Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

AUSTIN — At a time when Texas is facing a record budget surplus, Texans are paying millions of dollars in fees every year to fund a program that no longer exists.

The Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund fee, which is levied on telephone service providers and passed on to customers through phone bills, was created to pay for a grant program to bring technology to public schools, hospitals and libraries in rural areas.

Gov. Rick Perry determined in 2003 that the need had been satisfied and repealed the program, but lawmakers continued to reauthorize the fee for both cell phone and land line providers.

Almost four years later, the 1.25 percent fee is bringing in an estimated $210 million a year.

"What has occurred is that public policymakers, who are looking to raise revenue but don't want to raise a tax like an income tax or a sales tax, have found wireless as a way to raise taxes without leaving fingerprints," said Joe Farren, spokesman for the cell phone trade group CTIA-The Wireless Association.

On average, 18 percent of Texans' phone bills are taxes and fees, the sixth-highest in the nation, according to a study by the group.

A spokesman for Perry said there's no reason for the fees to remain on the books.

Royer said that approach will be reflected when Perry makes his state budget proposal next week, though he wouldn't offer details.

Two bills that would repeal the fees are pending in the Legislature, but Texas budget writers are depending on more than $420 million of revenue from the fees as they write the next two-year state budget.

Lawmakers have an estimated $14.3 billion surplus for the spending plan, but a chunk of that surplus is earmarked for property tax relief.