A move by Vanderburgh county commissioners may make it easier to expand broadband access throughout the county.
Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to remove the personal property tax on new investments to broadband and cellular infrastructure.
"If you’re an owner of WOW or Spectrum or AT&T and you want to lay fiber or put up a new micro cell tower or even a cell tower," Musgrave says, "you won’t pay personal property taxes on that going forward."
Expanding broadband is one of Musgrave’s priorities as a commissioner.
She’s not exactly sure how much money taxpayers will save. "The state assesses that," Musgrave says. "I have never been able to get a straight answer out of the state about how much that is."
But she says it’s one of several steps the county is taking to remove barriers that prevent broadband access.
The vote Tuesday makes the county one step closer to becoming a Broadband Ready Community, a designation from the state that signals a community’s commitment to developing broadband capabilities.