The county has decided to postpone enacting a tax on cell towers.
The Butler County board of commissioners were considering taxing the owners of the 100 cell and telecommunications structures throughout Butler County. They would hire a company to assess the towers and find out how much to tax.
County Chief Assessor Chris Savage told the commissioners most of the counties in Pennsylvania have enabled such a tax.
However, the commissioners agreed at their meeting on Wednesday that starting this tax now was bad timing. The county is currently in negotiations with tower companies in regards to the new 911 center.
“I’m concerned how this might effect negotiations,” Commissioner Leslie Osche said.
The board unanimously voted to revisit the idea in the future.
The tax has the potential to bring in thousands. Lawrence County brings in $65,000 and Erie County earns $140,000, according to Savage. The county would likely have to pay a company thousands of dollars, however, to assess the towers.