NPTR: Property Owners Alert # 23

[Ted Harris]

  PROPERTY OWNERS ALERT # 23

   

   

  Monday, August 4, 2003

   

  TO:               Incline Village/Crystal Bay Property Owners

  FROM:        Ted Harris, The Village League to Save Incline Assets, Inc.

  SUBJECT:   "Declaration of Protest" to the Nevada State Tax Commission.

   

  Dear Property Owner,

   

  By now every property owner in IV/CB has received our letter, instructions, and the form letter to assist you in paying your property taxes, "Under Protest".  So far, we have had hundreds of responses from property owners letting us know that they are submitting the "Protest Letter" along with their payment of the property tax. In case you did not receive our letter, click on this link to our web site  http://nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org/  then click on the link to "How to Pay Your Taxes Under Protest"

   

  Part of the reason for our campaign encouraging payment under protest is that, at our attorneys presentation before the State Board of Equalization, the District Attorney, Blaine Cartilage, in his effort to minimize the concerns of IV/CB toward the extraordinary assessed value increases, stated that "there were only 123 property owners who filed appeals to the County Board of Equalization".  Of course, he conveniently avoided mention of the hundreds of individual property owners who had called the assessors office questioning the huge increases in assessed value. His purpose, of course, was to imply that the uproar about these increases was brought on by only a few rich IV/CB mal-contents whining about their property tax.  Now, with hundreds of property owners protesting, we think the point will be made that this statement was purposefully misleading. We need to let Washoe County know that the vast majority of the citizens in IV/CB are retirees on fixed incomes, working people who are struggling to pay the property taxes and hundreds, if not thousands of people whose incomes can not keep pace with these outrageous tax increases and who are being forced to consider selling their homes.  

   

  Our attorney, Norm Azevedo, whose arguments about the illegal appraisal methods used by the Washoe County assessor, was heard by the Nevada State Tax Commission on April 3rd of this year. This was a very important presentation because the State Tax Commission is the ultimate arbiter of tax policy and administrative regulations on all tax issues in Nevada.  (As a point of information, Norm was counsel to the State Tax Commission for nine years) 

   

  (Click on this link http://nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org/Page2.html , then click on the link to "Alert #13" for reference to the meeting announcement and web link to see his entire power point presentation.)  

   

  As a result of Norm's presentation, we received a very sympathetic response from the Nevada State Tax Commission.  They indicated that there was considerable concern  about the assessor's methods and that they would hold public workshops, after the now ended Legislative session,  to hear in detail the reasons for our challenge to the methods of appraising property in IV/CB.  The hearings are currently scheduled for September 8th & 9th.  We will advise you as to the time and place as soon as we know. 

   

  In addition to your tax payment, "Under Protest", we have prepared an additional protest petition that we intend to present to the State Tax Commission during their hearings in September.  The purpose of this new petition, that we are calling the: 

   

  DECLARATION OF PROPERTY TAX PROTEST

  TO: THE NEVADA STATE TAX COMMISSION

   

  is the same as paying your property tax, "Under Protest", and that is to make a very loud statement to the Tax Commission of our lists of grievances.  We have a team of volunteers who have stood guard at the Post Office and at Raley's for four days of last week and we have been able to generate over 1,300 signatures, so far.  We plan to continue all this next week in hopes of getting the number up to 2,500 to 3,000.  

   

  Many of our property owners live out of town and have not had a chance to sign our "Declaration" at the post office, so for the benefit of all the absentee owners and for locals who have missed us at the post office, we send this for your signature and for the signature of your spouse and friends who own property in IV/CB.

   

  Please, please click on the link: http://nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org/DclrTaxProtNVSTC.pdf , print out the Declaration, print your name, the physical address of your property, add you signature and mail it back to the address at the bottom of the form.  If you have friends that are property owners, print out several extra copies for them and or forward this email message to property owners on your own mailing list.  You have nothing to lose and much to gain.  

   

  Please help us and yourselves on this; we need a signature on this form, from every property owner in IV/CB.

   

  Regards to all,

   

  Ted,

  Ted Harris, Tax Revolt Committee Chairman 
  The Village League to Save Incline Assets, Inc.
  (775) 831-3914   tedgh at nvbell.net

  The Village League to Save Incline Assets Board of Directors:
  Maryanne Ingemanson, President -- Ted Harris, Tax Revolt Committee Chairman --Les Barta, Law Research -- Wayne Fischer, Web-Master -- John Carney, Financial -- Dale Akers, Historian-- Chuck Otto, Public Relations -- Joyce Anderson-Bock, Personal Relations 
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