Are Taxpayers Quietly Footing the Bill for Cell Towers on School Grounds?

Pay Attention DeKalb County... could the increased electricity use at some of our schools be in advance of cell towers?  Budgets have been set to the new, higher rate without explanation.  Schools were closed in 2010 supposedly to save money, but why has the electricity costs stayed the same?  Why do some schools continue to waste electricity, even after being called out on CBS Atlanta's "Tough Questions" segment?  Are there schools that are being told to run all their lights all the time in an effort to keep their electricity costs high?  What else can we learn from the deception that has cost other communities thousands? 

Gaithersburg fails to bill Sprint for nine years of electric costs
Company recently paid off the $65,781 due

It takes a lot o electricity to run a cell phone tower.  Will you end up footing the bill if one goes up near you?

From the Gazzette.net, Maryland

By Sylvia Carignan Staff Writer

Sprint has gotten free electricity for nine years for cell towers perched within a flagpole on city property because Gaithersburg failed to bill the company.

The two cell towers accrued $65,000 worth of electricity costs over nearly a decade since being installed on top of a structured parking lot in Olde Towne Gaithersburg.

Three cell phone towers of four in the city are located on top of the structured parking lot at 112 Olde Towne Ave. Phone service provider Sprint, which operates two of the towers on the parking garage, entered into a deal with the city of Gaithersburg to pay the towers’ electric bill.

The city had been paying the master bill for the garage, without billing Sprint separately, for nine years. Sprint has now paid the $65,781 bill, according to Olde Towne Coordinator Cindy Hines. Sprint declined to comment on specific details of its contract with the city.

Sprint made the deal with the city instead of PEPCO because the cell towers’ electric bill was part of a master bill that included the entire parking garage, City Comptroller Tina Smith said.

Smith first noticed the discrepancy earlier this year. City Manager Tony Tomasello notified the public at a mayor and city council meeting Feb. 4 that the city comptroller had made arrangements for repayment.

Hines said Sprint is now being billed monthly.

The two cell towers operated by Sprint are located within a flagpole on top of the parking garage. The third tower on the parking garage is operated by Cricket. Hines said there are no outstanding billing issues with Cricket. The city’s fourth cell tower is located at Kelley Park, operated by T-Mobile and billed by PEPCO.