Some Colorado residents will see increase in 911 surcharge fee beginning in February
Starting in February, some Colorado residents will see an increased 911 surcharge on their phone bills. It's to support and enhance critical emergency communications between community members and dispatchers.
Cathy Raley, the executive director of the Arapahoe County 911 Authority, said everyone has the 911 surcharge on their phone bill. It appears as a separate line item, whether it's a landline, prepaid phone or a cell phone.
"We are responsible for that funding, and we use those funds to provide technology and support to the six 911 centers that are within the Arapahoe County 911 Authority," said Raley.
Beginning in February, Arapahoe County residents will see a 55 cent per month increase in the 911 surcharge. The current surcharge of 70 cents per month has been in place since 2017, and will jump to $1.25 per month.
"Taking a look at everything that is heading towards 911, all the technology changes, the use of the cloud and cyber security, looking at our projections for the next five to 10 years, we realized that we are going to need more funding," said Raley.
Raley said the increased surcharge will support and enhance emergency communications, plus dispatchers can identify locations of calls faster, which improves response and accuracy when calling 911.
"Now, the technology that is coming out enables the dispatchers to be able to locate that cell phone with pinpoint accuracy. Even if somebody cannot speak for one reason or another, they're able to get an address for that, or a location on the map, and dispatch emergency services to that location," said Raley.
When calling 911, residents realize that every second matters. Some residents say it's a small fee for a large benefit.
"I support it. We need a good response time, and we need to know that we can call 911 and get help as soon as possible," said Whitney Thomas, an Arapahoe County resident. "It's a very minor charge for what you get for it."
"I think it's a great thing, because if someone is in danger, we want to know that we have these services available," said another resident. "It could save somebody's life."
The surcharge increase includes residents in Arapahoe County and the town of Bennett, but does not include Aurora.
Part of improving communications technology is also the new county-wide emergency notification system, called ArapAlert. The six agencies within the Arapahoe County 911 Authority got the new emergency notification system in October, which provides improved and quicker communication to community members during emergencies, for example, wildfires, evacuations, hazmat incidents and shelter-in-place orders. Residents are encouraged to sign up for ArapAlert here.