MERV
07-04-2007, 11:23 PM
By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer
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First published: Thursday, June 28, 2007
BALLSTON SPA -- Get ready for a new tax on your cellphone bill, Saratoga County residents.
The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors voted to impose a 30 cent surcharge on all cellphone users whose billing address is inside the county. The money will help support the county's new 911 center where desk officers can pinpoint a cellphone caller's location using satellites and a geographic information system.
Early estimates say the monthly surcharge will bring in about $100,000 a year. The tax will be collected on each cellphone number registered in the county, even if calls made to multiple numbers are shown on the same bill.
County Administrator David Wickerham said establishing the tax has been complicated. The supervisors' vote was the third time the board has taken action to approve a home rule bill that Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, won backing for in the state Legislature that allows the county to impose the surcharge. The bill passed both houses and now awaits Gov. Eliot Spitzer's signature.
Land lines already carry the extra fee. Wickerham said it is not clear when the fee will go into effect, but he asked cellphone users to watch for the surcharge on their bills along with the words ``Saratoga County.'' If it doesn't say the 30 cents is going to Saratoga County, residents should call Director of Emergency Services Paul Lent because the payment might be going to another county.
At the monthly supervisors meeting, the board voted to pay a consulting firm $20,000 to write a request for proposals for a fixed base operator at the Saratoga County Airport.
A 20-year lease with Richmor Aviation, the company that lands planes and offers gas and hangar space, will end this year. So too, will the county's lease with North American Flight Services, a second fixed base operator at the airport.
In a separate project at the airport, the supervisors are planning to resurface the runways at the airport, add fire protection at the hangar and install a water line.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=601682
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Thursday, June 28, 2007
BALLSTON SPA -- Get ready for a new tax on your cellphone bill, Saratoga County residents.
The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors voted to impose a 30 cent surcharge on all cellphone users whose billing address is inside the county. The money will help support the county's new 911 center where desk officers can pinpoint a cellphone caller's location using satellites and a geographic information system.
Early estimates say the monthly surcharge will bring in about $100,000 a year. The tax will be collected on each cellphone number registered in the county, even if calls made to multiple numbers are shown on the same bill.
County Administrator David Wickerham said establishing the tax has been complicated. The supervisors' vote was the third time the board has taken action to approve a home rule bill that Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, won backing for in the state Legislature that allows the county to impose the surcharge. The bill passed both houses and now awaits Gov. Eliot Spitzer's signature.
Land lines already carry the extra fee. Wickerham said it is not clear when the fee will go into effect, but he asked cellphone users to watch for the surcharge on their bills along with the words ``Saratoga County.'' If it doesn't say the 30 cents is going to Saratoga County, residents should call Director of Emergency Services Paul Lent because the payment might be going to another county.
At the monthly supervisors meeting, the board voted to pay a consulting firm $20,000 to write a request for proposals for a fixed base operator at the Saratoga County Airport.
A 20-year lease with Richmor Aviation, the company that lands planes and offers gas and hangar space, will end this year. So too, will the county's lease with North American Flight Services, a second fixed base operator at the airport.
In a separate project at the airport, the supervisors are planning to resurface the runways at the airport, add fire protection at the hangar and install a water line.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=601682