Declining landline use prompts Verizon move.
Plainfield taxpayers will be concerned to learn whether Verizon will be claiming to be exempt from 2009 local taxes for its telephone poles, lines and switching equipment, as it has already notified several North Jersey towns.
The hit in Plainfield could be substantial, since our six-square-mile community is crisscrossed everywhere with poles and wires (except for the central business district, where lines are underground) and we have a switching center at 4th and Park as well as other locations in both the eastern and western parts of the city.
For instance, Rochelle Park in Bergen County receives about $500,000 yearly for its switching station. A figure of that magnitude suggest Plainfield could be impacted even more than this.
Verizon is making the move because of the drastic drop in landline services, which is continuing to accelerate.
In a recent story in the Ledger by business writer (and Plainfield resident) Tom Johnson, a study by Nielsen suggests nearly 1 in 6 homes nationwide relies exclusively on cell phones.
The story goes on to note that in the year ending June 2008, Verizon had lost 6 million consumer landlines nationwide while adding 14 million cell phone customers.
A budget hit of the magnitude other New Jersey towns are facing would force the Robinson-Briggs administration to consider cutting services or raising taxes even more.
Stay on the line...
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