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[Billing] New Surcharge

Today I received my Verizon bill and noticed a new surcharge. I'm being charged $.99 for a NY Municipal Construction Surcharge. What type of charge is this and what is it used for?

[Billing] Re: New Surcharge

Mods...this was posted accidentally to Fios TV. Please move it too the appropriate forum.

And here you are.

This is just an approved rate increase by the NY utilities commission; it isn't just for FiOS but all "POTS/Digital Voice" lines.

»www22.verizon.com/idc/groups/pub···0219.pdf

Enjoy.

Thank you! Another fee thanks to the PSC.

The people demand universal affordable "POTS", they can't get over "Ma" not taking care of them. What this "surcharge" does;

quote:

---

This new surcharge will recover a portion of the expenses Verizon incurs for the
relocation of its facilities that are in the public rights-of-way to prevent interference with street
repairs, public construction projects or other activities required for public health, safety or
convenience.

---

Besides being a Fios customer, I also have a Verizon wireless account. But will not drop my DV phone service. Depending where I am in my apartment, my cell phone will go from 4 bars to no signal and 4g to 3g. When we get hit during the winter with a snow storm. Forget it, can't get a signal anywhere.
What I like about NYS, we don't get new taxes, just new fees. Another money grab by Verizon, courtesy of the state.
--
Train Yourself To Relax...Ride The New Haven Railroad! Weather or No...Go New Haven!
The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co.:1872-1968. Serving New York and the Great Industrial States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut

No local land line taxes on my phone bill with double play. (No Home Phone!) I have a FREE MicroCell from AT&T because I am in a poor coverage area inside my house, and outside on the front porch. Since my area is light yellow and almost white shown on their map, which has gotten worse over the six years I had been with AT&T wireless, my FREE MicroCell supports four devices, and plugs into My GREAT FiOS service. HA! Beat that FiOS supporting AT&T wireless!

No wonder my bill went up $1, I just didn't bother to check on the detail.

Is this charge something I could use to break the contract with Verizon? I wasn't notified of it for sure, I just looked at all of my past bills!

No. Verizon has no control over the fee.

I have never looked at Verizon tariff or PSC filings, but from my uninformed perspective, it looks like the PSC rejected this surcharge in May 2013. Did this get re-instituted later?

Under case number 13-C-0145:
»documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Matt···e+Number

or specifically:
»documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Comm···A2411EA}

"We find that Verizon's proposed Municipal Construction Surcharge is an unwarranted rate mechanism to recover costs for relocation of its facilities. Therefore, the Company is ordered to cancel the tariff amendments..."

If Verizon asked to have it cancelled, why was I charged it?

This 99 cent surcharge is not a tax or fee being remitted to the government.
If it was it would be listed in that section of the bill.

Instead it is listed in the Verizon fees and surcharges section, this means that it is arbitrary. So this fee is Verizon's way of recouping some of its perceived expenses.

Or it just could be some way for Verizon to make more profit!

I just got charged this as well. I went on Verizon's live chat and they told me:

On or after July 20, 2013, a single monthly account surcharge of $0.99 will appear on your bill reflected as NY Municipal Construction Surcharge. This surcharge is applicable to customers with FiOS Digital Voice or Verizon Internet Services, and will recover a portion of the expenses Verizon incurs for relocation of facilities that are in public rights-of-way to prevent interference with street repairs, public construction projects or other activities required for public health, safety or convenience. This charge will be reflected in the Verizon Surcharges and Other Charges & Credits section of the bill.

I responded with the quote above about how Verizon was ordered to cancel this charge. The rep said she could not cancel the charge. She told me to call Verizon if I refused to pay it.

Alternate View of Taxes, Fees and Other Charges

TV

Video Franchise Fee 2.11

PEG Grant Fee 1.00

Regulatory Recovery Fee - Federal .08

Franchise Related Costs 1.80

Internet

NY Municipal Construction Surcharge .99

Total Taxes, Fees and Other Charges $5.98

Verizon Surcharges and Other Charges & Credits

Video Franchise Fee 1.49
Regulatory Recovery Fee - Federal .08
NY Municipal Construction Surcharge .99

Total Verizon Surcharges and Other Charges & Credits $2.56

One of the reasons I moved update was to evade SOME of the taxes

When I had DV the taxes were an additional $6, so I dumped that like a brick. I now pay like $5 total for anveo and it is rock solid.

Since I have no phone, and this goes under internet this is not regulated by PSC tariffs so it's simply a price hike. If you are under contract this is a material change, so if you had the time and energy you could get out of your contract, but you would need a good reason to do it I guess.

With these guys its death by 1000 cuts. I hear next up is a monthly modem fee.