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It鈥檚 been more than six months since Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery) raised a red flag over a lack of 911 fee audits from the Maryland Comptroller鈥檚 office 鈥� but she says she鈥檚 yet to receive any data.
Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) had paused audits due to the pandemic, but agreed to聽聽after Kagan warned of a lack of oversight last November. Although those audits have since resumed, Kagan said in a聽聽to Franchot that the state鈥檚 Next Generation 911 Commission hasn鈥檛 received any information from the comptroller鈥檚 office.
Kagan is the chair of that commission, which oversaw a聽聽of the state鈥檚 911 fee system. She also sponsored legislation to require comptroller audits of telephone companies that collect 911 fees, warning in 2019 that T-Mobile had overcharged Marylanders for 911 fees for more than a decade.
The commission聽聽audits of 911 fees in 2019 after those overcharges came to light, and the General Assembly passed a bill in 2020 requiring regular audits of 911 fee collections. Now in its final year, Kagan wrote that her commission needs those audits to finish their work.
鈥淚 convened the NG911 Commission last week for our 4th and final year,鈥� Kagan wrote. 鈥淲e have an ambitious agenda that will support the counties as they transition to Next Generation 911 in order to save lives. Without your audits, we simply cannot complete our mission.鈥�
But Kagan and other commission members might be looking at a long wait to get information. In a聽聽on Thursday, Franchot said much of the information in those audits is confidential, and that a full report on those audits isn鈥檛 due until Dec. 1.
Franchot wrote that Kagan鈥檚 own legislation requiring the audits mandates that information given to his office be 鈥渃onfidential, privileged or proprietary, and may not be disclosed to any person other than the telephone company or [commercial mobile radio service] provider.鈥�
鈥淚 hope you did not expect my agency to disclose specific taxpayer information relating to ongoing audits with you or members of the [commission],鈥� Franchot wrote. 鈥淚t is not the practice of my agency to publicly disclose which taxpayers or entities are under audit, nor is it permissible by law.鈥�
Franchot said Kagan鈥檚聽聽requires his agency to submit an annual report about the 911 fee audits conducted 鈥渄uring the immediately preceding year.鈥� Since Kagan鈥檚 legislation was enacted in 2020, Franchot wrote, the report on 911 fees for that year is not due until Dec. 1, 2021.
Kagan said late Thursday that she isn鈥檛 looking for granular, specific data involving individual taxpayers, but rather general information about whether telephone companies are playing by the rules. She said that will help the commission鈥檚 work and help local governments plan ahead for costs associated with the 911 system.
鈥淲e just need to know that they鈥檙e on it, that they鈥檙e addressing it with the company, that the company will fix it,鈥� Kagan said.
Franchot blasted the tone of Kagan鈥檚 letter, which he described as 鈥減atently false鈥� and 鈥渙ffensive.鈥� In her letter, Kagan urged Franchot, who is running for governor, to 鈥渢ake time away from the campaign trail to ensure that your taxpayer-paid employees are fulfilling these responsibilities.鈥�
Franchot said Kagan was dragging nonpartisan state employees into the argument and listed work his employees have done during the pandemic, including conducting the audits of telephone companies and issuing speedy state stimulus checks after the passage of the RELIEF Act.
Kagan said her concerns were aimed only at Franchot, and not comptroller鈥檚 office staff. She said she found Franchot鈥檚 response 鈥減atronizing and dismissive,鈥� and feels that the long list of work done was 鈥渇iller鈥� that didn鈥檛 address the issue of 911 fee oversight.
鈥溾�楾he buck stops here鈥� is what Harry Truman said,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t would be nice if we thought that the buck stops with the Comptroller.鈥�
Franchot called Kagan鈥檚 letter a 鈥渃ampaign press release鈥� multiple times in his response.
Kagan said she was writing in her capacity as commission chair about a legislative matter. 鈥淔or him to take a pot shot and accuse me of sending out a campaign press release, and say that five times, is ridiculous,鈥� Kagan said.
Kagan distributed the letter, written on Senate letterhead, through Constant Contact, which is paid for by her campaign finance entity, and the message said 鈥淧RESS RELEASE鈥� in the subject line. The email also included the line 鈥淏y Authority: Citizens Helping Elect Cheryl Kagan (C.H.E.C.K.).鈥�
Franchot pledged in his response to Kagan to continue 911 fee audits to determine if telephone companies are remitting the proper fees to the state.
bleckrone@marylandmatters.org
Editor鈥檚 Note: This story was updated to include additional details from the letters sent Thursday and to correct the political affiliation of Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot.
