Concerns local taxation of business personal property of local exchange telephone companies.

This bill clarifies New Jersey's tax rules for business personal property (like equipment and infrastructure) owned by local telephone companies. It revises the definition to require these companies - specifically those that held regional landline monopolies before the 1996 Telecommunications Act or their successors - to pay property taxes permanently, regardless of annual service coverage percentages. The bill also mandates that if a municipality wins a tax case against such a company, the company must pay the municipality's legal fees. This aims to end costly annual litigation and stabilize municipal tax bases that were eroded by misinterpretations of the 1997 tax law.