California PUC to consider raising LifeLine surcharge on carriers' telecom revenue

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is considering a draft resolution that would raise the state’s LifeLine program surcharge to 2.4 percent beginning Jan. 1. The current LifeLine surcharge in the state is 1.15 percent, which the CPUC set in 2007. The raised surcharge would be applied to revenue collected from all California end users of intrastate telecom services, including VoIP, the CPUC said in the draft resolution, filed Monday. The commission’s staff have estimated that if the surcharge rate remains unchanged, the California LifeLine Fund won’t be able to meet its budgeted expenses for this fiscal year due to an increase in carriers’ claims. A 2.4 percent surcharge would leave the California LifeLine Fund with an estimated $97 million balance at the end of the current fiscal year and an estimated balance of $89 million at the end of the next fiscal year, the CPUC said. The commission is to vote on the resolution at its Nov. 20 meeting (http://bit.ly/1CQH4Ey).