ALERT: #149
DATE: November 30, 2007
TO: Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners
FROM: Village League Tax Revolt Committee

Dear Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Owners,

The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments on:

This is an event that you do not want to miss. The results of the decision of the Justices will affect EVERY SINGLE PARCEL in the Incline Village and Crystal Bay areas. Our Attorney, Suellen Fulstone, will be representing us vs. the attorneys for the State of Nevada and Washoe County before the entire Nevada Supreme Court, (somewhat of a xDavid and Goliathx scenario.) The case that is going to be heard is our xWrit of Mandamusx lawsuit, probably the most important case of the three that are presently awaiting decisions by the Supreme Court.

Your presence at an occasion of this magnitude makes a huge impact and can definitely affect the outcome. Decorum and respect in the Supreme Court chambers is strictly enforced. Not a word is spoken by observers and the Justices do notice inappropriate gestures or behavior and can be swayed by them. It is a solemn occasion and enormous decisions will be made that will influence our lives.

As those of you who attended the last Supreme Court hearing in June 2006 are aware, seating is limited, so I would strongly suggest that you prepare to arrive at least 15 minutes early. We won that case – now letxs pray that we are as successful in getting another favorable decision. The scheduled hearing is only for a 30 minute period, so this is not going to be an all day event.

A public parking garage is located on South Stewart Street, just past Fifth Street, and a parking lot is located between Carson Street and Stewart on Fifth Street. The Supreme Court building is located in the middle of the Capitol Complex.

All of us will be receiving the dreaded xAssessorxs Christmas Postcardx, in the very near future, if you havenxt received yours already. You will probably be staggered by yet another increase in your property tax assessment value. Assessor Josh Wilson has stated in the newspaper, on radio and TV that increases over the 2007 tax year will be justified; even though the real estate market, as we all know, has gone down. He hastened to add however, that your actual taxes can only be increased by 3% over the prior yearxs amount.

Frankly, I would still strongly suggest that you down load a Petition for Appeal from our website at www.nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org (click the Form section in the Menu,) print and fill it out. Then MAIL it to the office of the Washoe County Assessor at:

They will only accept original signatures. Be SURE to keep a copy for your own files. If you do this ASAP, you wonxt accidentally miss the January 15th filing deadline, which is vitally important! Also, call or email the office of the Assessor:

and request the following:

• a copy of the most recent appraisal of my property including without limitation, copies of any sales and all other materials used to determine its taxable value.

By statute the Assessor has 15 days to provide this information after your request. Keep notes on everything that you ask for, the name of everyone to whom you speak or anything that you provide at their request.

Those of you who had filed your Petitions for Appeal to the County Board of Equalization by January 15, 2007, and requested to be represented by Attorney Suellen Fulstone, who had been engaged by the Village League for the tax year 2007-2008, have by now received a Notice of Decision from the State Board of Equalization.

If you did not receive such a Notice, you were not part of the consolidated group of approximately 1000 taxpayers, and the following portion of this Alert does not apply to you.

Many have called with questions regarding the Notice and what it means. NO WONDER THAT YOU ARE CONFUSED! What the State Board has done is to send what might as well be a court document, which only trained attorneys could possibly understand. The only part that will be addressed here is the section on page 5 titled xDecisionsx.

You will notice that your Taxable Value and Assessed Values for the tax year 2007-2008 have increased from the amount, (which was the 2002 assessed value), that we won for you at the County Board of Equalization last February and upon which the amounts of your recently received Tax Bills were based.

The Washoe County Assessor appealed the decision of the County Board of Equalization to the State Board. As you had directed, Attorney Fulstone declined to accept the xsettlement proposalx that was presented by the Washoe County Assessor; which of course, was higher than the decision made by the County Board of Equalization. The State Board of Equalization, on September 28th, then ruled in favor of the Assessor and accepted his proposal, which will increase your tax bill for 2007-2008.

By statute, the State Board has 60 days to issue the Written Decision of a ruling. No legal action can be taken until after the Written Decision is delivered. Next week, Attorney Fulstone will be filing an action in District Court for Judicial Review vs. the State Board of Equalization and Washoe County. All of you who received Notices indicating an increase in your property values will be represented in that case.

You may be receiving a xSupplemental Tax Billx from the Washoe County Treasurer, which will indicate the actual increase in tax dollars that they will claim that we owe. If we are successful in obtaining a favorable ruling from the District Court judge, the State probably will attempt to appeal that ruling for yet another Supreme Court decision.

We cannot express too strongly how important it is that you attend the Nevada Supreme Court hearing on January 7, 2008! Remember, xThis win is for youx, and this is our toughest battle. We need your support.

Sincerely,

Maryanne Ingemanson

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