Starting in January, residents will pay an extra $21 each year per phone line, including cell phones. Businesses will pay up to $20,000 annually, paying $13.13 each month per trunk (usually seven to eight lines bundled together).

"I'm disgusted. Disgusted, between the [new City Hall] disaster and the Cisco thing," said Cathy Adkins, president of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association. "It's just a way to get a few more dollars into the treasury that will go out again to pay consultants and lobbyists."

School districts and government agencies won't be charged. Neither will low-income customers who qualify for lifeline discount phone service, or payphones. By exempting those groups, the city will forego $3 million in fees.

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales said in May that draconian state budget cuts could make the fee necessary. According to mayoral spokesman David Vossbrink, the 911 fee will save nearly 200 city jobs—120 police officer positions—as well as provide an estimated $20 million for emergency dispatch operations.

Council members Chuck Reed, Terry Gregory and Pat Dando voted against the fee during the Aug. 31 council meeting.

San Francisco was the first Bay Area city to adopt the 911 fee in 1993, and its ruling was used as a model for the San Jose ordinance.

But other local agencies are dragging their feet. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted against the fee this year, as did the city council of Cupertino. The city council of Sunnyvale voted this summer to keep thinking about implementing a fee while keeping an eye on lawsuits filed against the fees throughout Northern California.

A man filed suit in July against the board of supervisors of Santa Cruz County, which approved a similar fee in 2002, hoping to have the court repeal the fee. Activist group Seniors for Fair Taxation has forced the county to add the issue to ballots in the upcoming elections arguing that since the fee is essentially a new tax, voters must be the ones to decide on its approval.

Watsonville residents will also get to vote on the fee, unlike San Jose residents.

Even phone juggernaut SBC is suing to stop the city of Stockton from collecting an emergency fee. In a press release, the company pointed out that the state of California already collects a 911 tax.

San Jose residents speaking at the Aug. 31 city council meeting made the same argument, calling the fee a disguised tax, as did Councilman Chuck Reed.