VIDEO: Clark County is moving forward with plans to implement a surcharge to help pay for upgraded 911 systems. We first told you about this proposal last December, when first responders asked county commissioners for their approval to start the process. Now, commissioners have unanimously approved a proposed five-year master plan to get the ball rolling.
According to state law and the plan, the maximum charge is $1 per phone line per month. That includes cell phones, landlines, and Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, lines. Proponents point out that similar surcharges are already in place in Washoe, Carson and Humboldt counties. When pitching the idea to commissioners, Clark County Fire Chief Billy Samuels argued the current 911 system is too vulnerable to outages. You may remember that last December, an incident in Missouri impacted 911 systems here in Clark County. Samuels told the commissioners that has happened at least two more times over the past year.
