State lawmakers pledged to expedite an overhaul of New Jersey's antiquated 911 system after a report revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars raised to pay for the live-saving upgrade had been spent elsewhere.

But they conceded that finding the money will be tricky.

Proposals include expanding a surcharge on monthly phone bills to cover disposable cell phones, or again asking voters to amend the state Constitution to make sure future money raised goes toward the upgrade.

"It's not as if we're sitting on a billion dollars someplace," Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said. "We're going to have to look the voters in the eye and say we're going to have to find a revenue source or cut funds allocated elsewhere to make up for money that's been misallocated."

In 2004, lawmakers passed a 90-cent surcharge on every monthly phone bill in New Jersey, telling the public they would use the money to build a state-of-the-art 911 system to keep pace with technology - and save lives.

During the past 12 years, that added up to a whopping $1.37 billion.

But an NJ Advance Media analysis found that just 3 percent of that money, or about $42 million, has actually been put toward the upgrade since 2005, and almost nothing has been spent on it during the past eight years.

In response, federal officials said New Jersey had become the poster-child for taking money away from one of the most critical public safety systems.

"Fee diversion must stop," Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, said. "It shortchanges our first responders and it robs our public safety systems of the support necessary to keep us safe. It's long past time to move 911 into the digital age."

State Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said he had ordered the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services to review past spending of 911 money in hopes of fixing the problem, which he described as "concerning."

"It's clear to me that we're also going to need a broader conversation that includes the administration and the telecommunications industry about how we should be advancing and paying for emergency response in the years to come," Prieto (D-Hudson) said in a statement.

Senate President Steven Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Gov. Chris Christie did not return requests for comment.

After the creation of the 911 System and Emergency Response Trust Fund in 2004 under Gov. James McGreevey, the state became a national leader in the movement toward modern 911, known as NextGen 911.

The importance of the system cannot be understated.

Calls would be routed to dispatch centers automatically and location data from cell phones, which remains unreliable, would be improved.

And the system would be web-based, allowing the same kind of sharing of multimedia, geolocation and messaging most people use daily. For example, people could call 911 by video and stream pictures live to dispatch and police.

But funding for the upgrade in New Jersey came screeching to a halt in 2009, when contributions were cut in half under Gov. Jon Corzine. And they never recovered under Christie.

The money instead goes to the Department of Law and Public Safety and the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, specifically rural policing, urban search and rescue, the Office of Homeland Security, the National Guard and the general operating budget of the New Jersey State Police.

Some lawmakers seemed frustrated with the actions of their own legislative body, bemoaning a practice that has become all too common. In New Jersey, the only way to legally dedicate money for a specified purpose is to ask voters to approve an amendment to the state Constitution.

So no matter the intent of the original 911 law, the state budget trumps all.

"The only way that you don't get the wool pulled over your eyes as a voter is if you insist it gets constitutionally dedicated," Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris) said. "A tax is always for general funding purposes no matter what the sponsors say."

Legislation pending in the state Assembly would require implementation of portions of NextGen 911, specifically multimedia communications. But the bill, which calls for increasing the 911 fee, has stalled.

Even if it were to pass, without a constitutional amendment there's no guarantee the money raised from it would go to 911.

"Is it right?" Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson) said. "Absolutely, it's not right."

Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerset), who has announced plans to run for governor in 2017, proposed expanding the fee to include prepaid phones, calling the current arrangement unfair.

"Using tax dollars for anything other than their intended purpose is wrong and erodes the public trust," Ciattarelli said. "When one considers that our 911 communication system saves lives, it's critical that it remain state-of-the-art. We need to right this wrong and ensure the public safety."

Another gubernatorial candidate, Democrat Phil Murphy, pledged to use future money raised from the 911 surcharge on upgrading the system.

"You can't blame the people of New Jersey for not trusting Trenton when we see episodes like this time and again," Murphy said. "Upgrading our 911 system is critical to protecting lives and ensuring our first responders have the best possible information."

Stephen Stirling may be reached at sstirling@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @sstirling. Find him on Facebook.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.