Ways & Means hears $500,000 request to fund statewide valuation of telecommunications property

The Ways & Means committee heard from the Department of Taxes on a request for $500,000 to fund a vendor-built valuation model that would inventory and assign values to telecommunications property across the state. Andrew Stein, chief operating officer at the Department of Taxes, said the work began with a $150,000 pilot payment and the department structured the contract so that "the 150 k is all we need this year to make the first payment to the vendor."

Maria Royal of the Legislative Council summarized the legal background, saying the legislature enacted Act 145 in 2024, which modernized communications taxes and fees and created a new definition of communication property. Under earlier law, a Telephone Personal Property Tax (originally enacted in 1947) was centrally assessed and entered the general fund; that prior regimen assessed such personal property at about 2.37% of net book value rather than fair-market value. Royal told the committee some small carriers had an alternative in-lieu option to pay a percentage of gross revenue, and that several provisions were scheduled to expire in 2025 before implementation was pushed to July 2026.

Stein said the department lacks in-house valuation expertise for complex telecommunications assets and contracted with an outside valuation firm to build an inventory, depreciation models and consistent values. The department’s goal is to centralize valuation so municipal property tax assessments will rely on a uniform state valuation rather than inconsistent company-submitted depreciated values. "It is going to be a uniform approach and it also a benefit ... is that the municipalities will be able to assess this property in a uniform way," Stein said.

Committee members asked which assets would be covered; officials said the statute’s definition is broad and the inventory will include wires, cables, conduit and wireless towers, though some classifications will be finalized by the vendor and the department. The funding request presented to the committee asks for $500,000 to be spent over three to four years, with the $150,000 pilot covering the first set of deliverables.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the appropriation during this segment. Members asked for follow-up details about exact property classifications and how overlapping infrastructure owned by multiple carriers in the same locality will be valued; the department said it would provide additional information.