What's on that bill?

SEBRING - It seems that most every utility bill or telephone statement has its little extras; those tiny surcharges, taxes and fees, but many of these fees are government imposed.

Non-telecom surcharge of $1

A non-telecom surcharge of $1.55 was imposed by CenturyLink each month on certain non-telecommunication services, including voicemail and lineguard services, according to the bill; since February 2009.

A CenturyLink bill to a Sebring customer indicated the cost of Basic Home Phone II service (a bundle package) was $31.45, plus a $3.50 monthly service charge to maintain an unlisted number.

Like so many others this Sebring family also wanted Internet service, which added $24.95 per month to the bill. This brought the bill's sub-total to $70.10.

Florida wanted another piece of the pie and charged the customer 89 cents for a state communications tax. The state communications tax is collected by the State Department of Revenue for local and long distance.

The department collects include toll telephone

Other charges the department collects include toll telephone; Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone; cable television; direct-to-home satellite; mobile communications, including detailed billing charges; private line services; pager and beeper services; telephone charges made by a hotel or motel; facsimiles (fax) when not provided in the course of professional or advertising service; as well as telex, telegram, and teletype.

The program was established as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to provide affordable telecommunications services to all eligible schools and libraries, especially those in rural and economically disadvantaged areas.

The customer

The customer was charged 34 cents for the Florida communications service tax levied by the state; and 35 cents for the local communications service tax, for communications levied by each municipality or county.

Add $1.65 for the state communications services tax; another 44 cents for the local communications services tax, 7 cents for sales tax and 8 cents for the FCC's regulatory fee, (subtotal $2.24) coming to a grand total of $20.19.