Dear Fellow Taxpayers,

Last week we won yet another victory in our ongoing battle for justice.

Judge Michael Griffin ordered that the, “…assessment and levy of the taxes upon Plaintiffs for the 2004-2005 tax year be declared null and void”. He further ordered that “…all taxes paid by each Plaintiff that are in excess of the just amount of taxes due…be refunded to Plaintiffs, together with interest at the rate of six percent per annum.”

This ruling by the First Judicial District Court in Carson City is another powerful blow to the argument by the Washoe County Assessor that they were just, “following the rules.”

JUDGE CITES DEVASTATING EVIDENCE

Here are some quotes from the Order of Judge Griffin:

• “The evidence establishes that the taxes assessed in the Incline Village areas are not uniform or equal to other areas in the county.”
  
  
• “…there is no indication that the ‘view’ factor is applied across the board.”
  
  
• “As a result of the…subjective assessment of Incline Village property…a taxpayer cannot determine on what basis his property has been assessed.”
  
  
• “There is no consistent regulation or procedure established by the county to ensure that the assessment of real property is not solely subjective ‘guess work’.”
  
  
• “No two assessors could agree upon the methodology used, let alone the value resulting…”
  
  
• “…the assignment of …components and the resulting valuations are arbitrary standards with no limitations…”

HOW DOES THIS RULING AFFECT YOU?

The Order issued by courageous Judge Griffin confirms the previous strong Order issued by Judge Maddox. In fact, the Maddox Order is attached as Exhibit A to the Griffin Order. This further strengthens the decision made by both Judges, that property in Incline Village and Crystal Bay is being unfairly and unequally taxed.

The bottom line in both Court Orders is:

• The assessed values of the 2003-2004 and now 2004-2005 properties must be rolled-back to their 2002 values.
  
  
• All assessors MUST follow the standards for appraisal that have been approved by the Nevada Tax Commission.
  
  
• The Appellants in the cases before Judges Maddox and Griffin will receive refunds from Washoe County of excess taxes that were previously paid plus six percent (6%) interest.

Now, in addition to the Washoe County Board of Equalization’s decision, to roll-back all 8700+ Incline Village and Crystal Bay properties to the 2002 tax year, we have two Court Orders confirming that ruling, for the tax years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, plus refunds and interest.

DOES THIS HELP OUR SUPREME COURT CASE?

You bet it does!!! Now that two judges have made forceful rulings supporting our cause, it certainly should have an affect on the decisions to be made by the Supreme Court Justices. Washoe County and the State will no doubt attempt to appeal this latest Order, as they have with every other ruling in our favor. That will keep it from becoming final before our Supreme Court hearing on June 15, 2006. The Justices will be aware of the decision however, and realize that there is truth to our claim that taxes are not “uniform and equal”, as promised by the Constitution of the State of Nevada.

Thomas Sheets, the Chairman of the powerful Nevada Tax Commission, stated the following at a hearing on March 13, 2006:

• “...this has been going on for three and a half, four years now. The Village group has spent a lot of time, money and effort to bring their issues to the attention of a lot of affected constituencies. They’ve gone out and gotten an expert to address the situation, one of the top two or three experts on valuation in the country who incidentally has said THERE'S A PROBLEM. You’ve got the county board of equalization on a couple of different occasions saying THERE'S A PROBLEM. You’ve got Judge Maddox saying THERE IS A PROBLEM...and you’ve got the [Lake Tahoe] special study...saying THERE ARE PROBLEMS.
  
  
• You know what, it sounds to me like THERE’S PROBLEMS HERE, and I don’t claim to be the smartest guy in the world, but when you have that many constituencies coming from that many different places saying the same thing, maybe you’re just not equalizing the way you ought to...
  
  
• ...I’m aggravated at what seems to be the recalcitrance to admit that there's an issue here that’s got to be dealt with by the assessor’s office in Washoe County...”

We attended that hearing. How exciting it was to hear important officials acknowledge that the concerns of the Village League are valid.

Remember, the Supreme Court case has yet to be won. We need to focus everything that we have, to bring closure and win this long fought battle.

Please continue to support us with your donations!!!