CHARLESTON, WV – West Virginia diverted $3.9 million in 911 fees last year, according to a federal report.

The fees — tacked onto customers’ monthly cellphone bills in West Virginia — were designed to pay for equipment upgrades and facility improvements at county 911 centers across the state.

Instead, state officials redirected the $3.9 million to the West Virginia State Police, Public Service Commission and Division of Homeland Security, the report said.

“It’s a back-door raid on funds,” Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said Monday. “Folks who pay the 911 fee honestly believed it was for 911. Their rates are going up because the money is being used for something else.”

West Virginia’s Homeland Security office received $1.77 million from the 911 fees and used the money to expand a statewide “interoperable,” or shared, radio system. State Police got $1.16 million, and the state Public Service Commission received $1 million in 911 fees to expand cell towers.

West Virginia collected more than $35.3 million in 911 fees last year, according to the report by the Federal Communication Commission.

Carper said the entire amount should have gone directly to county 911 centers.

“We’re talking millions and millions of dollars being diverted every year,” he said.

West Virginia was one of six states taken to task in the FCC’s third annual report to Congress on 911 fees.

Four states — Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Rhode Island — diverted fees to their state’s general fund.

West Virginia and Virginia redirected their fees to other public safety purposes, the FCC found.

Carper said the state’s decision to shovel 911 fees to public safety agencies was no better than sending the money to the general fund.

“This makes as much sense as taking money out of 911 fees to fix a guard rail on the highway,” he said. “Hardworking West Virginians who pay their telephone bills deserve better than this.”

State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous said Monday afternoon he was unfamiliar with the FCC report.

State Homeland Security chief Jimmy Gianato, was in Washington, D.C., Monday and unavailable for comment.

Carper also took issue with building cell towers with 911 fee revenues.

“Apparently their logic is if you get in a wreck, you’ll need to use your cellphone to call 911,” he said. “Certainly, this money shouldn’t go to cell towers. That’s ridiculous.”

About half of the 911 fees collected in Kanawha County already go to support 911 centers in other counties.

As part of the report, the FCC issued a public notice proposing to collect more detailed information from states about the 911 fees they collect. The FCC’s notice also seeks comment on whether the agency should recommend legislative changes to Congress that would provide greater accountability in the collection and spending of 911 funds.

“If you pay a tax, and it says it’s for 911 service, then it should be for 911 service,” Carper said. “If this [diversion of funds] keeps up, the county 911 system is going to get into real trouble.”

Like most states, West Virginia controls the spending of 911 funds at the state level.

Landline telephone customers in West Virginia also pay monthly 911 fees, but those fees are sent directly to county 911 centers, said Kanawha County Metro 911 Director Carolyn Charnock.

Read the story here.