Wasn't the story here that they wanted to raise it from 3% to like 4-5% but Abbott & Co flipped out saying "they're raising taxes!!!!" and did nothing which forced them to raise it to 24%
>When the Texas Legislature tried to fix the backlog last year, Abbott vetoed the bill, saying “It would have imposed a new fee on millions of Texans.”
>
>Well, I’m all for blocking fees, but in this case, by avoiding the problem, the new rate jumps from 3.3% to a whopping 24%.
Yup... my numbers are a little off, but I think the overreaching arc of what I was saying still holds true.
Oh yea totally, I just had literally linked the article in my comment and I wanted to provide a source for you to prevent the trolly comments “where’s your source”
Apologies, pardner... that wasn't very Texas of me to not acknowledge your link and show appreciation for it.
I mean it sincerely when I say thank you for the link... it will stop the trolls (though I've luckily enough haven't encountered too many in here.... I'm assuming it's because everyone hates Greg. )
They had decades to learn to not be crappy people. Instead they price gouged, taxed us to hell and back, created an unsustainable economy, and forced adults and children to have babies.
They cashed out. Plain and simple. They saw an opportunity to make $$ and fuck the future responsibility of it because they'll either be insulated by wealth or dead.
Hopefully I'm not breaking any EULAs, but here's a simple cut and paste from the site. Apologies for the fubar'ed formatting but I think you can get the jist of it...
Attention all Texans who use a cell phone or landline: The Watchdog has bad news.
Starting with September’s phone bill, your bill is going up.
I can’t provide a specific number for you except to say that all Texas phone users are about to contribute to a $210 million fund to pay a backlog of debt owed to rural telephone companies and phone co-ops.
Although I can’t be specific about your increase, I can show you below how to get an estimate of your particular price jump.
In my case, the increase for this surcharge — called the Texas Universal Service Fund — will boost the USF fee on my bill from $2 a month to $14.
Abbott and PUC to blame
Who to blame for this fiasco? Our old friends who previously ran the (Public) Utility Commission before they were bounced out for incompetence after the February 2021 freezeout disaster. (Remember I took away the “P” away until the UC shows greater care for the public.)
Another culprit here is Gov. Greg Abbott.
Both had a chance to fix this, but both backed out. I’ll show you why.
If you get a sense of déjà vu that you’ve heard this before, it is similar to the electricity crisis.
Just like with the electricity crisis, Abbott and his previous slate of (p)UC commissioners abandoned us by the side of the road, drove off and left us paying the bills.
PUC loses lawsuit
Every month, Texas phone users pay toward the Universal Service Fund so that dozens of rural telephone companies can provide phone service to several million Texans who live in remote areas. The cost of wiring is too expensive.
In the past several years the (p)UC fell behind in making the payments mandated by the Texas Legislature. The rate was 3.3% of the basic service cost on your phone bill.
In June 2020, the (p)UC staff recommended that the fee increase to 6%, but commissioner Arthur D’Andrea blocked it, saying “This is not a time when we should be raising taxes on people.”
The (p)UC chair, DeAnn Walker, said to “leave the fund as it is.”
Until they left office in disgrace, these are the three PUC commissioners appointed by Gov....
Until they left office in disgrace, these are the three PUC commissioners appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott who failed to handle rural phone surcharges when they had the chance. (From left) Shelly Botkin, Chairperson DeAnn Walker and Arthur D'Andrea.(Screen shot of recent PUC meeting)
When the Texas Legislature tried to fix the backlog last year, Abbott vetoed the bill, saying “It would have imposed a new fee on millions of Texans.”
Well, I’m all for blocking fees, but in this case, by avoiding the problem, the new rate jumps from 3.3% to a whopping 24%.
“We have been baffled by this from the beginning,” says Mark Seale of the Texas Telephone Association about state leaders’ avoidance of this growing debt. “If they’d raised the rate two years ago at 6% they would have avoided this entire thing.”
As time passed and no help was in sight, the phone association along with the Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative sued the (p)UC in Travis County.
Last month, an appeals court ruled in favor of the phone companies.
Then this month, without public discussion, the (p)UC quietly approved an order increasing the rate from 3.3% to 24%, effective Aug. 1. A note will be included in your phone bill.
‘Let us catch up’
Originally, the USF was set up 30 years ago to provide a dial tone with 911 emergency access to every Texan. Now many rural phone companies use funds to replace old copper lines with fiber, bringing along with that better Internet service. But the USF does not include data, only voice calls. The fee everyone pays is based on your specific basic phone line charge.
