Los Angeles SMSA Limited Partnership v. State Board of Equalization

Los Angeles SMSA Limited Partnership, a cellular telephone company doing business as PacTel Cellular (hereinafter, PacTel), brought an action for a refund of 1987-1988 property taxes against the State Board of Equalization (hereinafter, the Board), which assessed PacTel’s property at $250 million and against the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura, which taxed the property based on the Board’s assessment. PacTel contends that the Board’s assessment should have been approximately $111.5 million because (1) the Board assessed not only PacTel’s tangible property but also its Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license, its principal intangible asset, which is not subject to property taxation; (2) the Board unconstitutionally discriminated against PacTel because the FCC licenses of radio and television stations are not assessed for property tax purposes; and (3) the Board also discriminated by not assessing the FCC license of the Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Company (hereinafter, LA Cellular), PacTel’s only competitor in the FCC-mandated duopoly in the greater Los Angeles area. We find that the Board’s assessment properly valued…