- from a news clip: ------------------ Verizon intends to stop paying millions of dollars in local taxes, a move that could cause already cash-strapped towns to shift the cost to homeowners, local officials say.
The company is using a provision of a 1940 state law to argue that utility poles, wires and other landline equipment should no longer be on tax rolls. They claim traditional usage has slipped significantly as more people turn to cable and the Internet for telephone service .... Verizon officials say the law requires the company to pay taxes on landline equipment only when it is the dominant provider in town. The company claims it is losing more than 35,000 residential telephone customers a month due to competition from other traditional providers, cable companies and Internet phone services such as Vonage.
"According to state law, once we fall below 51 percent, we are no longer required to pay taxes on personal property," said Verizon spokesman Rich Young.
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