Assessors grapple with tax change: Communications gear owned by wireless companies now require local valuations By John Hilliard/ Daily News Staff
It won't be a slow summer for local assessors, as officials scramble to prepare tax valuations for the communications gear owned by wireless companies.
"It's one more thing -- on top of everything else -- that we're dealing with," said Bob Bushway, Hopkinton's principal assessor. "It definitely has been a burden to all the cities and towns, as far as I'm concerned."
In May, the state Appellate Tax Board ended state-controlled tax valuation of wireless companies' equipment and stripped them of a status that blocked collecting taxes on most wireless communication machinery.
Previously, the state Department of Revenue issued valuations for applicable wireless equipment across Massachusetts. While the DOR issued similar valuations for fiscal 2007, communities are not bound to use those figures. Tax Board Commissioner Frank Scharaffa has said the decision could be appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court. Last year, the town earned about $163,000 in taxes -- based on DOR valuations -- from wireless firms in town, said Bushway. He said 11 wireless companies have located operations inside Hopkinton. The town has requested information on company equipment located within its borders, but he did not believe the town is guaranteed extra tax dollars from wireless companies.