The Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board ruled yesterday that local communities can tax telecom’s poles and wires on public land. The state estimates it could gain $78 million a year for local communities to ease residents’ property tax burdens.
The case sought to overturn telecom companies exemption from having to pay taxes for poles and wires on public land; currently telecom providers only pay taxes on poles and lines on private property, but the ruling yesterday will allow local communities to begin taxing telecom providers on equipment on public land, as well as collecting back taxes for the years covered in the appeals.
Of course if Verizon Communications, the telecom specifically named in this ruling, appeals the decision, it could take years before any money actually changes hands.
Verizon has not said whether it will appeal the decision, only that it is “examining all our options, including a possible appeal.”