- 31 -
that drop and block was included in FCC account No. 242.5 47
C.F.R. secs. 31.242:1, 3 (1984).
Respondent argues that drop and block was FCC account No.
242 property when it was placed in service in 1984 and 1985, and
that FCC account No. 242 property, on January 1, 1981, was
15-year public utility property. Respondent contends that she is
still using the class lives that were in place on January 1,
1981; the FCC, by changing the accounting treatment of drop and
block, has caused the property to be classified as 15-year
property for the years after January 1, 1984. Respondent also
cites various reports of the FCC which tend to support its
accounting change.
Petitioner argues that the plain language of section
168(g)(2) requires that we apply to the property the class lives
that were in effect as of January 1, 1981, thus making drop and
block 5-year property. Finally, petitioner argues that Congress
has twice amended section 168(g)(2), and those amendments should
be read as requiring specific authorization from Congress for any
departure from the January 1, 1981, class lives.
Public utilities, whose rates are often mandated by
expenses, are routinely required to utilize uniform systems of
accounting promulgated by regulatory agencies. See Pacific
5 Drop and block is actually segregated into Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) account No. 242.1, aerial cable,
or 242.3, buried cable. For our purposes, because both accounts
are treated in the same fashion, we need not make the distinction
and will refer simply to FCC account No. 242.
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