By
Lucas Sullivan
A loophole in Ohio’s tax law allows phone companies to skate on $7.6 million in delinquent taxes, affecting budgets of cash-strapped school districts and local governments.
A Dispatch review of outstanding property taxes found 185 delinquent-tax cases involving phone companies, according to data from Franklin County Treasurer Edward Leonard.
Leonard said last week that counties are hamstrung because they have no authority to collect the tax. He wants the state to provide counties with a collection tool.
“It’s a lot of money, but it’s about our ability to collect,” Leonard said. “Some of (the delinquent taxes) are not collectible, some of it is, and we have no effective resources available to collect the money.”
Phone companies often sign lease agreements to install cellphone towers or other equipment on someone else’s property. State law through 2010 allowed counties to impose a tangible personal property tax on that equipment.
The tax was phased out for most businesses in 2008, but it wasn’t phased out for telecommunication companies until after their 2010 tax filing.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said almost all businesses own their property, making liens and foreclosure legitimate collection tools. In almost all cases, cellphone towers are not owned by the property owner, making foreclosure implausible.
“I don’t know that it’s a ‘loophole’ so much as an antiquated collection method prescribed by the Ohio statute that is not particularly suited to delinquent tax collection for cellphone towers,” O’Brien wrote in an emailed response.
State Sen. Kevin Bacon, a Franklin County Republican, said Leonard raises an important issue, although it’s the first he’s heard of it.
“It’s definitely something we need to look into,” he said.
Ohio Department of Taxation spokesman Gary Gudmundson said he was not sure whether other counties have raised the phone-company issue.
Some of the delinquent companies on Leonard’s list have gone out of business or were bought by another company that, in some cases, was gobbled up by someone else. Many of the companies operate in other states or countries.
Ohio Bell Telephone Co., a subsidiary of ATT, accounts for 82 of the 185 delinquencies, a bill totaling $975,300.
An ATT spokesman said in an email received on Friday that the phone company protested the tax and recently reached an agreement with the Department of Taxation that absolves it of the delinquencies.
Marge Brewer, executive administrator in the agency’s legal department, said Tax Commissioner Joseph Testa determined that Ohio Bell had $1.6 million in taxable assets, and he instructed counties to assess values based on that ruling.
Brewer would not say whether Testa’s ruling would negate Ohio Bell’s delinquencies. ATT officials said his ruling does give them a pass.
For now, the delinquent taxes remain on the county’s books.
The largest bill on Leonard’s list is $649,507, owed by Alternative Access Inc., whose address is listed on the auditor’s website as a home in Westerville.
The company was actively registered with the secretary of state’s office from 2003 to 2007 under the agency of TCS Corporate Services, based in Florida with an office in Cleveland.
No one from either company could be reached for comment.
lsullivan@dispatch.com
(Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio)By Lucas Sullivan, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Oct. 30–The amount of unpaid property taxes in Franklin County has risen to an unprecedented level, a grim sign that area homeowners are not recuperating from the economic recession that ended more than two years ago.
Delinquent property taxes increased to $192.3 million this year, up from $163.9 million in 2010, according to the county treasurer’s office. The previous five-year high was $175.5 million, in 2009.
“It’s a clear indication that people are struggling, unfortunately,” county Treasurer Edward Leonard said last week. “We thought after last year maybe we were heading in a positive direction, but it appears not.”
The number of properties with overdue taxes increased to 35,072, 4.9 percent more than last year. About 75 percent of those delinquent are residential properties. There are about 440,000 taxable properties in the county, which generate revenue for schools, libraries, zoos and levy-funded social services.
Particularly troubling, Leonard said, is a significant increase in owners who are delinquent for the first time. There are 1,615 more first-time delinquencies than in 2010, an increase that Leonard said is difficult to explain.
Indicators that often point to a recovery –such as unemployment and foreclosures –are positive compared with this time last year.
Foreclosure filings are at a five-year low in the county through September, according to RealtyTrac, and the unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in September, down from 8.2 percent the year before.
One explanation could be the decline in household income. The median household income in Franklin County last year was $47,557, down 6.5 percent from 2008, according to American Community Survey estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“People are feeling the pinch of the economy, and they are not able to pay,” Leonard said. “What I want to tell everyone is that if you are willing to work with us, we are more than willing to work with you.”
Properties carrying the largest outstanding bills run the gamut. Some are large commercial and industrial properties, while others are high-priced homes.
Topping Leonard’s list of delinquent bills is a $5.5 million, 54,000-square-foot office building at 2255 Kimberly Parkway E. on the East Side. Owner Spirit Master Funding II, of Scottsdale, Ariz., owes the county nearly $2.1 million in property taxes. Company officials did not return a call seeking comment.
Gahanna Creekside Investments owes the county about $1.3 million in outstanding taxes for its waterfront condo/office development in the heart of Gahanna.
- Retail Property To Lease
G.M. Worsley Commercial Leasing, Prescott az, Chandler az, Phoenix az, Arizona, Cave Creek, Chandler Mall, Gunnison, Colorado, commercial properties for lease ...
- Aberdeen Center Property Solicitor
ABERDEEN SOLICITORS PROPERTY CENTRE, ABERDEEN, 40 CHAPEL STREET, Our collected property register makes ASPC the only real estate agency site you need for every ...
- Canary Property Sell Wharf
Find property for sale in Canary Wharf with the UK's leading online property market resource, and contact Canary Wharf estate agents to help your search for property ...
- Coverage Form Insurance Policy Property
Standard Flood Insurance Policy Forms. Dwelling Policy Form; General Property Policy Form; Residential Condominium Building Association Policy (RCBAP) Form
- Commercial Property San Diego
Commercial Property Management San Diego - If you are looking to hire a commercial property management San Diego company try Utopia Management, you can call us at 858 ...
