STATE BOARD HEARINGS

Dear Taxpayers,

Two items are worthy of attention.

First:
The State Board of Equalization (SBOE) hearings, regarding the Incline Village / Crystal Bay properties that were scheduled to take place on August 21 and 22 have been postponed by the State Department of Taxation. These hearings were to have addressed the appeal by the Village League of the determination by the Washoe County Board of Equalization last February that they had no “jurisdiction” to hear the class appeal made by Attorney Fulstone on behalf of all of our taxpayers.

The reason for the non-hearing was that there was not a quorum available (5 members are necessary) to sit as an appeal board. Two of the current SBOE members are personally named by the Village League in a lawsuit and would suffer from a charge of “conflict of interest” in making decisions regarding the Incline Village / Crystal Bay cases, and the Chairman recently received a decision from the Nevada Ethics Commission that he might be perceived to have a “financial interest” in the outcome due to his family’s ownership of properties in the Incline Village area.

Governor Gibbons must now appoint new members to the SBOE. This chore has become more difficult given that past members are currently being personally held accountable for the refusal by the State Board to equalize property taxes in all of the counties in Nevada, as mandated by Nevada statutes. This difficulty is exacerbated by the recent Supreme Court decision which, in no uncertain terms, states that the SBOE has a constitutional duty to equalize property taxes in the State of Nevada, which it has not fulfilled.

Would you volunteer to serve on such a board?

No future date has as yet been set for the discontinued IV/CB hearings.

Second:
As many of you had difficulty connecting to the “link”, which was provided in Alert #179, regarding the lawsuits which are still under submission and which include ALL of the taxpayers in the Incline Village / Crystal Bay area, we are including it again as part of this Alert #180.

“WHAT ABOUT ME?”

We are frequently approached with congratulations on our two Supreme Court victories and gratitude for our efforts. However, that is quickly followed by questions as to how these decisions will impact them.

It is an understatement to say that the nearly 6 year effort is complex. We have initiated twelve major lawsuits, five have been won and seven are still pending. Some current cases involve all Incline Village / Crystal Bay taxpayers while others involve specific groups. The victories give us optimism on the remaining unresolved actions.

We hope that the listings below will sort this all out.

You will note several things upon reading the cases.

First: These processes take time - usually 3 to 4 years to wind their way through the system.

Second: While the County Board of Equalization has tried to be fair (in spite of efforts by County politicos to stack the deck against us), the State Board of Equalization has been absolutely hostile.

Hopefully, this matrix will help everyone understand where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. It’s been a long journey, but there’s clearly light at the end of the tunnel.

And, remember to pay your taxes under protest! Go to www.nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org for details

The Tax Revolt: Summary of past and present cases

Tax Year: 2003/2004

• Plantiffs/Parties: Bakst Case - 17 tax payers
• Issues: Illegal assessment methods
• Protest Process: Appealed to County Board of Equalization, Appealed to State Board of Equalization, District Court, Supreme Court
• Disposition: Won, (appealed by County). Won again.
• Remedy: Roll back to 2002.2003; Refund taxes plus interest.

Tax Year: 2003/2004

• Plantiffs/Parties: All Incline Village and Crystal Bay
• Issues: Illegal assessment methods
• Protest Process: District Court, Supreme Court
• Disposition: Lost (appealed by League). Pending
• Remedy: Pending

Tax Year: 2004/2005

• Plantiffs/Parties: Barta Case - 37 tax payers
• Issues: Illegal methods
• Protest Process: Appealed to County Board of Equalization, Appealed to State Board of Equalization, District Court, Supreme Court
• Disposition: Won (appealed by County). Won.
• Remedy: Roll back to 2002.2003. Refund of taxes plus interest.

Tax Year: 2005/2006

• Plantiffs/Parties: 1,200 tax payers
• Issues: Illegal 8 percent increase
• Protest Process: Appealed to County Board of Equalization, Appealed to State Board of Equalization, District Court, Supreme Court
• Disposition: Won (appealed by County), Lost (appealed by League), Remand to County Board of Equalization (appealed by League), Pending
• Remedy: 8 percent refund

Tax Year: 2006/2007

• Plantiffs/Parties: All of Incline Village and Crystal Bay
• Issues: Illegal State Board of Equalization actions; Assessor fraud
• Protest Process: Appealed to County Board of Equalization, Appealed to State Board of Equalization, Supreme Court - Writ
• Disposition: Won, Remand to County Board of Equalization, Pending
• Remedy: Roll-back to 2002/2003; refund

Tax Year: 2006/2007

Tax Year: 2007/2008

• Plantiffs/Parties: 900 tax payers
• Issues: Illegal methods
• Protest Process: County Board of Equalization, State Board of Equalization, District Court
• Disposition: Won (appealed by County), Lost (appealed by League) Pending
• Remedy: Roll-back to 2002/2003; refund

Tax Year: 2008/2009

• Plantiffs/Parties: All Incline Village and Crystal Bay
• Issues: Illegal methods
• Protest Process: County Board of Equalization, State Board of Equalization
• Disposition: Lost (appealed by League) Pending
• Remedy: Roll-back to 2002/2003; refund

Tax Year: 2008/2009

• Plantiffs/Parties: All Incline Village Crystal Bay
• Issues: Illegal tax bills
• Protest Process: Federal Court
• Disposition: Pending
• Remedy: Injunction to halt tax payments

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WHAT NOW?

Much is transpiring behind the scenes in our legal world. As we had anticipated, the recent powerful Supreme Court decision will require Washoe County and the State to re-analyze what they are being told by Katy Simon (Singlaub), the County Commissioners and Washoe District Attorney, Richard Gammick.

For six years they have stone-walled the efforts that we have put forth to equalize our property taxes. The cost of rebating the unconstitutional and illegally collected property taxes to IV/CB homeowners continues to grow ever larger.

Remember, these refunds are not a “windfall” as some would describe them, but the rightful reimbursement of monies illegally collected from property owners in Incline Village and Crystal Bay.

The saga continues!

Sincerely,