§ 186-f. Public safety communications surcharge. 1. Definitions. As
used in this section, where not otherwise specifically defined and
unless a different meaning is clearly required:

(a) "Place of primary use" has the same meaning as that term is
defined in paragraph twenty-six of subdivision (b) of section eleven
hundred one of this chapter.

(b) "Wireless communications customer" means mobile telecommunications
customer as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph twenty-seven of
subdivision (b) of section eleven hundred one of this chapter, who
contracts for or is the end user of wireless communications service.

(c) "Wireless communications device" means any equipment used to
access a wireless communications service.

(d) "Wireless communications service" means all commercial mobile
services, as that term is defined in section 332(d) of title 47 of the
United States Code, as amended from time to time, including, but not
limited to, all broadband personal communications services, wireless
radio telephone services, geographic area specialized and enhanced
specialized mobile radio services, and incumbent-wide area specialized
mobile radio licensees, which offer real time, two-way voice or data
service that is interconnected with the public switched telephone
network or otherwise provides access to emergency communications
services.

(e) "Wireless communications service supplier" means a home service
provider as defined in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph twenty-seven of
subdivision (b) of section eleven hundred one of this chapter, provided
that the home service provider provides wireless communications service
and has one or more wireless communications customers in New York state.

(f) "Prepaid wireless communications seller" means a person making a
retail sale of prepaid wireless communications service.

(g) "Prepaid wireless communications service" means a prepaid mobile
calling service as defined in paragraph twenty-two of subdivision (b) of
section eleven hundred one of this chapter.

2. Public safety communications surcharge. (a) (1) A surcharge on
wireless communications service provided to a wireless communications
customer with a place of primary use in this state is imposed at the
rate of one dollar and twenty cents per month on each wireless
communications device in service during any part of each month. The
surcharge must be reflected and made payable on bills rendered to the
wireless communications customer for wireless communication service.

(2) A surcharge is imposed on the retail sale of each prepaid wireless
communications service, whether or not any tangible personal property is
sold therewith, at the rate of ninety cents per retail sale. A sale of a
prepaid wireless communications service occurs in this state if the sale
takes place at a seller's business location in the state. If the sale
does not take place at the seller's place of business, it shall be
conclusively determined to take place at the purchaser's shipping
address or, if there is no item shipped, at the purchaser's billing
address, or, if the seller does not have that address, at such address
as approved by the commissioner that reasonably reflects the customer's
location at the time of the sale of the prepaid wireless communications
service.

(b) The surcharges must be reported and paid to the commissioner on a
quarterly basis on or before the twentieth day of the month following
each quarterly period ending on the last day of February, May, August
and November, respectively. The payments must be accompanied by a return
in the form and containing the information the commissioner may
prescribe.

(c) The surcharges must be added as a separate line item to bills
furnished by a wireless communications service supplier to its
customers, or must be added as a separate line item to a sales slip,
invoice, receipt, or other statement of the price, if any, that is
furnished by a prepaid wireless communications seller to a purchaser,
and must be identified as the "public safety communications surcharge".

(d) Each wireless communications service supplier and prepaid wireless
communications seller is entitled to retain, as an administrative fee,
an amount equal to three percent of fifty-eight and three-tenths percent
of the total collections of the surcharges imposed by this section,
provided that the supplier or seller files any required return and
remits the surcharge due to the commissioner on or before its due date.

3. Exemption. Lifeline consumers shall be exempt from the surcharges
imposed by this section.

4. Applicable provisions. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, the surcharges imposed under this section shall be administered
and collected by the commissioner in a like manner as the taxes imposed
by article twenty-eight of this chapter. All the provisions of article
twenty-eight of this chapter, including the provisions relating to
definitions, exemptions, returns, personal liability for the tax,
collection of tax from the customer, payment of tax, and the
administration of the taxes imposed by such article, shall apply to the
surcharges imposed under the authority of this section so far as those
provisions can be made applicable to the surcharges imposed by this
section, with such modifications as may be necessary in order to adapt
the language of those provisions to the surcharges imposed by this
section. Those provisions shall apply with the same force and effect as
if the language of those provisions had been set forth in full in this
section, except to the extent that any of those provisions is either
inconsistent with a provision of this section or is not relevant to the
surcharge imposed by this section. For purposes of this section, any
reference in this chapter to a tax or the taxes imposed by article
twenty-eight of this chapter shall be deemed also to refer to the
surcharges imposed by this section unless a different meaning is clearly
required.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this
subdivision:

(1) the exemptions provided for in section eleven hundred sixteen of
this chapter, other than the exemptions in paragraphs one, two and three
of subdivision (a) of that section, shall not apply to the surcharges
imposed by this section.

