Cell phone use continues to grow, and cell phone companies have become desperate to find suitable locations for new towers. The sheer number of users has overwhelmed the existing cell phone tower network. Around every U.S. city lay large numbers of cell phone "dead zones." These areas suffer frequent dropped calls, static, or busy signals caused by inadequate cell phone tower coverage. For example, in New York City—the largest cell phone market in the United States—at least 200 known dead zones exists.

Zoning regulations and land use laws have only made the problem worse. Some residential areas no longer want cell phone towers in their neighborhoods. Ironically, the residents of these areas use cell phones a great deal, so cell phone companies are turning to church steeples and other buildings in these residential areas as ideal locations for installing cell phone broadcast facilities. The installation also increases the value of these structures.

Tower Locations
Most cell phone companies seek properties for tower sites in and around major cities or along freeways and highways that lead to major cities. They are looking for locations no more than 15 miles outside the city, or less than four to six miles from freeways or highways leading into the city. The cell phone company normally seeks to lease a 50-foot by 50-foot area to construct either a monopole or guy-wire tower. Cell phone company personnel must have access to the site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Therefore, the tower usually needs to be close enough to a paved road to allow service access—usually within 300 to 500 feet. The community must be one that allows cell phone towers, but church property is often exempt from local zoning and land use laws and regulations pertaining to cell phone towers. Should this be the case, then the church land lease becomes more valuable.

The cell phone company can also install broadcast equipment on rooftops without the erection of a tower. Buildings selected typically stand at least three stories high and have a flat roof. A hot roof or gravel roof will work just fine. The installation calls for an area at least 20 feet by 30 feet. This area doesn't have to reside totally on the roof; portions can reside inside the building or on the ground next to the building.

Broadcast equipment can also be installed in a church steeple, on a billboard, or water tower. When a church steeple is used, the equipment is usually installed inside the steeple with the inconspicuous antennas mounted near the top of the steeple. If the church has a billboard, the antennas can be mounted on the billboard with the equipment mounted on the ground next to the billboard. Just as with a ground-based site, cell phone company personnel must have access to the broadcast equipment for maintenance purposes all day, every day.

Site Evaluation
Most major cell phone companies maintain cell phone site sign-up forms on the Internet—usually at their company website. When the company receives your e-mail, they will identify the property location as sent to them and render an evaluation. Someone representing the company will then contact you to discuss the suitability of the site in more detail.

In many cases, cell phone tower companies approach the land owner first. Radio frequency engineers locate good potential sites for towers and then the cell phone tower company tries to negotiate a lease for these sites.

There are also private companies such as RF Comsites that evaluate your site and then attempt to approach a cell phone company and negotiate a lease.

Lease Terms
Pricing of a cell phone tower lease depends on many factors. Most industry experts say that $1,500 a month is the average lease price for a cell phone tower. The key point here is that this is an average price. In reality, if a property owner's site resides outside of a major city and he asks for $1,500 a month, he will likely not get a deal. A rural site will earn much less money than an urban site. A hilltop site in a major urban area, however, will command a much higher lease price than $1,500 a month.

The length of time the lease runs can also play a role in monies earned. Some churches have negotiated long leases with a large amount of money paid up front. As they say, everything is negotiable. If church managers feel uncomfortable negotiating the lease, consultants can handle the negotiations for them.

Tax Consequences
For most churches, income from a cell phone tower lease is considered unrelated business income and subject to income tax. If land is leased from the church for tower use (as opposed to locating the tower on the church building), that portion of land might be subject to local property tax. In some unusual cases, the rental could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the church. More information is available in the book Pastor, Church & Law by Richard R. Hammar. Always consult an experienced lawyer before entering into any financial agreement.

During hard pressed times, churches need to use all their assets to full economic advantage. An unwired steeple, church school roof, billboard, or unused raw land falls into that category. With the monthly rent for a single cell phone tower now averaging $1,500, a church can bring in substantial monies by entering the cell phone tower rental marketplace. Just consider it manna from heaven.

This article first appeared in Your Church magazine.