Frequently Asked Questions

City of Chicago
All 9-1-1 surcharges are administered directly by the City. The City of Chicago web site is: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en.html
Outside the City of Chicago
Prepaid wireless surcharge is at the rate of 3% at the point of sale and is administered by the Illinois Department of Revenue. All questions and payments for prepaid wireless should be directed to that agency. (Add citation) The monthly surcharge for wireline, interconnected VoIP, and post-paid wireless lines, is $1.50 per line (See 50 ILCS 750/20). This monthly surcharge is required to be remitted by the carriers to:
  • Illinois State Police
  • Statewide 9-1-1 Bureau
  • 9-1-1 Surcharge
  • 801 South 7th Street
  • Springfield, IL 62703
  • Email: ISP.911Admin@illinois.gov

Payments are due 30 days after the end of the month in which the payment was received. For example, surcharge received by the carrier from the customer on March 15th would be due to the Illinois State Police no later than April 30th. Late payments are subject to penalties. See 50 ILCS 750/20 and 83 Ill. Admin. Code 1329.

City of Chicago
The City of Chicago has a separate program administered by the City.
Outside the City of Chicago

Wireline and interconnected VoIP providers are not required to split out their remittance by jurisdiction. One check with one remittance form will suffice.

Postpaid wireless companies, in addition to the remittance form, must also email a monthly subscriber file to ISP.911Admin@illinois.gov that lists the number of customers by zip code. See 83 Ill. Admin. Code 1329. One check will suffice.

Section 30 of the Act controls surcharge disbursements. Deductions from surcharge collected are allowed for expense items such as 1.3 cents per $1.50 surcharge for counties under 100,000, 1.7 cents for Illinois State Police administrative expenses, 5.0 cents for Next Generation 9-1-1 Grants, 13.0 cents for statewide Next Generation 9-1-1 procurement costs, 9-1-1 network costs, expenses of the Statewide Administrator and 9-1-1 Advisory Board, and consolidation grants. After these expenses are deducted, the remaining funds are distributed to 9-1-1 Authorities using wireless zip code data. See 50 ILCS 750/30.

The network costs are emailed to the 9-1-1 Authority’s representative for review each month. See 83 Ill. Admin. Code 1329.

An entity can view payments issued on the State of the Illinois Comptroller’s web page: https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/vendors. To view your authority’s distribution and/or grant payment, you will need your FEIN, or TIN number, and the entity name per your IRS Form W-9. Checks issued by the Illinois State Police are issued under agency number 493.

Applications must be filed electronically with the Department by submitting them via the link on the ISP’s website at: https://isp.illinois.gov/Statewide911Division/ConsolidationPlansAndWaivers The Department and ICC have 20 calendar days to complete a statutory and technical review (respectively) and make recommendations to the Advisory Board. Within 40 calendar days of receiving a plan or waiver request, the Department will appoint an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to hold a hearing and provide a recommendation to the Advisory Board. Within 60 calendar days of receiving a plan or waiver request, the Advisory Board will hold a public hearing and provide a recommendation to the Administrator. Within 90 calendar days of receiving a plan or waiver request, the Administrator will make a final decision. See 50 ILCS 750/15.4a and 83 Ill. Admin. Code 1324.

The Emergency Telephone System Act can be found at: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=741&ChapterID=11 and
the Administrative Rules can be found at: https://isp.illinois.gov/Statewide911Division/AdminCode

The Statewide 9-1-1 Advisory Board members are appointed by the Governor or by statute. See the Advisory Board page for a list of current Advisory Board members
See 50 ILCS 750/19

These members provide recommendations and advice to the Statewide 9-1-1 Administrator on many aspects contained in the Emergency Telephone Systems Act including things such as consolidations, rulemaking, total dollars set aside for grants. See 50 ILCS 750/7, 8, and 10. They are also responsible for preparing and submitting a report to the legislature by March 1 of each year providing an update on the transition to a statewide 9-1-1 system and recommending any legislative action . See 50 ILCS 750/19.

Grant applications are submitted consistent with the Act and will be considered based on the information provided in support of the grant application and consistent with the priorities established in the Act. Specifically, Section 30 of the Act provides that funds may be held in reserve by the Statewide 9-1-1 Advisory Board and disbursed by the Department for grants under Sections 15.4a (Consolidation), 15.4b (Consolidation Grants), and 30 (NG9-1-1 expenses). Section 15.4b of the Act provides that counties without 9-1-1 service will be given priority for grants and next to those entities who are consolidating pursuant to Section 15.4a of the Act. Section 30(b)(1)(E) provides that priority for NG9-1-1 expenses grants are given to 9-1-1 Authorities that provide 9-1-1 service within the territory of a Large Electing Provider as defined in Section 13-406.1 of the Public Utilities Act.

The Administrator shall make available Consolidation and NG9-1-1 Grant Program opportunities on the AmpliFund website by November 1st. Applications are due the first Monday in February. See 83 Ill. Admin. Code 1327.

Applications are prepared on the AmpliFund website.

Yes, for example, if a county is required to consolidate pursuant to Section 15.4a, the county must have filed a consolidation plan in order to be eligible for a grant.

Yes, for example a county/9-1-1 Authority could apply for a Consolidation Grant to pay for consolidation expenses. A county/9-1-1 Authority that opts in a county or municipality from another 9-1-1 Authority is not eligible for grant funding unless a PSAP is closed.

A county/9-1-1 Authority can also apply for a NG9-1-1 Expenses grant.

1) reducing the number of transfers of a 9-1-1 call;
2) reducing the infrastructure required to adequately provide 9-1-1 network services;
3) promoting cost savings from resource sharing among 9-1-1 systems;
4) facilitating interoperability and resiliency for the receipt of 9-1-1 calls;
5) reducing the number of 9-1-1 systems or reducing the number of PSAP’s within a 9-1-1 system;
6) cost savings resulting from a 9-1-1 system consolidation; and
7) expanding E9-1-1 service coverage as a result of 9-1-1 system consolidation including to areas without E9-1-1 service.

See 50 ILCS 750/15.4b

Priority for NG9-1-1 Expenses Grants are given to 9-1-1 Authorities that provide 9-1-1 service within the territory of a Large Electing Provider as defined in Section 13-406.1 of the Public Utilities Act. Funding is available for a Primary PSAP’s hosted i3-capable call handling position equipment only and related training for staff or a NG9-1-1 multimedia logging recorder system capable of recording all call media types, including voice, video and text and training for staff or a GIS project that relates directly to the preparation of PSAP boundary, road centerline, and address point data that follows the Illinois NG9-1-1 GIS Data Standards, the current version of the Illinois NG9-1-1 Geodatabase template and GIS best practices. Day to day work or continued geospatial maintenance will not be funded.