B-301126: Oct 22, 2003

The Chief of Financial Management Division for the Mountain Administrative Support Center of the Department of Commerce has requested an advance decision under 31 U.S.C. 3529 on the propriety of paying the emergency 911 telephone charge assessed against the National Weather Service telephone lines by its service provider on behalf of several counties in the State of Georgia under the Georgia Emerg...

B-301126: Oct 22, 2003

DIGEST The federal government is constitutionally immune from paying the Georgia 911 charge because it is a vendee tax. We conclude that the Georgia emergency telephone 911 charge is a vendee tax that may not be assessed against the federal government under the U.S. Local governments are authorized to adopt resolutions imposing a monthly 911 "charge" on users of local telephone services situated i...