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Internet providers want tax break to install broadband in Montana
About 74 percent of people in Montana have broadband coverage, ranking it last among all the states for connectivity.
Internet service providers are asking the state Legislature to give them a decade-long property tax break on fiber optics they install.
Making it more financially appealing to install high-speed internet would help homes, schools, libraries and businesses in undeserved, rural parts of the state, said Geoff Feiss, the general manager of the Montana Telecommunications Association.
Feiss said the tax holiday would exempt property taxes on fiber optics installed by utilities entirely for five years, and then phase in the value at 20 percent a year over five years until it hits the full tax level. That break would help companies make the investment in high-speed internet, Feiss said.
The state Department of Revenue spoke in opposition to the bill, saying as more types of properties are exempted from taxes, it shifts the tax base to homeowners, including elderly people who struggle to pay property taxes and stay in their homes.
