911 Funding

In 2018, Public Act 51 changed the funding of 911 in the State of Michigan.  Counties and PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) have the following 911 fee funding available:

State 911 Fee Funding for Counties:

State fee funding payments are made quarterly to the counties that have a 911 plan in place. The fees deposited in the Emergency 911 fund come from the $0.25 state 911 fee on postpaid devices and a 6.00% 911 fee on prepaid (minutes and phone cards). The payments to the counties are based on sixty-five percent (65%) of the money deposited in the Emergency 911 Fund.  The payment base is further divided with forty percent (40%) equally distributed to each qualifying county and the remaining sixty percent (60%) distributed on a per capita basis to each qualifying county. The state 911 fees are required to be spent by the County/PSAP in a specific manner.  Please see the document below entitled, Allowable/Disallowable Usage of 9-1-1 Surcharge Fund.

Local Surcharge Funding: 

Local surcharge funding payments are made directly to the county from the service suppliers. A listing of the local monthly surcharge amounts for each county is listed in the document below entitled, 911 Surcharges by County.  The listing is updated yearly as the amount remains the same from July 1-June 30 of the year in which the listing is stated. A county can choose to enact a local surcharge in one of three different methods: 

1. The first option to collect the local surcharge is through a County Commission Resolution.  By a positive vote, the County Board of Commission can enact a resolution to collect a maximum of $0.42 local surcharge without a ballot proposal. 
2. The second option to collect the local surcharge is through a valid countywide ballot proposal. The proposal cannot exceed a maximum monthly rate of $3.00.  After the ballot proposal is approved by the voters, the County Board of Commission votes to set a rate within the range of the voter approved ballot rate. 
3. The third method for a county to collect a local surcharge is by the rate authorized to that county pursuant to the Michigan Public Service Commission Case No. U-15489. The 2008 case was completed in 2013 and the rates are set for each county as a default rate if it does not pursue the options above. The U-15489 rates do not have any built in increases and continue to remain the same each year. This docket is only applicable to counties that filed prior to the February 15, 2008 deadline and is closed to new applications for funding. 

Under Michigan statute, local surcharge funds may only be spent for 911 purposes. Please see the document below entitled, Allowable/Disallowable Usage of 9-1-1 Surcharge Fund.

Dispatcher Training Funding:

The Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) training funds assist PSAPs to meet and maintain the required telecommunicator training standards.  Each PSAP may apply annually for funding.  Payments are issued to eligible PSAPs twice during the awarded year based on the full-time equivalent (FTE) approved for each applicant PSAP.  The payments are based on five and a half percent (5.5%) of the State 911 Fee collected and deposited in the Emergency 911 Fund. The fees deposited in the Emergency 911 fund come from the $0.25 state 911 fee on postpaid devices and a 5.00% 911 fee on prepaid (minutes and phone cards). The Dispatcher Training Funds may only be used to utilize training programs that have been approved by the State 911 Committee.  The PSAP is required to show it’s spend down of training funds for allowable expenses each year. Please see the document below entitled, Allowable/Disallowable Dispatcher Training Expenses.