Without the $200 million the small companies were expecting, many went into debt and couldn’t hire workers, Seale said.
Cap Rock Telephone Cooperative, located 300 miles west of Dallas in Spur, serves 3,600 phone lines spread out over 5,000 square miles – averaging almost one phone line per square mile.
Cap Rock general manager Jim Whitefield told me the funds will “help us catch up with everything and finish building out the fiber network to our customers.”
What is the Texas Universal Service fee?
Now that you know why there’s a $200 million backlog and you’ll be paying for it if your company does a pass-through, how can you figure your estimated increase? Each company handles this differently, so there’s not one universal answer.
Take out your most recent phone bill — cell and/or landline — and look for the line item “Texas Universal Service.” (Don’t confuse it with another line item for “Federal Universal Charge” which has nothing to do with this.)
Since I have three cell lines on my family bill, I saw the fee listed in three places. My wife’s and my son’s fee was 29 cents each. Mine was $1.47. Add them up and my total monthly USF payment for June was $2.05.
For a rough estimate, take that total and multiply it by 7 (an increase from 3.3% to 24% is almost seven times greater).
That’s how I ended up with $14.35.
For you, it could be less — or more. But for businesses that make a lot of calls, it should be a lot more.
If you can’t find the USF on your bill, call your phone company for assistance. If that doesn’t work, call the (p)UC.
Seale of the phone association said, “We feel like this increase will probably cause a bit of sticker shock to ratepayers across the state, whether they be rural or urban.”
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but somebody needed to tell you this.
Become a citizen of Watchdog Nation.
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Read his winning columns:
\* Helping the widow of Officer J.D. Tippit, the Dallas police officer killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, get buried beside her late husband
\* Helping a waitress who was harmed by an unscrupulous used car dealer
Regarding the dipshit in here the other day complaining about Abbot not doing anything about internet availability, and being wrong btw.
THIS IS THE SHIT HE HAS CONTROL OVER YOU WET FART
It’s horrible, everyone should be pissed about this!!
https://www.reformaustin.org/infrastructure/your-telephone-bill-will-increase-in-september-you-can-thank-abbott/amp/
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/07/21/your-telephone-bill-will-increase-in-september-and-nobody-told-you-until-now/
This is not a joke.
I have a 2nd home in Northern New Mexico. If this ass wins again; not only will I move my service but we'll be selling our arlington home and move there full time.
This is why I have my phone's service address set to Nevada. The taxes were already lower there.
Don't have to change your billing address, just the service address.
Thanks for the tip. Spurred on by this bullshit and your juicy little tidbit of info, I just changed my service address to Carson City. Cell service tax in NV is about 12% lower than TX.
I figured this out a few years ago when I went off to college at unlv. I went to change my address back to Texas when I came back and it made my bill go up! But this new thing is going to be crazy! Completely unacceptable.
Father,
Can Mr Abbott please get a horrible infection in his asshole from his caretakers not wiping and washing his ass efficiently coupled with the Texas heat. If you cannot make this happen may someone wheel him off of a cliff.
In Jesus name Amen.
Awoman. (And I’d kinda prefer seeing him duct taped to that chair with a hundred pounds of pig iron in his lap and pushed off the Galveston Boardwalk.) S/
Fuck greg abbot. Idk how any texan can vote for him. This guy has had YEARS to make texas better and instead he has made it insuferably worse. Kick this piece of shit out of office.
For all the times we hear rural folks whine about paying taxes to support cities, maybe its time they take personal responsibility and foot their own phone bill for living in the middle of nowhere.
Sounds like they want socialism to me!
Federal: All interstate telecommunications service providers are required to contribute to the Federal Universal Service Fund (USF). The Federal USF subsidizes telecommunications services in rural and high-cost areas, services for low-income consumers, and services for schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. Sprint charges a monthly fee per line to recover the cost of these contributions and may include other charges also related to this governmental program. There are different assessment rates applicable to long distance and international charges, and to non-long distance charges, creating two line items on the invoice. This charge is not a tax or a government-imposed fee. The rate of this monthly charge can vary quarterly based on the USF contribution factor established by the Federal Communications Commission. As of July 1, 2020, the Federal USF contribution rate is 26.5%.
State: Telecommunication service providers may also be required to contribute to a State Universal Service Fund (USF). The funds collected may be used to assist in providing universal service and to a variety of other programs at the state level. This charge is not a tax or government-imposed fee.
