Nevada Property Tax Revolt

In a precedent setting decision last year, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the assessments for Incline Village and Crystal Bay were unconstitutional and that the taxpayers affected were entitled to refunds. Today, nearly one and a half years later, the vast majority of local taxpayers have yet to see a single dime in tax refunds or reduced assessments.

People I meet around town often ask me what is taking so long, why is the government stalling, why won’t taxation officials honor the Supreme Court’s ruling? They ask, did we win anything at all, does the Supreme Court ruling mean anything, or does the Court have no authority at all over tax officials and Washoe County?

The answer is yes, we did win a huge victory, yes local government and taxation officials should respect the law, and yes we should have received our tax reductions and refunds. This whole mess should have been over long ago, and we should be moving forward while taxation officials should be doing their duty, correcting the unconstitutional assessments.

The reality is precisely the opposite. In a desperate attempt to hold on to the tax money illegally taken from us, these tax officials have used every conceivable tactic to evade the authority of the courts and frustrate the taxpayers. Led by District Attorney, Dick Gammick, county officials have trampled on the rights of citizens and taxpayers in a cynical display of third world style corruption.

The Court ruled that the taxpayers met their burden of proof and that the assessments were unconstitutional. Yet Gammick continues to stall, to dodge, and to invent new excuses year after year hoping to exhaust our will to continue fighting. The Court ruled that our assessments must be reduced because the Assessor used unconstitutional methods to value our property. Yet time after time the Assessor refuses to change his methods and stubbornly tries to reinstate his illegal assessments. Meanwhile, the county treasurer refuses to pay the refunds for our reduced assessments.

The former chair of the County Board of equalization abruptly resigned after he ruled in our favor because of intimidation by District Attorney Gammick. Right after that, the County Commission sought to stack the County Board with hand picked supporters of the county’s agenda. When asked to testify about the illegal assessments, the county sends its finance director to whine about the county’s budget.

We proved to these officials that Incline Village assessments were 70% higher than those for similar Tahoe properties in Douglas County. We hired world renowned experts who studied our assessments and showed state taxation officials that our assessments are out of equalization. This equalization failure was even confirmed by the Department of Taxation in its own “Lake Tahoe Special Study.”

Yet despite all of this, the tax officials have responded with nothing but scorn and contempt. Inspired by the perception that Lake Tahoe residents are wealthy enough to pay more than their fair share of taxes, and guided by vengeful state attorneys, state tax officials have applied the heavy hand of government to assert their will upon taxpayers. Most recently the State Board of Equalization has refused to accept the remedy ordered by the Supreme Court, and is instead literally telling taxpayers, “either you agree to take our ‘settlement’ offer or we’ll shove it down your throats.”

Tax officials complain that the reductions ordered by the courts will give local taxpayers a windfall. Yet ironically, it is the county who has received a huge windfall in the form of excess taxes they have illegally collected from us. These tax officials will do nothing until they are absolutely forced. Their goal is to exhaust our resources and our will. We need the help and continued support of local citizens who have some pride in Nevada and who care enough about justice to make sure this is not allowed to happen. We have already won this battle. Now, we need to be able to outlast this mockery of justice to finalize our victory and realize the relief that we deserve.