Property Tax Alert: New Hampshire

August 2004

Because a statutory provision required that the license agreements provide for payment of property taxes by the licensee, a telecommunications company's use of public lands pursuant to pole licenses negotiated with a city was subject to New Hampshire property tax on the city's land. Although the company was providing a public service, the statute did not include an exemption for private companies that use or occupy public property to provide such services. Whatever interests the city possessed in the lands, those interests constituted ownership that was sufficient to allow the city to impose property taxes on a user or occupier of the lands. Furthermore, amendments to the licenses to provide for tax payment by the licensee were in the public good because they were not forbidden by law, but rather, were required to be implemented under the applicable statute.

Please contact Rash & Associates for more information.