State Rep. Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, is pictured during a listening session with students at Hudson Valley Community College.

A new proposal in the state Legislature would create Broadband Opportunity Areas to help bring broadband internet to areas of the state that don’t currently have broadband.

Rep. Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, recently introduced legislation (A.6548) to establish Broadband Opportunity Areas in areas of the state deemed unserved or underserved by broadband providers as well as adding a new section of the state Real Property Tax Law allowing municipalities to opt in to Broadband Opportunity Areas in areas that qualify.

“Access to reliable affordable high-speed internet is more critical in today’s world than ever before,” Woerner wrote in her legislative justification. “Unfortunately, it is out of reach for many families throughout New York. These households have children that struggle to keep up with homework assignments and projects relying on internet access. These households have stay-at-home parents who possess the qualifications for remote job positions but lack the required internet access to secure employment. Small businesses in remote areas, such as family farms, that lack internet access have a competitive disadvantage.”

Broadband Opportunity Areas refer to regions with limited or no access to high-speed internet, where federal and state initiatives aim to expand broadband infrastructure and digital equity. These areas often include rural communities, underserved populations, and areas lacking affordable internet access.

According to Broadbandnow.com, 98.3% of New Yorkers have access to at least 100Mbps broadband internet, while 94.7% of Chautauqua County homes having access to 100Mbps broadband and 95.7% of Cattaraugus County homes with access to high-speed broadband.

New York has more than $1 billion available for broadband internet expansion through $500 million through the ConnectALL program and another $664 million in the federal American Rescue Act package through the Broadband Equity Access and Development fund.

Areas that don’t yet have broadband are those where building the infrastructure is the most expensive. But once the network is created companies still have to maintain the network – something Woerner hopes a 10-year property tax break will help finance.

“The Broadband Opportunity Areas proposal would offer a meaningful solution to this problem. This proposal would provide property tax relief to broadband companies who are completing internet buildout in unserved and underserved communities, as defined by the Federal Communications Commission. Importantly, the real property tax exemption would only last for ten years and would only apply to new broadband connections in designated areas. Localities are currently not receiving those tax dollars, as there are no broadband connections to tax in the unserved or underserved locations, so communities will not be losing funding from this proposal. However, those communities will see the immediate benefit of broadband deployment in areas of great need. Further, these properties will return to the tax rolls after the end of the exemption period, allowing communities to grow their tax base in the future.”