NPTR: Alert #190: Court Awards More Refunds!!

[Wayne Fischer]

COURT AWARDS MORE REFUNDS!!
TAX YEAR 2005/06 BENEFITS

ALERT: #190
DATE: December 27, 2008
TO: Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners
FROM: Village League Tax Revolt Committee

Dear Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Tax Protesters,

In a decision for the tax year 2005/06 issued on December 19, 2008, District Court Judge McGee made the following ruling:

1. The Court… directs the County Assessor to return the land valuation of the affected parcels to their 2002/03 levels and to refund with interest excess taxes paid;

2. In doing so the Assessor shall apply forward an 8% factor (a 1.08 multiplier) to the land values of the affected parcels FOR TAX YEAR 2005/06.

“For the purposes, affected parcels” shall mean any property owned by any of the named plaintiffs whose values were derived using any of the methods found constitutionally impermissible in Bakst I and Bakst II.”


AN EXPLANATION

The Village League represented, as a consolidated group, approximately 1,130 Incline Village/Crystal Bay taxpayers who had individually filed Petitions to the Washoe County Board of Equalization (CBOE) appealing their 2005/06 property tax assessments.  We won before the CBOE and the Assessor then appealed our victory to the State Board of Equalization (SBOE), which overturned the CBOE decision. The League then filed a Judicial Review action with the District Court in August of 2005, where it has been languishing, (the Judge’s words), until this December.

The Assessor has consistently stated that no refunds would be issued until a court, “issued an order”.  THE ORDER HAS BEEN ISSUED!! In the decision, the court references the Nevada Supreme Court decision, known as “Bakst”, and the current decision clearly states as follows:

>>     “The Court asks and DIRECTS the current Washoe County Assessor to immediately start the process of preparing refunds to the property owners whose parcels are concedely (sic) “BAKST QUALIFIED”, rolling back to 2002/03 values and applying forward an 8% land factor for tax year 2004/05 because it is clear in those cases that one of the disapproved appraisal methods was used by his predecessor in valuing their properties, together with interest on the net figure at the simple rate of 6%.”

>>     Approximately 830 of the original 1,130 taxpayers will be receiving these refunds. The Assessor argued that the condominium properties were not assessed using the four methods that the Nevada Supreme Court ruled were unconstitutional in Bakst I and II; therefore they should not be included.

For those (approximately) 300 condominium parcels Judge McGee “… DIRECTED the State Board to ORDER the CBOE to convene as soon as practicable a special session to hear and determine issues concerning whether these condominium units… have… achieved equalization…”.

Attorney Suellen Fulstone will be representing the condominium properties before the Boards and in the Courts as necessary, to attempt to win the same: roll-back, plus refunds that have now been awarded to the single family residential properties for the 2005/06 tax year.


HOW ARE REFUNDS CALCULATED?

The refunds will be calculated by the Washoe County Treasurer based upon assessment information to be provided by the Washoe County Assessor.

First, the 2002/03 assessed value of a residential land parcel will be determined. That amount will then be multiplied by 1.08 (the 8% factor is to account for appreciation in value up to the 2005/06 tax year), and then multiplied by the appropriate tax rate. The resulting figure is then deducted from the actual taxes paid by the taxpayer in the 2005/06 tax year. The difference becomes the refund amount to which 6% simple interest per year is added. 

Additionally, the new lower assessed value for the 2005/06 tax year becomes the ongoing basis for determining the subsequent years’ Tax Caps.


WHAT IS OUR FINAL GOAL?

The goal of the Village League has always been to obtain uniform and equal taxes for every single parcel in the Incline Village and Crystal Bay area. Our first Supreme Court decision resulted in refunds for 17 parcels for the 2003/04 tax year. The next decision was for 36 parcels for the 2004/05 tax year. The 2006/07 year produced refunds for approximately 270 parcels and this latest decision will produce refunds for approximately 860 parcels. 

The Supreme Court also ruled in favor of equalization for approximately 8,700 parcels for the 2006/07 tax year, and remanded our case to the State Board of Equalization for a hearing and decision, which should take place the first part of 2009.

We are gradually reaching the result that we sought. All IV/CB residential properties are being represented by Suellen Fulstone, the attorney for the Village League. Court cases are currently pending for the 2007/08 tax year and the SBOE still must schedule IV/CB hearings for the 2008/09 tax year.

This truly has been a herculean undertaking, which no one thought that we could win. How wrong they were!!  We have won and we are going to continue winning until our goals are met.

Only with the support of people like you could this have ever been possible. Keep believing in us, and we will continue fighting for you.

More news will be coming. Watch for your Alerts, and continue to pay all of your tax payments under protest. 


What a great way to start the New Year!!

Sincerely,

Maryanne  Ingemanson
Maryanne Ingemanson, President
Village League to Save Incline Assets
www.NevadaPropertyTaxRevolt.org

PS.  Please don’t ask.  Please do not call or email Maryanne Ingemanson or Wayne Fischer with inquiries as to whether or not your parcel(s) are represented in any of the above mentioned tax years.  Maintaining data bases for each separate year is extremely time consuming and problematic.  As each case is finalized, we will try to verify that the Washoe County Treasurer is in compliance with the specific court order(s) and named Plaintiffs.  If you need to know before then, please check your personal records.


---------------------------------

Village League to Save Incline Assets Board Members:
-Maryanne Ingemanson, President
- Dale Akers, Historian
- Les Barta, Law Research
- John Carney, Analyst
- Wayne Fischer, Webmaster
- 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
www.NevadaPropertyTaxRevolt.org

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