Piute County commissioners are petitioning the Utah Public Service Commission to eliminate long-distance telephone tolls within the county as well as in two small towns in other counties.
However, another petition must be completed with at least 50 signatures of people who would be involved in the toll-free telephoning.Petitions for that purpose are at the Piute County Courthouse in Junc-tion, said Valene Brown, county clerk-auditor.
But toll-free telephoning won't come without a cost. Brown was informed by a member of the state's Committee of Consumer Services that it would cost $6 per month for each telephone customer to eliminate long-distance calling between four prefixes now in service in the area.
Piute County commissioners reported their primary reason for requesting the service area extension is because students who live in all prefix areas attend schools in the county. Many of them currently must pay for long distance service when calling from home to the schools or from the schools to their homes.
Residents and students in Antimony, Garfield County and Koosharem in Sevier County are more involved in schools and other activities with Piute County than with their own counties. Those small towns are near the Piute County border.
That's why county commissioners want those communities to be included in toll-free telephone service along with the Circleville, Junction, Marysvale and Kingston in Piute County.
Brown said the county received information from Lisa Hurtado Armstrong of the state committee regarding the requirement for 50 signatures on petitions from existing telephone prefixes.
That procedure was approved by the committee because PSC rules don't cover the type of service needed for an extended com-munitywide area service program, she said.
Long-distance toll charges were eliminated several years ago between Salina, Richfield and Monroe areas in neighboring Sevier County.