ALERT: #118
DATE: January 11, 2007
TO: Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners
FROM: Village League Tax Revolt Committee

Dear Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners,

Ours is not the only area that is suffering under the burden of over-taxation! The states of Idaho, Florida and New Hampshire and others have been carefully following our efforts and reading our Alerts.

They are just as thrilled as we are over the incredible decision that was issued by the Nevada Supreme Court last December 28, 2006.

I thought that you might enjoy reading a letter that I received from Florida in that regard, as well as an article published in the Sandpoint, Idaho newspaper.

FLORIDA

Dear Maryanne,

I’ve just read the Nevada Supreme Court decision. They absolutely hit the spot!

Those methodologies are unconstitutional because they are inconsistent with the methodologies used in other parts of Washoe County and the entire state.

And, it’s a compelling coincidence. The National Association of Realtors Quadrennial Ethics Course and Exam includes a similar principle – so relevant to Nevada, and to Florida. It’s that when professional practice and the laws collide, the law prevails.

I’m also a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers editorial review committee. So I took some pleasure in forwarding a copy of the decision to Chris Bennett, IAAO Director of Publications and Marketing. And I’ve also sent it to Pete Sepp, at the National Taxpayers Union.

On behalf of a national client, CPS is involved in litigation, in several Florida counties for exactly the same reason – our client’s assessments do not comply with state law – in very specific ways. In effect, the assessors are ignoring the very IAAO standards they are supposed to apply – they are assessing intangible assets without making any effort to follow our State’s definition of real property. The definition is in the law – but they don’t pay attention.

You’d think government officials would figure out that if the asset is not land, and if the asset is not a building, and if the asset is not a fixture attached to the land or the building, it’s not real property per the law, and that should be that. But, while our 67 assessors have a great deal of influence on our State laws – the regulatees (assessors) tell the regulators (Florida Department of Revenue) what to do, a la Enron – following the laws is quite another story.

So, I applaud your efforts and cheer your success. Keep up the good work. We are all watching the outcome of your efforts.

Best regards,

Sheila M. Anderson
CPS – Principal/Broker
Post Office Box 773609
Ocala, Florida 34477-3609
(352) 245-7441 Central Florida
(305) 372-9200 South Florida
www.floridapropertytaxappeals.com

IDAHO

By R.J. COHN
Staff writer
www.BonnerCountyDailyBee.com
January 2, 2007

SANDPOINT - In the wake of a Nevada Supreme Court ruling ordering the Nevada Tax Commission to refund more than $30 million to property owners stemming from “unconstitutional” appraisal methodologies, a Bonner County grassroots organization seeking to overhaul the state’s tax law plans to file a class action suit against Idaho.

Bob Chenault, one of the chief organizers of Sensible Taxation of Property, (STOP), said he expects the suit to be filed sometime in the first quarter of 2007.

“Our ultimate goal is to change the Idaho Constitution and how property tax is determined and collected in this state,” said Chenault, who unsuccessfully attempted to place a 1 percent property tax initiative on the November ballot last year.

“We want the Legislature to know we’re coming after them, and this class action suit will be our calling card. What we want is to get rid of the onerous interpretation of Idaho’s statutes by tax commissions and assessors so there’s finally fair and equal treatment, which we’re not getting.”

Chenault said STOP has already discussed filing the class action suit at length with an attorney and has received a lot of legal advice from several others.

“They agreed with our argument and our decision to wait for the outcome of the Nevada court case,” said Chenault, who has been clamoring for revamping Idaho’s tax statutes for several years. “It’s precedent-setting for the whole country, and other states are going to have to pay attention to Nevada’s ruling which is now case law.

“It showed Nevada’s system is broken, and so is ours.”

After the landmark ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court on Dec. 28 - which found in favor of Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village homeowners who challenged the state’s uniform regulations governing property assessment - Chenault said the Nevada suit will become STOP’s road map in its complaint against Idaho.

“Nothing could help us more in our battle to put property taxation back on a sane course,” he said. “We cannot have people losing their homes because of Idaho’s misdirected and mis-applied tax statutes that are anything but fair and equal.”

He said supporters of STOP have been waiting for months for the Nevada Supreme Court decision.

“STOP’s direction now will be the most powerful, most direct and most simple course of action, and that’s to initiate a class action property suit against the state of Idaho,” he stressed.

Chenault said if a judge accepts the complaint which will initially be filed by an individual; other property owners can join by adding their names to form a class action suit seeking “fair and equal treatment.”

He also plans to run several half-page ads in Idaho newspapers announcing STOP’s intentions.

“We can do this,” he said. “In Nevada, the state lost every one of its appeals in the lower courts. It’s our turn to change Idaho’s constitution.”

Chenault stressed that wording in Nevada’s constitution is as specific and clear as Idaho’s.

“It states in plain English that all of the state’s tax statutes must be fair and equal,” he said. “In the Nevada case, the court ruled it wasn’t. The tax commission and county assessors were exercising certain distortions, bending the rules in their favor.

“That’s exactly what’s happening in North Idaho.”

Chenault also blasted Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, incoming chairman of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, over his recent comments that he won’t revisit Idaho’s property tax issue. Lake said he felt the state’s tax system needs “to just sit and have time to cook.”

“What’s bothersome about Lake’s comment is he somehow believes there’s no real property tax problem in Idaho, and it shows a complete lack of understanding,” Chenault charged. “What Lake is suggesting is not fair and equal treatment for property tax, which is underlying the whole problem.

“Our legislators — Sen. Shawn Keough, Reps. George Eskridge and Eric Anderson — have been more than helpful pleading our case. And then Lake comes along and shows his myopic view of taxation, which is embarrassing.”

>>> Back to Maryanne’s message <<<

Our small “hamlet” on the top of a mountain has shaken the tax world with our successful battle against the bureaucracy under which all of us suffer.

It is almost impossible to take on entrenched governmental agencies and succeed – but we did!! We showed that it can be done. Now we have paved the way for others. Our best wishes to them for success as well.

All of you share in our victory. No one could accomplish this Herculean task alone, and we thank you for your support and your confidence in our ability to attain our goal.

There are still battles to win and mountains to climb. But the biggest fight has been won, thanks to you and the integrity of the Nevada Supreme Court.

Sincerely,

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

.