CITY OF VANCOUVER
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: |
November 12, 2003 | |
Author: |
Ken Bayne | |
Phone No.: |
873-7223 | |
RTS No.: |
03762 | |
CC File No.: |
3603 | |
Meeting Date: |
November 20, 2003 |
TO: |
Standing Committee on City Service and Budgets Committee |
FROM: |
City Manager |
SUBJECT: |
Transfer of Responsibility for E911 Service in the Lower Mainland |
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council advise the Greater Vancouver Regional District that it favours the transfer of administrative and financial responsibility for the regional E911 Service to E-Comm, including the introduction of a "call answer levy" to fund the program in future.
COUNCIL POLICY
There is not specific Council policy on this issue.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council input to a decision being made at the GVRD in relation to the future administration and funding of the regional E911 service.
BACKGROUND
The City of Vancouver has had 9-1-1 emergency telephone service for many years. Until 1998, this service was restricted to the City and was provided through the Vancouver Police Department Communications Centre at 312 Main Street. In 1998, in response to a demonstrated need to extend the service area beyond Vancouver, the Provincial Government extended the authority to establish, administer and fund an enhanced regional 9-1-1 service to the Greater Vancouver Regional District. The service went into operation in July 1990 with the Vancouver Police Department providing the call answer service on a contract basis. In 1999, with the completion of E-Comm, the VPD call answer and dispatch services moved to the new regional facility which assumed the contract with the regional district.
Currently, all 9-1-1 calls placed from both wireline and wireless phones in the GVRD are routed through the Telus network to the E-Comm building where call takers answer the calls. In addition, 9-1-1 service is provided to the Resort Municipality of Whistler and the Sunshine Coast Regional District, continuing a service originally provided by the VPD Communications Section. Received calls are "downstreamed" to 20 different Public Safety organizations, some located in the E-Comm facility and some in local municipalities. At present about 25% of the calls are downstreamed outside of E-Comm.
Since the E9-1-1 service was initiated, the Greater Vancouver Regional District has assumed the custodian role for the service, ensuring that the needs of all of the participating agencies are addresses both inter-agency and with Telus, the other local service providers, the wireless carriers and the regulatory agencies (CRTC and Industry Canada).
The costs of E9-1-1 are recovered through the GVRD property tax levy. In 2003, approximately $2.6 million was raised by the region of which approximately $2.2 million was transferred to E-Comm in return for providing the call answer service. The contract for providing this service has been under negotiation for three years but these negotiations have been suspended pending this review of E9-1-1 governance and funding issues.
DISCUSSION
E-Comm has proposed that the responsibility for the E9-1-1 service be transferred from the GVRD to E-Comm. This transfer can be achieved by seeking a regulatory change at the provincial level and by having E-Comm become the signatory to the Telus 9-1-1 Service Agreement. While the province has expressed a willingness to make the regulatory change, E-Comm has been asked to get concurrence from the GVRD and its member municipalities prior to a change being made.
The proposal from E-Comm to assume E9-1-1 services from the region has two linked components. First, the governance of the program would be shifted to E-Comm, eliminating the GVRD from the process. Second, as E-Comm has not authority to tax to recover the costs of the 9-1-1 system, the proposal is that the cost recovery be moved from the property tax and replaced with a "call answer levy".
Governance
While the GVRD fulfilled an important role when E9-1-1 was initiated in 1999, its role today has largely been reduced to contract administration and funding. The regional currently withholds approximately $400,000 of the $2.6 million raised from the property tax levy, presumably to cover these administrative costs.
On the other hand, the transfer of E9-1-1 service to E-Comm would complete the services offered by the organization. These include the 9-1-1 call answer centre as well as emergency services radio and dispatch services. E-Comm has the administrative structure necessary to manage and operate the system independent from the regional district. Moreover, E-Comm reports to a Board of Directors that includes representatives from many lower mainland municipalities and emergency service agencies, many of them the same representatives who sit at the GVRD table. Finally, an E9-1-1 system with a call answer levy funding mechanism (see below) would be regulated by the CRTC which can provide a more rigorous audit of the system than is currently provided by the GVRD.
