Landline Fees Raised in Cabell County to Fund 911 Center

Cabell County residents and businesses with landline phones can expect to see an increase on their phone bills.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that the Cabell County Commission voted Thursday to increase the landline tariff for residential and business lines in order to compensate for an anticipated $43,000 increase in next year’s medical insurance for emergency response employees.

The fee has been raised from $2.50 per month for residential lines to $7 and from $3 for business lines to $9.50.

The emergency response center has only two sources of revenue for their roughly $3 million budget — the fees on landlines and the $3 state fee on wireless plans.

Mike Davis, director of the county response center, says if the fee increase wasn’t passed, five employees would have to be let go.