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County board affirms land and utility-building assessment for Heartland Tower site
Summary
Lincoln County left the 2025 assessed value for Heartland Tower’s Hudson cell-tower site largely unchanged after the appellant did not appear; the county held the tower itself at zero value and assessed the utility building and land.
Lincoln County’s Board of Equalization heard an appeal for parcel 096.49.03.2020 — a Heartland Tower cell-tower site at SD Highway 11 in Hudson — and declined to alter the assessor’s 2025 valuation.
Assessor staff reported the tower itself is currently assigned no value and the county assessed the land and the small utility building (about 1,486 square feet) for a total 2025 assessed value of $85,679. The county noted the 2024 Office of Hearing Examiners decision that previously upheld the county’s valuation and explained a modest land-value increase for 2025 was driven by township-wide adjustments to land pricing.
No Heartland Tower representative attended the hearing; Deputy Pyske provided documents the company had submitted. The appellant’s main concern, according to assessor staff, was the land value; they supplied a $1 lease as part of the file. Staff said comparable tower properties show a range of land-per-acre values and reiterated that while some towers receive per-linear-foot value for the tower structure, the county sets value using the cost approach and shown comparables.
Commission discussion covered uses of the utility building, prior appeals history, and the practical marketability of a one-acre parcel hosting a tower. A motion to accept the assessor's recommendation carried on a 3–2 roll call (Yes: Otten, Schmidt, Putnam; No: Arons, Landeen).
Votes at a glance: Motion to accept assessor recommendation → Passed 3–2 (Yes: Otten, Schmidt, Putnam; No: Arons, Landeen).