From both an efficiency and economy perspective, staff support the proposal from E-Comm to assume responsibility for the E9-1-1 system from the GVRD.
Funding
There are two funding issues related to this proposed transfer. The first relates to the costs of the service and the second to how the cost is recovered.
As noted the GVRD currently pays E-Comm about $2.2 million annually to provide the E9-1-1 service. This was the amount formerly paid to the City of Vancouver to provide the service from 312 Main Street. With the move to the post disaster building at E-Comm, the costs are estimated at $3.6 million. Going forward, the region will have to generate additional revenue from property taxes to maintain the current level of service on the system because, at present, the difference is being paid by other E-Comm users. Giving E-Comm responsibility for E9-1-1 will consolidate the administration of the service in one agency and help manage the costs.
The shift of the responsibility for E9-1-1 to E-Comm will require a new funding mechanism to be put in place because E-Comm does not have the ability to tax. As a result, E-Comm has proposed to shift the cost from property taxes to a call answer levy.
A call answer levy would impose a monthly charge on individual phone lines in the region, potentially to include cell phone lines, to pay for E9-1-1. This charge would be on top of the monthly fees currently paid to Telus and other phone service providers for provision of the 911 switching system.
Call answer levies to fund emergency phone services are becoming increasingly used as a source of funding for emergency phone services. Several cities/regional districts in BC currently use a call answer levy, including:
Capital Regional District 66 cents per month per line
Nanaimo 47 cents
Powell River 69 cents
Nelson 75 cents
Based on the estimated requirements for E9-1-1 funding, a Call Answer Levy of $0.25 per line per month ($3.04 annually) is indicated. In addition to the funding for E9-1-1, the monthly charges to phone lines would include a monthly access fee and a billing and collection fee consistent with the CRTC approved tariff. If applied in the lower mainland, the call answer levy would be as follows:
Cost per line per month |
Fee payable to: | |
Monthly Access fee1 |
16 cents |
Telus/Other Providers |
Call Answer Levy |
25 cents |
E-Comm |
Billing and Collection Fee |
7 cents |
Telus/Other Providers |
Total |
48 cents |
1. It should be noted that the Monthly Access Fee noted above is currently included on telephone bills in the region. This is not a new charge under the E-Comm proposal.
Based on the 1.25 million wired telephone lines in the lower mainland, the call answer levy would generate approximately $3.8 million to pay for E9-1-1 services at E-Comm. If the levy can be extended to cellular phone users, the monthly cost would be reduced. The balance of the monthly charge would be paid to the local service providers that must provide the hardware and software to run the system on their networks and who must bill customers.
As noted, implementation of a call answer region would require an amendment to the Telus 9-1-1 Tariff issued by the CRTC. This amendment, the initial charge and any subsequent changes to the charge would require CRTC approval. In addition, E-Comm would have to enter into collection agreements with each telephone service provider.
Staffs are supportive of transferring the costs of E9-1-1 from the property tax to a call answer levy. Call answer levies are a more appropriate method of recovering the cost of 9-1-1 because the costs are transferred directly to the user - the telephone subscriber. From a cost recovery perspective this is a more appropriate way to recover the costs than through assessment based property taxation. Moreover, if a call answer levy is implemented in the lower mainland, it would be appropriate for the charge to apply to all wired and wireless phones.
CONCLUSION
The transfer of E9-1-1 service responsibility from the GVRD to E-Comm should be supported. In addition, the user pay concept built into the call answer levy proposal provides a more appropriate mechanism to recover E9-1-1 costs than the current property tax levy. As a result, it is recommended that Council inform the Greater Vancouver Regional District that it supports the E-Comm proposal to assume responsibility for the E9-1-1 service.
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