dattier@jolnet.orpk.il.us (David W. Tamkin) (10/17/89)
Monday morning, October 16, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced
that he would submit to the city council a plan to increase city
telephone taxes by 95c per line per month, earmarked for improvements
to 911 service. Currently there is no such flat charge, simply a
percentage tax rate on local telephone service.
Daley's spokespeople commented that 911 service here has been a mess
for years, and that many of the suburbs charge $1.00 per line per
month, so 95c should not be unreasonable. There were no details about
what is currently wrong or about what specific improvements Daley has
in mind.
(Despite the address, I live in Chicago; the Rosemont post office is
more convenient for my location and travel patterns than any inside
the city.)
David W. Tamkin dattier@jolnet.orpk.il.us {attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813 Rosemont, Illinois 60018-0813 (708) 518-6769 (312) 693-0591clark@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Roger Clark Swann) (10/22/89)
I was shocked to read the posting recently about the $0.95 and $1.00
surcharges being placed on phone lines in the Chicago area for 911
service. Here in the Seattle area the 911 surcharge is only $0.30 per
line, per month. When E-911 service was installed county wide about
seven years ago, the surcharge was $0.50, but after a couple of years,
the County and US West ( then Pacific Northwest Bell ) said the
administration of the system, was costing much less than expected
and the rate was reduced.
As for the issue of privacy, I don't remember ANY outcry regarding
privacy at the time. The installation of the system and the method of
payment were put to a county wide vote and the margin of passage was
overwhelming.
Roger Swann | uucp: uw-beaver!ssc-vax!clark
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