HB 357-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2017 SESSION
17-0321
10/09
HOUSE BILL 357-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to the appraisal of telecommunications poles and conduits under local property taxation.
SPONSORS: Rep. Bean, Rock. 21; Rep. Edgar, Rock. 21; Rep. R. Tilton, Rock. 37; Rep. Emerick, Rock. 21
COMMITTEE: Ways and Means
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This bill repeals the valuation requirements for wooden poles or conduits employed in the transmission of telecommunications owned in whole or in part by telephone utilities, or providers of Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP'') service or IP-enabled service.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
17-0321
10/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen
AN ACT relative to the appraisal of telecommunications poles and conduits under local property taxation.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Property Taxation; Telecommunication Poles and Conduits. Amend RSA 72:8-a to read as follows:
72:8-a Telecommunications Poles and Conduits. All structures, poles, towers, and conduits employed in the transmission of telecommunication, cable, or commercial mobile radio services shall be taxed as real estate in the town in which such property or any part of it is situated. [Except as provided in RSA 72:8-c,] The valuation of such property shall be based on its value as real estate. Other devices and equipment, including wires, fiber optics, and switching equipment employed in the transmission of telecommunication, cable, or commercial mobile radio services shall not be taxable as real estate.
2 Property Appraisal; Reference to Poles and Conduits Removed. Amend RSA 75:1 to read as follows:
75:1 How Appraised. The selectmen shall appraise open space land pursuant to RSA 79-A:5, open space land with conservation restrictions pursuant to RSA 79-B:3, land with discretionary easements pursuant to RSA 79-C:7, residences on commercial or industrial zoned land pursuant to RSA 75:11, earth and excavations pursuant to RSA 72-B, land classified as land under qualifying farm structures pursuant to RSA 79-F, buildings and land appraised under RSA 79-G as qualifying historic buildings, qualifying chartered public school property appraised under RSA 79-H, residential rental property subject to a housing covenant under the low-income housing tax credit program pursuant to RSA 75:1-a, renewable generation facility property subject to a voluntary payment in lieu of taxes agreement under RSA 72:74 as determined under said agreement, [telecommunications poles and conduits pursuant to RSA 72:8-c,] and all other taxable property at its market value. Market value means the property's full and true value as the same would be appraised in payment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor. The selectmen shall receive and consider all evidence that may be submitted to them relative to the value of property, the value of which cannot be determined by personal examination.
3 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 72:8-c, relative to the valuation of telecommunications poles and conduits.
II. RSA 74:19, relative to inventories of telecommunications poles and conduits.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2017.
17-0321
1/4/17
HB 357-FN-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to the appraisal of telecommunications poles and conduits under local property taxation.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2018 | FY 2019 | FY 2020 | FY 2021 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
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LOCAL: |
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Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
METHODOLOGY:
This law would repeal changes made in 2016 to laws governing the appraisal, for property tax purposes, of telecommunications poles and conduits. The 2016 changes established a statutory valuation formula based on replacement cost, age and depreciation. The replacement cost is determined using a schedule provided by the Department of Revenue Administration based on national published standard costs. The Municipal Association does not have the information or ability to determine how the 2016 legislation or its repeal would affect all municipalities. There may be increases in assessed value in some locales and decreases in others. The difference in valuation would shift the tax burden among local tax payers without affecting the total amount of revenue received from local property tax.
This bill would repeal the requirement for the Department of Revenue Administration to hold an annual public forum and determine a schedule of values of telecommunications poles and conduits owned by telephone utilities. The Department indicates elimination of this responsibility would decrease state expenditures by a small, but indeterminable amount. In addition, the bill would eliminate the requirement for owners of telecommunications poles and conduits to provide an inventory of poles and conduits owned to the Department and to the municipality in which the property is located. Municipalities would independently assess the value of poles and conduit in order to determine market value. The cost to municipalities to develop and maintain this information is not known. If the legislation is enacted, the Department expects litigation between municipalities and taxpayers would resume. Based information from the Assessing Standards Board, at one point during the summer of 2015, there were 550 abatement appeal cases pending in the NH Superior Courts.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Revenue Administration and the New Hampshire Municipal Association.
| Date | Body | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 24, 2017 | House | Hearing |
| Jan. 26, 2017 | House | Exec Session |
| Feb. 9, 2017 | House | Floor Vote |
| Feb. 15, 2017 | House | Floor Vote |
| Feb. 16, 2017 | House | Floor Vote |
Feb. 16, 2017: Inexpedient to Legislate: MA VV 02/16/2017 HJ 8 P. 40
: Special Order to 2/16/2017 Without Objection HJ 7 P. 57
: Special Order to regular calendar on 2/15/2017 Without Objection HJ 6 P. 25
Feb. 9, 2017: Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate for 02/09/2017 (Vote 20-1; RC) HC 10 P. 13
Jan. 26, 2017: Executive Session: 01/26/2017 11:20 PM LOB 202
Jan. 24, 2017: Public Hearing: 01/24/2017 01:00 PM LOB 202
Jan. 5, 2017: Introduced 01/05/2017 and referred to Ways and Means HJ 3 P. 10