NPTR: Alert #147: Now What?

[Wayne Fischer]

*NOW WHAT?*

*ALERT:* #147
*DATE:* November 11, 2007
*TO:* Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners
*FROM:* Village League Tax Revolt Committee
 
*Dear Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners,*

    In hopeful anticipation of a Supreme Court decision on any one of 
our three cases that are currently under submission, we had delayed in 
writing another Alert.  However, many of you have been asking for 
information of any kind on the tax situation, and Thursday after 
Thursday have passed with no rulings from the Supreme Court.  (Note that 
the Nevada Supreme Court issues their rulings once a week, on Thursday 
morning via their website.)

    Since Alert #144, all of the refunds for the 300 Petitioners that 
had appealed the assessed values for the tax year 2006/07 have been 
issued by the Washoe County Treasurer.  However, as we had suspected, 
the actual amounts that were received by the taxpayers were less than 
the settlements that were agreed to on their behalf, by Attorney Suellen 
Fulstone and the State Board of Equalization.

    The Washoe County Treasurer unilaterally lowered the refund amounts 
and the interest (in favor of the County -- naturally) by the amount of 
the 2006/07 "abatements".  This reduction had never even been proposed 
or discussed at any of the settlement hearings.

    A legal action was filed on November 1st by Attorney Fulstone in the 
Carson City District Court requesting, a) the "settlement" decision of 
the State Board be set aside and the decision of the 2006 Washoe County 
Board of Equalization be reinstated, b) the 300 taxpayers be refunded 
the total amount of excess taxes that were paid for the 2006/07 year, c) 
specific performance by the County of their contractual obligations 
under the settlement agreements or damages and d) attorneys fees.

    The opposition attorneys, State and County, now have 30 days, (until 
December 1, 2007), to reply to this new Complaint.

    The disposition of the 2006/07 refunds for the remaining 8700 
property owners in the IV/CB area is one of the cases now awaiting a 
decision before the Supreme Court.

*HOW ABOUT THE 2007/08 TAX YEAR?*

    On September 28, 2007, we attended our last hearing before the State 
Board of Equalization.  They offered the same type of "settlement", 
proposed by the Washoe County Assessor, for the 2007/08 tax year as had 
been previously accepted for the 2006/07 tax year.  We now knew however 
that what was offered and what was actually delivered would be quite 
different.  Attorney Fulstone denied, on behalf of the 1000 Petitioners 
for the 2007/08 year, to accept the offer.

    What we already had won at the 2007 County Board of Equalization in 
February was a reduction of the property assessments for the 2007/08 
year to their 2002/03 values. 

    The State Board of Equalization then ruled in favor of the 
Assessor's "Settlement Proposal" and will issue "written decisions" 
about November 28th. A "Supplemental Tax Bill" from the office of the 
County Treasurer raising property taxes will then be sent to the 1000 
taxpayers who already have been issued lower tax bills based on the 
County Board's decision last February. 

    Approximately 30 condominium properties were offered no relief at 
all, as the Assessor claimed that they had not used any of the illegal 
methods that were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in their 
property evaluations. Of course, the decisions of the State Board 
further exacerbated the unequal taxation of properties against which we 
have been fighting for five years.

    Attorney Fulstone will be filing yet another lawsuit for Judicial 
Review as soon as the "written decisions" for 2007/08 are issued 
announcing  the State Board's latest fiasco.

*REAPPRAISAL VALUES?*

    To further brighten your holidays, all of us will be receiving the 
infamous Assessor's "Postcard" for our 2008/09 property tax assessments 
around the same time that the 1000 (2007/08 petitioners) will be 
receiving their increased "Supplementary 2007/08 Tax Bills".  We are 
anticipating, based on comments made by Assessor Josh Wilson, that our 
land values in the Incline Village and Crystal Bay areas could easily 
double!!   This, in spite of the slumping real estate market.

    Thank heavens that the Nevada State Legislature passed the 3% Tax 
Cap in 2005 for most of the residential properties in the state.  The 
actual amount of the taxes that you will have to pay will NOT be as high 
as the increase in your reappraised value might indicate, as your taxes 
can only be increased by 3% over the prior (2007/08) tax year.

    An article that was published in the Reno Gazette Journal on October 
23, 2007 can be accessed on our website at 
www.NevadaPropertyTaxRevolt.org/07/RGJ-071023.pdf.  The title is "Messy 
property tax system is bad news for homeowners".  I think that you will 
find it quite interesting.

    Once again, our thanks for your continued support and confidence in 
our ultimate victory.  Don't think for a moment that we are through with 
this battle!!  A lot is still happening behind the scenes.

Sincerely,
 
*/Maryanne Ingemanson/*
 
Maryanne Ingemanson, President
Village League to Save Incline Assets, Inc.
www.NevadaPropertyTaxRevolt.org
mingemanson at charter.net
 
*Village League to Save Incline Assets Board Members:*
    * Maryanne Ingemanson, President
    * Dale Akers, Historian
    * Les Barta, Law Research
    * John Carney, Analyst
    * Wayne Fischer, Webmaster
    * Ted Harris, Tax Revolt Committee Chairman
    * Todd Lowe, Financial,
    * Chuck Otto, Public Relations
 
*Village League to Save Incline Assets, Inc.*
Non-Profit Corporation - FEIN 88-0399029
1165 Vivian Lane, Incline Village, NV 89451
Phone: 775-831-4011, Fax 775-831-0325
Email: mingemanson at charter.net
 
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