NPTR: Fw: Alert #242: Restore Justice

[Wayne Fischer]

Restore Justice

ALERT: #242
DATE: July 23, 2010
TO: Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners
FROM: Village League Tax Revolt Committee

Dear Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Tax Protesters,

The following Opinion Guest Column by our Jim Clark, a local resident, was 
published by the Nevada News & Review website last weekend.

Best Regards,
Wayne Fischer, Webmaster
www.NevadaPropertyTaxRevolt.org



NEVADA NEWS & VIEWS, Opinion Column
www.nevadanewsandviews.com
July 17, 2010

(Jim Clark) – In our nation’s early days the State of Maryland imposed a tax on 
all banks not chartered by that state. At that time the only such bank was the 
2nd Bank of the United States. The tax was challenged in court and wound its way 
to the fledgling Supreme Court which in 1819 ruled the tax invalid because “the 
power to tax is the power to destroy” and under the Constitution’s Supremacy 
Clause states  cannot be allowed to destroy agencies of the federal government.

135 years later the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools violated the 
Equal Protection clause of the Constitution and that schools should be 
integrated “with all deliberate speed “. And just 12 years later the Supreme 
Court ruled that confessions elicited in custodial interrogations were invalid 
unless the accused was advised of his right to remain silent and his right to a 
lawyer under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution.

The point is that when the highest court of a state or of the United  States 
makes a ruling it is immediately effective and is applicable to everyone within 
the jurisdiction of that court. Too bad that doesn’t seem to work in Nevada.

The officers and board of the Village League to Save Incline Assets have either 
to exude the patience of Mother Teresa or be addicted to blood pressure pills. 
In their longstanding battle for justice against the Washoe County Assessor’s 
use of assessment methods unique to Incline Village/Crystal Bay the League found 
itself in 2006 before the Nevada Supreme Court in a case called State Board of 
Equalization vs. Bakst. Applying Nevada’s Constitution which states “property 
must be taxed according to a uniform and equal rate of assessment” Justice 
Hardesty wrote for a unanimous court: “We  conclude that the methodologies the 
(Washoe County) Assessor used are invalid and violated the Nevada Constitution 
because they were not consistent with the methods used throughout Washoe County 
. . . (or) other counties.” Slam dunk, right? Wrong.

Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick then engaged in a pattern and 
practice of stalling by filing appeals (which some argue are frivolous). The 
complicated result was that in 2008 the Village League again found itself before 
the Nevada Supreme Court in a case called State Board of Equalization vs. Barta. 
Chief Justice Hardesty, again writing for a unanimous court, said: “(This is) 
the same central conflict over property tax valuation we addressed in State 
Board of Equalization v. Bakst. . . . the Assessor  used methods or adjusted 
values that we declared unconstitutional in Bakst. We conclude that nothing 
distinguishes these cases, factually or legally.” End of story, right? Wrong. 
Tricky Dick Gammick stalled again, and he did it on our dime since taxpayers pay 
his salary.

There is a ray of hope on the horizon. Last month, for the first time ever, Dick 
Gammick had an opponent in the Republican Primary Election for District 
Attorney. A gent named Ken Stover. Although an inspired candidate Ken was 
underfunded and did not have the name identification Gammick has. Nevertheless 
Ken garnered 30% of the GOP votes cast, a startling development.

Ken has endorsed Roger Whomes for district attorney in the upcoming general 
election and heads up Republicans for Whomes. He is also a governing board 
member of a new political action committee called Restore Justice, founded by 
fellow Republicans and dedicated to raising funds for Whomes’ campaign.

I admire Ken and am persuaded by this effort. Whomes may be the first Democrat I 
will ever vote for. The Village League dispute is beyond partisan politics.


(Jim Clark is President of Republican Advocates,
 a vice chair of the Washoe County GOP 
and a member of the Nevada GOP Central Committee)


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

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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