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Economy
Californian cities charging for 911 calls
2010-03-01
CALIFORNIAN cities are charging residents for calling the fire service.

Residents in Loma Linda will be charged $US300 for each 911 call to the Fire Department and non-residents will be billed $US400, the station reported.

Residents also can pay a $48 annual fee and avoid any call charges.

The station reported Loma Linda city officials said they needed the fees to offset the high cost of providing emergency services.

Loma Linda was at least the third California city to recently implement fees for emergency calls.
Posted by:tipper

#15  Well, you didn't expect them to cut funds from their "diversity commissions" and "outreach" to "underserved populations", did you?
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie   2010-03-01 23:10  

#14  So one neighbor or a pair of neighbors pay the $48 fee and instead of everyone else calling 911, you contact the neighbor who in turn calls 911. Back to the days when not everyone had a phone. Good reason to have the phone company bring back old fashion party lines to the hood. Probably still on the regulatory books.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2010-03-01 22:48  

#13  I'm sorry the number as dialed can not be completed. Please deposit $300.
Posted by: Automated Voice    2010-03-01 22:41  

#12  Call from a pay phone.
Posted by: Iblis   2010-03-01 21:47  

#11  "Great shakedown."

Since Californicastan is one of the most
bankrupt "State" of the world, far more
than Greece or Ireland, the question is
who's gonna shakedown who?

Photobucket
Posted by: Hotspur666   2010-03-01 20:57  

#10  So if you don't pay the fee, do they let your house burn down? If you don't pay the fee, can you get home owner's insurance?
Posted by: JohnQC   2010-03-01 19:05  

#9  Gottit Mullah Richard, thanks. Just wanted to make sure that this deal is in addition to the 911 phone bill tax, and wages paid by taxes etc before stating, as a firefighter, how fucking stupid this is. It will destroy property and put people's lives at risk as witnesses dither about who will be charged or just not report fires at all. I cannot emphasise enough the difference 5 minutes can make to a fire response; or vehicle rescue for that matter, or as a first responder to an incident there have been a number of times the first vehicle I see pull up to a fight at a club is the fire department (emt training, not hospital serious emergency).
Posted by: swksvolFF   2010-03-01 18:32  

#8  "Y'all don't have a 911 charge included on your phone bill already?"

swksvolFF, that's a 'tax'. This is a 'fee'. They hope you don't realize that there's no difference between the two.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2010-03-01 18:08  

#7  I guess they have had too many of the following calls:

A man in Texas called 911 several times to make a date with the 911 operator. A guy in Florida called 911 because the sandwich shop made his pastrami wrong. A woman, also in Florida, called 911 to complain when McDonald's ran out of chicken nuggets.
Posted by: JohnQC   2010-03-01 17:41  

#6  This was posted from Tracey a few weeks ago. Looks like it will be rolled out all across CA over the next few months. Great shakedown.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2010-03-01 17:36  

#5  Y'all don't have a 911 charge included on your phone bill already?
Posted by: swksvolFF   2010-03-01 17:32  

#4  Let me get this straight, I live in Loma Linda and I pay taxes which pay for the police and fire departments, but I have to pay an additional, voluntary fee, to actually ask for the services for which I pay, or get charged an exhorbitant fee in an emergency.
I guess the city has no choice since they STOPPED paying for everything else and still were short of money? Oh wait, they still have other things? Fire the city council, mayor and any other idiot that instituted this then, and save the fees that way!
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2010-03-01 16:53  

#3  Steve, you don't expect your neighbor to pay it do you?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2010-03-01 16:37  

#2  Do they charge me $300 if I call 911 to report that my neighbor's house is on fire?
Posted by: Steve White   2010-03-01 16:35  

#1  They're contemplating this here in Wisconsin for some metropolitan areas, too.

Kinda slaps the 'Good Samaritan' right out of you, doesn't it?
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2010-03-01 15:51  

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