Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Greene County lawmakers June 17, authorized a retainer agreement with the New York City law firm of Napoli Shkolnik to sue for lost 911 surcharge fees from telecommunication companies. The firm will represent Greene County in litigation against Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Frontier Communications. The county joined with Fulton, Nassau, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Wyoming counties in the action. According to New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen Acquario, telephone service providers are required under state law to collect the 911 surcharge, but some carriers have declined to do so. Greene County lawmakers are concerned about where the surcharge funding is going and how it is being used if it is not being paid to the county, Legislature Chairman Patrick Linger said. The New Baltimore Republican said If any funding is recovered as a result of the lawsuit, the county may be able to reduce the tax levy on emergency services. The 911 surcharge helps fund upgrades to 911 services such as call tracing, GPS capabilities and 911 text messaging. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.