Vol. 3, No. 18
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July 15, 2006
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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Incline Village Residents Brace For Possible Tax Impact
Arguments Have Been Debated, Now The Supreme Court Must Rule
There are millions of dollars of tax revenue at stake as the Nevada Supreme Court looks at how Washoe County determines the value of property at Incline Village, a high-end community at Lake Tahoe. County Assessor Bob McGowan has been accused of valuing property differently in different county communities in two previous court cases. Both cases were won by the Incline Village property owners, but the county has appealed and the court has taken the case under advisement.
Property owners say McGowan uses unclear and subjective rules in his valuations, and the rules are different for them than for other districts in the county. In the latest of the two cases District Judge Bill Maddox ordered the assessor to put the assessments back to what they had been before his changes in operations. That would have set the tax rate at the 2003-04 figure. If the Supreme Court upholds Maddox's ruling, it could cost the county untold millions. If the court decides that all taxing procedures by McGowan are wrong, the county will owe close to $1 billion in rebates.
During arguments the court seemed to not understand why McGowan used different criteria in making assessments. It seems that there are at least 12 different methods McGowan uses in determining a property's worth for tax purposes. Many properties had higher taxes because one can see Lake Tahoe from the property.
Tax rates vary considerably from the south end of Lake Tahoe to the north end. Along the eastern coast of the lake are Douglas County, Carson City, and Washoe County, all using different methods of taxing property in their districts. Only Washoe County residents have been taxed in a questionable manner.
Following the late June hearings the court indicated that it might take as long as three months for them to reach a decision. Incline Village residents are sitting on the edge of their respective seats.
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