015, rewrote (c) and (d) which read: “(c) The board shall be funded through a charge on all commercial mobile radio service, established pursuant to § 7-86-108 .“(d) Any funds collected by the board shall be deposited in the state treasury in a separate interest-bearing fund to be known as the 911 Emergency Communications Fund. Disbursements from this fund shall be limited solely to the operational and administrative expenses of the board and the purposes as expressed in this part. At no time during its existence shall the 911 Emergency Communications Fund be used to fund the general expenses of the state of Tennessee.“(1) The board shall distribute twenty-five percent (25%) of the revenue generated by such a charge to each emergency communications district created either pursuant to § 7-86-105 or this part, based on the proportion of the population of each district to that of the state, according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census. Such funds shall be used at the discretion of each district for the provision of 911 service in accordance with this chapter. Such distribution shall be made thereafter as soon as possible in accordance with this part.“(2) The board shall also use such funds to reimburse emergency communications districts and commercial radio service providers for expenditures to implement, maintain, operate, or enhance statewide wireless enhanced 911 service, in accordance with § 7-86-306(a)(11) .“(3)(A) Any funds collected in excess of the annual fiscal requirements of the board, which shall include the payments to emergency communications districts established in subdivision (d)(1), shall not revert to the general fund. Any unspent funds at the end of a fiscal year shall be carried forward to the next fiscal year to be used as a beginning balance for the fiscal requirements for such fiscal year. The board may, at its discretion, and following policies, procedures, and criteria the board has developed, use any such unspent funds to provide grants for operating and capital expenditures for basic or enhanced 911 service and wireless enhanced 911 service to assist emergency communications districts created either pursuant to § 7-86-105 or this part. Such grants may be renewed by the board:“AFTER providing for all necessary and reasonable operating and administrative expenses of the board, which shall include the payments and grants established in this section;“AND AFTER implementing statewide wireless enhanced 911 service pursuant to standards established by the board, which shall include the present and future costs associated with required and necessary implementation, operation, maintenance, and enhancement of statewide wireless enhanced 911 service pursuant to the federal communications commission order, in accordance with subdivision (d)(2) and § 7-86-306 (a)(10);“AND AFTER establishing 911 service throughout Tennessee pursuant to standards established by the board;“THEN the board may distribute any excess revenue to each emergency communications district created either pursuant to § 7-86-105 or this part, for the purposes of promoting uniform 911 service, and those purposes stated in the law and this section. The board must first determine that such distribution is possible and practicable, does not threaten the solvency of the 911 Emergency Communications Fund, and is consistent with § 7-86-306 .“(B) It is the intent of the general assembly that the board should distribute such excess revenue to emergency communications districts, as long as such distribution is consistent with this section.” and added (e) and (f). The 2016 amendment, in (d), added “, except as authorized by this section” at the end of the penultimate sentence, and added the last sentence. The 2017 amendment substituted “Tennessee public utility commission” for “Tennessee regulatory authority” in the second sentence of (f). Effective Dates. Acts 2014, ch. 795, § 15. January 1, 2015. Acts 2016, ch. 1047, § 7. July 1, 2017. Acts 2017, ch. 94, § 83. April 4, 2017.