Georgia Town Eliminates Local Tax With Network Revenue

Date: 3 Dec 2013 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Thomasville belongs to Community Network Services (CNS), serving six communities in southwest Georgia. Thanks in part to revenue generated by the network, this community of 18,000 has eliminated its local fire tax. In 2013, Thomasville is estimated to earn a net income of up to $8.5 million from its utility services while keeping prices affordable in Georgia.

Customers of CNS in Thomasville pay $3.32 per month below the state average per 1,000-kilowatt hours of electricity.  Bundled services save customers up to $420 per year. CNS is also a shining example of collaboration among multiple cities in different counties. Thomasville could have built a network on its own, but recognized a greater benefit in combining forces with nearby municipalities, despite the need for extra coordination. The added scale and cost sharing afforded by this model likely played a big role in the benefits Thomasville has reaped from CNS.

You can read more about Thomasville’s tax benefit on MuniNetworks.org, where we provide ongoing coverage of publicly owned networks and telecommunications issues. You can also subscribe to a once-per-week email with stories about community broadband networks.

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Lisa Gonzalez

Lisa Gonzalez researched and reported on telecommunications and municipal networks' impact on life at the local level. Lisa also wrote for MuniNetworks.org and produced ILSR's Broadband Bits podcast.