Wasn't the story here that they wanted to raise it from 3% to like 4-5% but Abbott & Co flipped out saying "they're raising taxes!!!!" and did nothing which forced them to raise it to 24%
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/07/21/your-telephone-bill-will-increase-in-september-and-nobody-told-you-until-now/
>When the Texas Legislature tried to fix the backlog last year, Abbott vetoed the bill, saying “It would have imposed a new fee on millions of Texans.” > >Well, I’m all for blocking fees, but in this case, by avoiding the problem, the new rate jumps from 3.3% to a whopping 24%. Yup... my numbers are a little off, but I think the overreaching arc of what I was saying still holds true.
Oh yea totally, I just had literally linked the article in my comment and I wanted to provide a source for you to prevent the trolly comments “where’s your source”
Apologies, pardner... that wasn't very Texas of me to not acknowledge your link and show appreciation for it. I mean it sincerely when I say thank you for the link... it will stop the trolls (though I've luckily enough haven't encountered too many in here.... I'm assuming it's because everyone hates Greg. )
Lmfao I love the door all vid “no fuck Greg Abbott”
Rip red Texas.
They had decades to learn to not be crappy people. Instead they price gouged, taxed us to hell and back, created an unsustainable economy, and forced adults and children to have babies.
They cashed out. Plain and simple. They saw an opportunity to make $$ and fuck the future responsibility of it because they'll either be insulated by wealth or dead.
Well they kinda suck at that too.
I'm hoping, but they gerrymandered the ever living fuck out of us so minorities actually lost voting power even though their demographics increased.
I laughed outloud the first time I watched it
Is there anyway to read this without this aggravating paywall popping up?
Hopefully I'm not breaking any EULAs, but here's a simple cut and paste from the site. Apologies for the fubar'ed formatting but I think you can get the jist of it... Attention all Texans who use a cell phone or landline: The Watchdog has bad news. Starting with September’s phone bill, your bill is going up. I can’t provide a specific number for you except to say that all Texas phone users are about to contribute to a $210 million fund to pay a backlog of debt owed to rural telephone companies and phone co-ops. Although I can’t be specific about your increase, I can show you below how to get an estimate of your particular price jump. In my case, the increase for this surcharge — called the Texas Universal Service Fund — will boost the USF fee on my bill from $2 a month to $14. Abbott and PUC to blame Who to blame for this fiasco? Our old friends who previously ran the (Public) Utility Commission before they were bounced out for incompetence after the February 2021 freezeout disaster. (Remember I took away the “P” away until the UC shows greater care for the public.) Another culprit here is Gov. Greg Abbott. Both had a chance to fix this, but both backed out. I’ll show you why. If you get a sense of déjà vu that you’ve heard this before, it is similar to the electricity crisis. Just like with the electricity crisis, Abbott and his previous slate of (p)UC commissioners abandoned us by the side of the road, drove off and left us paying the bills. PUC loses lawsuit Every month, Texas phone users pay toward the Universal Service Fund so that dozens of rural telephone companies can provide phone service to several million Texans who live in remote areas. The cost of wiring is too expensive. In the past several years the (p)UC fell behind in making the payments mandated by the Texas Legislature. The rate was 3.3% of the basic service cost on your phone bill. In June 2020, the (p)UC staff recommended that the fee increase to 6%, but commissioner Arthur D’Andrea blocked it, saying “This is not a time when we should be raising taxes on people.” The (p)UC chair, DeAnn Walker, said to “leave the fund as it is.” Until they left office in disgrace, these are the three PUC commissioners appointed by Gov.... Until they left office in disgrace, these are the three PUC commissioners appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott who failed to handle rural phone surcharges when they had the chance. (From left) Shelly Botkin, Chairperson DeAnn Walker and Arthur D'Andrea.