COBI 2015 - Speech and Hearing Impaired

Overview
Issues
Performance
Background
Financials

Sources Uses

FY 2016 Appropriation

The Speech and Hearing Impaired Program provides telecommunication access twenty-four hours a day to hearing or speech impaired persons through Relay Utah. Services are now contracted through Hamilton Relay Services, Inc. Hamilton employs Call Assistants (CAs) who receive messages from a TTY (text telephone) and other telecommunications equipment. Examples of this equipment include amplified telephones or CapTel phones that amplify sound and provide written text messages to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Funding History

Appropriation Overview

During the 2015 General Session, the Legislature appropriated for Fiscal Year 2016, $1,473,100 from all sources for Speech and Hearing Impaired. This is a 1.6 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2015 revised estimated amounts from all sources.

Customer service, equipment delivery, and financial stability are the top three performance measures identified for monitoring the success of this program.

Customer Service

The Commission has set a goal to respond to complaints within three business days and answer questions and resolve problems.

Equipment

The goal for the Relay Utah program is to track and analyze the number of equipment deliveries per year and monitor what technologies deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-disabled individuals need and prefer.

Recent changes have impacted the Relay Utah program:

The Commission has been examining applicants carefully to ensure that candidates are qualified for and benefit from the Relay Utah program. The number of deliveries and training appointments for FY 2014 was 683 statewide. For the past two years, Relay Utah has had an employee who provides service and repairs via phone, email, and text. This strategy has allowed Relay Utah to respond to questions and problems faster and has avoided unnecessary or repeated visits for equipment repairs and training. This approach has reduced the number of repeated on-site visits from previous years.

In May 2014, the Commission reduced the surcharge rate collected from $.05 to $.02 per phone account. The goal of the rate reduction is to keep revenues and expenditures aligned, while maintaining a sufficient fund balance to provide Relay Service, training and equipment for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech challenged.

Statute

The Public Service Commission, under UCA 54-8b-10, administers the Relay Utah program to provide hearing and speech-impaired persons with telecommunication devices.

The Commission loans specialized telecommunications equipment to individuals who have hearing or speech barriers. The Commission promotes and advertises the Relay Utah program to provide equipment distribution and relay services for the deaf, hard of hearing and speech challenged.

The Federal Communications Commission encourages states to promote the implementation of additional technologies to allow the deaf and hard of hearing to enjoy functional equivalency, which is aligned with the services provided by Relay Utah. With cell phone distribution, other new technology, and video relay services, there is a shift nationally in how deaf, hard of hearing and speech challenged populations communicate.

Activity in this budget is determined by the demand for services and equipment. An increase in demand and usage creates additional costs throughout the State.

Intent Language

HB0003: Item 74

Under Section 63J-1-603 of the Utah Code, the Legislature intends that appropriations provided to the Public Service Commission in Item 33, Chapter 10, Laws of Utah 2014 not lapse at the close of Fiscal Year 2015. Ending balances for the Speech and Hearing Impaired program are non-lapsing under section 54-8b-10(5)(d).

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Funding Source

Expenditure Category

Appropriation Type:

Appropriation History by

Programs	FY11 Actual	FY12 Actual	FY13 Actual	FY14 Actual	FY15 Approp	FY15 Change	FY15 Revised	FY16 Change	FY16 Approp
Speech and Hearing Impaired	1,150,700	1,076,200	949,600	1,048,400	1,203,600	246,400	1,450,000	23,100	1,473,100
Total	$1,150,700	$1,076,200	$949,600	$1,048,400	$1,203,600	$246,400	$1,450,000	$23,100	$1,473,100

Sources of Finance	FY11 Actual	FY12 Actual	FY13 Actual	FY14 Actual	FY15 Approp	FY15 Change	FY15 Revised	FY16 Change	FY16 Approp
Dedicated Credits Revenue	1,098,400	1,970,800	2,110,300	1,720,400	1,203,600	(203,600)	1,000,000	(176,900)	823,100
Beginning Nonlapsing	1,114,100	1,061,800	1,956,400	3,117,100	0	3,789,100	3,789,100	(450,000)	3,339,100
Closing Nonlapsing	(1,061,800)	(1,956,400)	(3,117,100)	(3,789,100)	0	(3,339,100)	(3,339,100)	650,000	(2,689,100)
Total	$1,150,700	$1,076,200	$949,600	$1,048,400	$1,203,600	$246,400	$1,450,000	$23,100	$1,473,100

Show Table | Show Additional Information

Categories of Expenditure	FY11 Actual	FY12 Actual	FY13 Actual	FY14 Actual	FY15 Approp	FY15 Change	FY15 Revised	FY16 Change	FY16 Approp
Personnel Services	2,100	0	200	0	168,600	0	168,600	4,500	173,100
In-state Travel	21,600	17,700	12,600	16,600	13,700	0	13,700	6,300	20,000
Out-of-state Travel	2,000	100	3,000	2,100	4,500	0	4,500	0	4,500
Current Expense	1,123,700	1,056,200	933,800	1,026,700	1,009,800	246,400	1,256,200	6,500	1,262,700
DP Current Expense	1,300	2,200	0	3,000	7,000	0	7,000	5,800	12,800
Total	$1,150,700	$1,076,200	$949,600	$1,048,400	$1,203,600	$246,400	$1,450,000	$23,100	$1,473,100

COBI contains unaudited data as presented to the Legislature by state agencies at the time of publication. For audited financial data see the State of Utah's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.