AT&T, T-Mobile Lose Bid for Lower California County Property Tax

Affiliates of AT&T Inc., Sprint Corp., and T-Mobile, as well as other telecommunications companies, failed to convince a California appeals court to lower their property tax rates after they weren’t able to prove that those rates are unfairly higher than those of others.

The companies argued that the California constitution requires comparable property tax rates, but the companies didn’t define what they consider “comparable,” Justice Ronald B. Robie wrote for the court Thursday. That leaves the court with no way of determining whether the rates were fair, he said.

“Even assuming comparability is a requirement, appellants ...