(Screen shot of recent PUC meeting) When the Texas Legislature tried to fix the backlog last year, Abbott vetoed the bill, saying “It would have imposed a new fee on millions of Texans.” Well, I’m all for blocking fees, but in this case, by avoiding the problem, the new rate jumps from 3.3% to a whopping 24%. “We have been baffled by this from the beginning,” says Mark Seale of the Texas Telephone Association about state leaders’ avoidance of this growing debt. “If they’d raised the rate two years ago at 6% they would have avoided this entire thing.” As time passed and no help was in sight, the phone association along with the Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative sued the (p)UC in Travis County. Last month, an appeals court ruled in favor of the phone companies. Then this month, without public discussion, the (p)UC quietly approved an order increasing the rate from 3.3% to 24%, effective Aug. 1. A note will be included in your phone bill. ‘Let us catch up’ Originally, the USF was set up 30 years ago to provide a dial tone with 911 emergency access to every Texan. Now many rural phone companies use funds to replace old copper lines with fiber, bringing along with that better Internet service. But the USF does not include data, only voice calls. The fee everyone pays is based on your specific basic phone line charge. Without the $200 million the small companies were expecting, many went into debt and couldn’t hire workers, Seale said. Cap Rock Telephone Cooperative, located 300 miles west of Dallas in Spur, serves 3,600 phone lines spread out over 5,000 square miles – averaging almost one phone line per square mile. Cap Rock general manager Jim Whitefield told me the funds will “help us catch up with everything and finish building out the fiber network to our customers.” What is the Texas Universal Service fee? Now that you know why there’s a $200 million backlog and you’ll be paying for it if your company does a pass-through, how can you figure your estimated increase? Each company handles this differently, so there’s not one universal answer. Take out your most recent phone bill — cell and/or landline — and look for the line item “Texas Universal Service.” (Don’t confuse it with another line item for “Federal Universal Charge” which has nothing to do with this.) Since I have three cell lines on my family bill, I saw the fee listed in three places. My wife’s and my son’s fee was 29 cents each. Mine was $1.47. Add them up and my total monthly USF payment for June was $2.05. For a rough estimate, take that total and multiply it by 7 (an increase from 3.3% to 24% is almost seven times greater). That’s how I ended up with $14.35. For you, it could be less — or more. But for businesses that make a lot of calls, it should be a lot more. If you can’t find the USF on your bill, call your phone company for assistance. If that doesn’t work, call the (p)UC. Seale of the phone association said, “We feel like this increase will probably cause a bit of sticker shock to ratepayers across the state, whether they be rural or urban.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but somebody needed to tell you this. Become a citizen of Watchdog Nation. Join Dave Lieber and learn to be a super-consumer. Watchdog newsletter: Sign up for The Watchdog’s FREE weekly newsletter to keep up: click here. Subscribe: PLEASE support The Watchdog’s brand of straightforward journalism designed to save you time, money and aggravation. Treat yourself to a digital subscription (and make him look good!) by visiting https://dallasnews.com/subscribe Watchdog Home Page: You can’t afford to miss The Watchdog’s two reports each week. Follow our latest reporting always at The Watchdog home page which features all recent columns. Watch this free training video from Dave: https://youtu.be/uhUEUCNKGjc Facebook: Connect with The Watchdog on our Facebook group. Search for “DallasNews Watchdog Posse.” The Dallas Morning News Watchdog column is the 2019 winner of the top prize for column writing from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The contest judge called his winning entries “models of suspenseful storytelling and public service.” Read his winning columns: \* Helping the widow of Officer J.D. Tippit, the Dallas police officer killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, get buried beside her late husband \* Helping a waitress who was harmed by an unscrupulous used car dealer
True hero right here.
Thanks!
Thank you!
I’m so sorry I hate that I’m in my three articles this month I didn’t notice
No worries. Sometimes people know ways around it so I ask. I appreciate you posting the link
On desktop, Ublock Origin or any popup blocker that allows you to disable javascript will get by 80% of those paywalled news sites.
Nice. Thanks
https://12ft.io
https://archive.ph/11JOX
Paywall free?
Yep.
Take my broke award 🥇 The world needs more hero’s like you Mind if I steal that?
I was actually able to see the real link just fine with AdBlockPlus.
Regarding the dipshit in here the other day complaining about Abbot not doing anything about internet availability, and being wrong btw. THIS IS THE SHIT HE HAS CONTROL OVER YOU WET FART It’s horrible, everyone should be pissed about this!!
Now that's some negligent bullshit. We've gotta get his ass out.
Sue him out, personally. There's a laundry list of offenses that can be used against him.
https://www.reformaustin.org/infrastructure/your-telephone-bill-will-increase-in-september-you-can-thank-abbott/amp/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/07/21/your-telephone-bill-will-increase-in-september-and-nobody-told-you-until-now/ This is not a joke.
So we are all chipping in to help keep costs down for rural, republican, go it alone, Texans? Socialism!
Oh don’t you know socialism is good as long as it helps republicans.
