Federal Lands: Fees for Communications Sites Are Below Fair Market Value
(Letter Report, 07/12/94, GAO/RCED-94-248).

The Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are the two
major federal agencies whose lands are used as sites to broadcast radio,
television, and other electronic signals. These sites, mainly located in
the western United States, are for the most part leased to private
entities that build and operate communications facilities. The annual
fees being charged for such communications sites are, in many cases,
significantly below fair market value. Forest Service and BLM officials
estimate that charging fees on the basis of fair market value would
boost total federal revenues by more than 500 percent--from about $4
million to about $23 million annually. Although the Forest Service and
BLM have been trying to set fees reflecting fair market value, annual
appropriations legislation has limited the amount by which these fees
can be increased. As long as these limits are in effect, the fees
charged will not reflect fair market value. Both the Forest Service and
BLM lack reliable and complete information needed to manage their
communications site programs. In addition, many unauthorized
communications users are operating on Forest Service lands, and annual
inspections to ensure that the sites are properly maintained are rarely
done. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see:
Federal Lands: Fees for Communications Sites Are Below Fair Market
Value, by John H. Anderson, Jr., Associate Director for Natural
Resources Management Issues, before the Subcommittee on the Environment,
Energy, and Natural Resources, House Committee on Government Operations,
and the Subcommittee on Natural Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, House
Committee on Natural Resources. GAO/T-RCED-94-262, July 12 (13 pages).

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-94-248
     TITLE:  Federal Lands: Fees for Communications Sites Are Below Fair 
             Market Value
      DATE:  07/12/94
   SUBJECT:  Public lands
             Use taxes
             Fair market value
             Communications operations
             Appraisals
             Management information systems
             Land management
             Broadcasting industry
IDENTIFIER:  Los Angeles (CA)
             Arizona
             California
             Colorado
             Idaho
             New Mexico
             Oregon
             Washington
             Mt. Wilson (CA)
             Sandia Crest (NM)
             Deer Point (ID)
             
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