20211119Decision Memo.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM 1
DECISION MEMORANDUM

TO: COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
COMMISSIONER RAPER
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON
COMMISSION SECRETARY
COMMISSION STAFF
LEGAL

FROM: RILEY NEWTON
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
DANIEL KLEIN
COMMISSION STAFF

DATE: NOVEMBER 19, 2021

RE: COMMISSION INQUIRY INTO THE REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS TO
DETERMINE WHETHER BROADBAND EQUIPMENT MEETS THE
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR INVESTMENT TAX CREDITS;
CASE NO. GNR-T-21-10.

BACKGROUND
House Bill 377, enacted in 2001, authorizes an income tax credit for taxpayers who
installed qualifying broadband infrastructure in Idaho. See Idaho Code § 63-3029B(3)(a)(ii). In
particular, Idaho Code § 63-3029I allows a taxpayer to receive an investment tax credit for
eligible broadband equipment installed during a calendar year.
Qualified broadband equipment is defined as “those network facilities capable of
transmitting signals at a rate of at least 200,000 bits per seconds (bps) to a subscriber and at least
125,000 bps from a subscriber.” Idaho Code § 63-329I(3)(b). If a telecommunications carrier is
seeking the credit, to qualify, the equipment must also be “necessary to the provision of
broadband services and an integral part of a broadband network.” Idaho Code § 63-
3029I(3)(b)(i). To be eligible for the tax credit, the taxpayer must obtain an order from the
Commission confirming that the installed equipment meets the statutory definition of qualified
broadband equipment. Procedural Order No. 28784; Idaho Code § 63-3029I(4). Once the
Commission has determined the installed equipment is eligible for the broadband equipment tax
credit, an order along with the original application is forwarded to the Idaho Tax Commission.

DECISION MEMORANDUM 2
Order No. 28784, in Case No. GNR-T-01-10, specified what information applicants
must submit to obtain an order that installed equipment is “qualified” broadband equipment. The
requirements specified in Order No. 28784 have remained unchanged for twenty years.
Commission Staff believes that the requirements, established more than twenty years ago, should
be evaluated for their relevancy and necessity today. Staff believes that interested parties will
want to intervene or at least comment in the case.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Commission issue a Notice of Case Initiation and
Commission Inquiry and set a 14-day intervention deadline. Once the intervention deadline has
passed, Staff recommends that the Commission set a 21-day comment and 7-day reply period.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission wish to issue a Notice of Case Initiation and Commission
Inquiry and set a 14-day intervention deadline and, once the intervention deadline has passed, set
a 21-day comment and 7-day reply period?

________________________________
Riley Newton
Deputy Attorney General

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