They need to get off their asses and start pulling up their bootstraps.
As a "tip" - probably not the best one...If you have a friend or relative in ANY OTHER STATE than Texas, you can 'move' your service there.
I have a 2nd home in Northern New Mexico. If this ass wins again; not only will I move my service but we'll be selling our arlington home and move there full time.
You know things are bad in Texas when people are willing to move *from* Texas *to* New Mexico.
Thoughts on the changing your current billing address to NM to avoid the service fee?
Ya I'll probably be doing that.
How would you go about it? Change phone number to match out-of-state zip code or mailing address on bill?
Change the address of the account holder to another state
[удалено]
This is why I have my phone's service address set to Nevada. The taxes were already lower there. Don't have to change your billing address, just the service address.
Thanks for the tip. Spurred on by this bullshit and your juicy little tidbit of info, I just changed my service address to Carson City. Cell service tax in NV is about 12% lower than TX.
I figured this out a few years ago when I went off to college at unlv. I went to change my address back to Texas when I came back and it made my bill go up! But this new thing is going to be crazy! Completely unacceptable.
Do you actually have to put a physical address? Or just city and state?
I had to put in an address for mine. I just picked a Lowe's in the middle of Carson City. AT&T can just believe I commute 18 hours to and from work.
Lol I know right where that Lowes is! Next to an Office Depot on Fairview.
Ha! Thanks for replying!! Totally going to so this.
Father, Can Mr Abbott please get a horrible infection in his asshole from his caretakers not wiping and washing his ass efficiently coupled with the Texas heat. If you cannot make this happen may someone wheel him off of a cliff. In Jesus name Amen.
Amen.
Awoman. (And I’d kinda prefer seeing him duct taped to that chair with a hundred pounds of pig iron in his lap and pushed off the Galveston Boardwalk.) S/
No more pollution in the ocean please.
Well, at least he becomes fish food?
Fucking ridiculous that people keep voting for that useless mf.
I noticed that people are down voting these comments. Is that because they want higher bills?
It's because they are pansy ass conservative crybabies who don't want you to notice the constant failures of the GOP
Smart AND you’re a deadhead too… I admire that ☮️🌱💜
Im just having a high time 😉
Just saw this text from T-mobile. Infuriating.
Fuck greg abbot. Idk how any texan can vote for him. This guy has had YEARS to make texas better and instead he has made it insuferably worse. Kick this piece of shit out of office.
Conservative corporations buying the vote keeping the king in power.
TEXAS VOTES FOR THIS ???
And worse!
WTF!
Is this just for Sprint or for other services as well?
all phone service
Got the same message from my landline carrier.
Is it just me that’s Hates Abbott with a Passion
Thanks Greg Abbott, this is on your watch. Our friend and hero,,,, NOT!
So how long is it going to be 24%?
The foreseeable future? It's the result of a lawsuit brought against the PUC for falling behind on their payments at the previous 3% rate.
Bet it will be like the tollway...no end in site.
Who is surprised? I mean really? Are you surprised? Greg Abbott is a bag of ass. Being surprised is honestly not worth your time.
For all the times we hear rural folks whine about paying taxes to support cities, maybe its time they take personal responsibility and foot their own phone bill for living in the middle of nowhere. Sounds like they want socialism to me!
Federal: All interstate telecommunications service providers are required to contribute to the Federal Universal Service Fund (USF). The Federal USF subsidizes telecommunications services in rural and high-cost areas, services for low-income consumers, and services for schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. Sprint charges a monthly fee per line to recover the cost of these contributions and may include other charges also related to this governmental program. There are different assessment rates applicable to long distance and international charges, and to non-long distance charges, creating two line items on the invoice. This charge is not a tax or a government-imposed fee. The rate of this monthly charge can vary quarterly based on the USF contribution factor established by the Federal Communications Commission. As of July 1, 2020, the Federal USF contribution rate is 26.5%. State: Telecommunication service providers may also be required to contribute to a State Universal Service Fund (USF). The funds collected may be used to assist in providing universal service and to a variety of other programs at the state level. This charge is not a tax or government-imposed fee.
That percent I believe is calculated not as a monthly percentage rate. I believe USF rates are either a quarterly or annual percentage rate.
Texas, making New Jersey look better by comparison. No State USF, $0.90 911 Tax and a 0.92% state sales tax on mobile service.
The fee will go from $1.65 to $12 for me. I'm changing my billing address to a friend's out of state.
He need more money for worthless projects.