In a per curiam opinion issued Thursday, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected Verizon New Jersey’s attempt to redefine “local telephone exchange,” which would have allowed the company to avoid paying just over $38,000 in 2009 municipal taxes owed to the Borough of Hopewell.

The appeal hinged on the definition of LTE, or local telephone exchange, within New Jersey statutes. Under N.J.S.A. 54:4-1, the personal and real property of a local exchange telephone company is defined as “a telecommunications carrier providing dial tone and access to 51% of a local telephone exchange,” according to the opinion. The sole issue at trial before the Tax Court of New Jersey was whether Verizon provided dial tone service for 51% of the local telephone exchange on Jan. 1, 2008.