I recently had my mechanical sewer system serviced by K-Jon — all tanks pumped and cleaned, air pump replaced, and electrical system and controls redone.

I live in the Southern Belle subdivision of Moss Bluff but had not gotten a notice from the parish.

I called the sewer inspection hotline to ask if I could send them a copy of the K-Jon inspection report so they could mark my system off the list. I was told no.

Why can’t the parish accept third-party inspections, particularly when the whole system was basically overhauled?

It does.

Wes Crain, the parish’s assistant development director, said the Planning and Development Department will accept reports compiled by state-certified sewer system service providers.

“The Call Center has been advised that citizens are allowed to submit documentation to our office indicating that their systems have been repaired and the storage tanks are pumped out and in working order,” he said in a statement forwarded to The Informer.

He said homeowners can fax the documentation to the parish Mechanical Sewer System Inspection Program at 436-6764.

Online: www.cppj.net.

USF charge based on FCC calculation

Did everyone’s Federal Universal Service Fee go up on their AT&T bills or just mine?

The amount, a percentage of service and call charges, varies from one customer to another. But everyone is assessed at the same rate.

The fee, also called the Universal Connectivity Charge, is based on a contribution factor that the Federal Communications Commission determines each quarter. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down.

The contribution factor governs what percentage of interstate and international end-user revenues companies must pay into the Universal Service Fund. AT&T, like other telecommunications companies, recovers its costs via the fee.

“In the competitive industry we are in, we cannot afford to absorb the costs associated with the USF that have been imposed on AT&T,” reads the company’s website.

The contribution factor percentage for the first quarter of this year is 17.9 percent. The percentages for the preceding four quarters: 15.3 percent; 14.4 percent; 14.9 percent; and 15.5 percent.

Money collected by the USF is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co., which oversees programs that serve rural residents; low-income people; rural health care providers; and schools and libraries.

Online: www.fcc.gov; www.att.com.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

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