State’s Highest Court Rules in Favor of Mount Vernon Taxpayers
Upholds City’s Rights to Tax Cell Towers and Equipment
Decision Has Broad Implications Around New York State
New York State’s highest court has delivered a major victory to Mount Vernon taxpayers by declaring the city has the right to tax cell towers and telecommunications company infrastructure.
Chief Judge Janet DiFiore unanimously upheld two lower court rulings supporting the authority of the City of Mount Vernon to levy property taxes on T-Mobile in connection with its cellular data transmission equipment in the city. Along with the city, the school district is a beneficiary of the decision, which also applies to municipalities across New York.
“The State Court of Appeals decision is a huge victory for taxpayers in Mount Vernon and around the state,” said Mayor Richard Thomas. “By successfully arguing for common sense — that cell towers and similar cell company equipment can be taxed — Mount Vernon has established a long-term source of revenue that’s beneficial to its residents and all municipalities across the state. Taxpayers deserve to share in the innovations of technology and this decision protects that dynamic.”
The case centered on the definition of “telecommunications equipment.” T-Mobile owns large cellular data transmission equipment, such as antennas, cables, and “stealth walls” to shield them from view. The equipment is installed on the exterior of buildings around Mount Vernon and T-Mobile has multi-year leases with the building owners.
In her decision, DiFiore found that all the equipment included in its Mount Vernon installations fit into the definition of the state Legislature and was taxable. “Indeed, it appears that T-Mobile’s equipment is precisely the type of property the Legislature intended to cover when it substantially revised the [the real property tax law] in 1987,” DiFiore wrote.
Read More Here:
