Kreines & Kreines, Inc. has just finished a major Wireless Master Plan for a city in the south, where we were informed that "towers" were no longer assessed for property tax purposes by the County Assessor. It seems like such a small thing, and we know other states have done it; so what's it all about?

Simply put, the carriers and the tower companies have influence in some states. The state assessor never goes out to check a personal wireless service facility, so if the assessor is told that the fair market value of the tower is $20,000, that's the replacement value used for the assessment. If attachments keep getting added to a co-location, how would someone from the state capitol know if no building permits were pulled? The value stays at $20,000.  (Or worse yet, it is depreciated.)

Result: where county assessors often assess three to four times under the actual value, state assessors are assessing ten times under the actual value.  On top of that, the low value is depreciated.

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Kreines & Kreines, Inc.
58 Paseo Mirasol, Tiburon, CA 94920
Phone: (415) 435-9214
Fax: (415) 435-1522
e-mail: mail@planwireless.com