(2) the credit provided in subdivision (f) of section eleven hundred
thirty-seven of this chapter shall not apply to this section.

5. Deposits of surcharge monies collected and received.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, all surcharge
monies collected and received by the commissioner under this section
must be deposited daily to the credit of the comptroller with those
responsible banks, banking houses or trust companies the comptroller may
designate. Those deposits must be kept separate and apart from all other
monies in the possession of the comptroller. The comptroller must
require adequate security from all such depositories. Of the total
revenue collected or received under this section, the comptroller must
retain in the comptroller's hands an amount determined by the
commissioner to be necessary for refunds under this section, out of
which the comptroller will pay any refunds to which taxpayers are
entitled under the provisions of this section. The comptroller, after
reserving the amount to pay refunds, must, on or before the tenth day of
each month, pay all surcharge monies collected and received under this
section and remaining to the comptroller's credit as follows:

(a) forty-one and seven-tenths of the revenues collected and received
under this section into the state general fund; and

(b) after deducting the amount paid under paragraph (a) of this
subdivision and the amount retained by wireless communications suppliers
pursuant to paragraph (d) of subdivision two of this section, the
balance of the revenues collected under this section into the statewide
public safety communications account of the miscellaneous special
revenue fund, created pursuant to section ninety-seven-qq of the state
finance law.

6. Distribution. The monies collected from the surcharge imposed by
this section must be distributed to include the following:

(a) The sum of twenty-five million five hundred thousand dollars must
be allocated to the state police pursuant to appropriation by the
legislature annually;

(b) The sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars must be
deposited into the New York state emergency services revolving loan fund
annually; provided, however, that such sums shall not be deposited for
state fiscal years two thousand eleven--two thousand twelve, two
thousand twelve--two thousand thirteen, two thousand fourteen--two
thousand fifteen, two thousand fifteen--two thousand sixteen, two
thousand sixteen--two thousand seventeen, two thousand seventeen--two
thousand eighteen, two thousand eighteen--two thousand nineteen, two
thousand nineteen--two thousand twenty, two thousand twenty--two
thousand twenty-one, two thousand twenty-one--two thousand twenty-two,
two thousand twenty-two--two thousand twenty-three, and two thousand
twenty-three--two thousand twenty-four;

(c) Up to the sum of seventy-five million dollars annually may be used
for the provision of grants or reimbursements to counties for the
development, consolidation, or operation of public safety communications
systems or networks designed to support statewide interoperable
communications for first responders, to be distributed pursuant to
standards and guidelines issued by the state. Annual grants may consider
costs borne by a municipality related to the issuance of local public
safety communications bonds pursuant to section twenty-four hundred
thirty-two of the public authorities law, when the municipality has
qualified as an approved participant in a statewide interoperable
communications system under the standards and guidelines issued by the
state, and maintains compliance with such standards and guidelines. The
grant amount will be prescribed pursuant to an agreement with the
municipality, and may not exceed thirty percent of the annual cost borne
by the municipality in relation to such bonds;

(d) To provide the costs of debt service for bonds and notes issued to
finance expedited deployment funding pursuant to the provisions of
section three hundred thirty-three of the county law and section sixteen
hundred eighty-nine-h of the public authorities law; and

(e) services and expenses that support the operations and mission of
the division of homeland security and emergency services as appropriated
by the legislature.

(g) The sum of ten million dollars annually shall be used for the
provision of grants to counties for costs related to the operations of
public safety dispatch centers, to be distributed pursuant to a plan
developed by the commissioner of homeland security and emergency
services and approved by the director of the budget. Such plan may
consider such factors as population density and emergency call volume.