[Scan-DC] State investigating cell phone towers at Montgomery schools

[Alan Henney]

Published on Washington Examiner (http://washingtonexaminer.com)

Home > State investigating cell phone towers at Montgomery schools

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State investigating cell phone towers at Montgomery schools

Comments (1) .Maryland officials are investigating why cell phone companies are not paying taxes for towers on Montgomery County school property -- and why these towers were not reported to the state Department of Assessments and Taxation. 

Companies such as Verizon and Cingular pay up to $30,000 each year for each cell phone tower a school hosts, contributing nearly $700,000 to Montgomery County Public Schools last fiscal year. At least 22 schools have been approved for cell phone towers, although not all approvals resulted in construction; some towers host multiple carriers.

The towers are not new -- for instance, Superintendent Jerry Weast signed the lease for a Sprint PCS tower at a Gaithersburg elementary school -- slated to become a holding school but currently vacant land with a cell tower compound -- in October 2002. So the towers shouldn't be news to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.

"We just got information last month that there were cell towers on school properties in Montgomery County," said Marie Greene, commercial property tax supervisor in the department's Montgomery office. "I now have to contact the Board of Education head and say we are aware that there are cell towers on your property and by state law they are supposed to be taxed."

The Montgomery County Public School system has contracts with T-Mobile and AT&T, among others. A spokesman for the schools said officials were not aware of any requirement to report the towers to the state tax office.

A cell phone tower associated with an educational, religious or nonprofit use may be exempt from taxes but still "must be discovered, listed and assessed," according to the Maryland Assessment Procedures Manual. However, even if the tower is on school property, if it's being used commercially, the tower "should be made taxable, and notices should be sent to the owner of the real estate."

"You'd have to go a long way to convince me this is not a commercial use," said Roy Sleeman, supervisor of assessments.

While there are always exceptions -- such as in cases involving public safety -- "that would be unusual based on my experience," said Sleeman, who said the department was starting to gather lease information on the sites. It was unusual that the local office would have to make an official request in writing, he said: "Local municipalities tend to be a little defensive when we make inquiries regarding lease property."

In the absence of a lease, the law recommends charging a property tax of $20 a square foot at a minimum site of 10,000 square feet.

Board of Education President Christopher Barclay did not respond to requests for comment.

lgartner at washingtonexaminer.com
.EducationMarylandReal Estate NewsLocalLisa Gartner

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Source URL: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/education/2011/01/state-investigating-cell-phone-towers-montgomery-schools