Guest Opinion

The Unbreakable Circle

by Maryanne Ingemanson

Currently, taxpayers must request rulings from the very same agencies with which the original disputes might have arisen.

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office represents:

• Washoe County Assessor (Terrence Shea),

• Washoe County Board of Equalization (Peter Simeoni)

• Washoe County Commissioners (Melanie Foster).

The Attorney General’s Office represents:

• State Department of Taxation, (Greg Zunino),

• State Board of Equalization, (Dawn Kemp),

• Nevada Tax Commission, (new Attorney – Elizabeth Quillan resigned - and Greg Zunino).

The Executive Director of the Department of Taxation (Chuck Chinnock) is:

• The Executive Director of the State Board of Equalization and

• The Secretary of the Nevada Tax Commission

The Department of Taxation is:

• The staff of the State Board of Equalization (Terry Rubald)

• Executive Director of the State Department of Taxation (Chuck Chinnock) and

• Terry Rubald, Chief of the Department of Assessment Standards of the State

Department of Taxation and Chuck Chinnock, Executive Director of the State Department of Taxation sit with the State Board of Equalization in all hearings.  NRS 361.375(10):

• The staff of the State Board of Equalization must be provided by the Department (of Taxation) and the Executive Director is the Secretary of the Board of Equalization.

The Nevada Tax Commission is provided testimony by:

• Chief of the Department of Assessment Standards, (Terry Rubald)

• State Department of Taxation Chief Executive, (Chuck Chinnock)

Officers and Staff for the State Board of Equalization are:

• Chuck Chinnock

• Terry Rubald

Information for testimony before the Nevada Tax commission is provided by:

• Washoe County Assessor, (Deputy District Attorney Terrence Shea).

Example #1:

1. Washoe County Deputy District Attorneys Terrence Shea (Assessors), Peter Simeoni (Washoe County Board of Equalization), and Deputy Attorney General Dawn Kemp (State Board of Equalization), all have stated that the Washoe County Board of Equalization, cannot overturn a directive made by the Nevada Tax Commission.

However, Deputy District Attorney Terrence Shea (Assessors), Senior Deputy Attorney General (Greg Zunino) and Washoe County District Court Judge Peter Breen state that a public citizen must first exhaust all “Administrative Remedies” before being allowed to file for a decision, relating to any point of tax law, in court.

As the pursuit of Administrative Remedies begins at the Washoe County Board of Equalization and the Washoe County District Attorney for the Assessors, (Terrence Shea), the District Attorney for the County Board of Equalization, (Peter Simeoni), and the Deputy Attorney General (Dawn Kemp) have all taken the position that the Washoe County Board of Equalization only has authorization to value property assessments and cannot make any other rulings, there is no way for the public to protest an action of the

Department of Taxation, the State Board of Equalization or the Nevada Tax Commission.

There is no, “plain, speedy and complete remedy at law”, as is suggested by Deputy District Attorney Terrence Shea. The citizen has no adequate remedy to foreclose this prejudicial and biased cycle. Whether the defense is provided by the District Attorney’s Office or the Attorney General’s Office all of these agencies and their attorneys are intertwined in an unbreakable circle. What affects one affects all in any litigation. 

Note: Upon questioning by the Committee Chairman, Assemblyman Richard Perkins, Deputy District Attorney Terrence Shea admitted that the Deputy District Attorneys do give advice to each other about their cases. Of course, they all claim that there is a “Chinese wall” in the offices of the District Attorney and the Attorney General.

However, District Attorney Richard Gammick also stated, in answer to a question posed by this writer in a public forum, that he encouraged all of the Deputy District Attorneys to consult with each other about their cases.

In private law firms, this is not an accepted practice.

Example #2:

1200 taxpayers in the Incline Village/Crystal Bay area appealed their assessed land values in a consolidated hearing to the Washoe County Board of Equalization. The Board agreed that the 8% increase which had been presented to the Nevada Tax Commission by the Department of Taxation for approval was incorrect, and that the Washoe County Assessor had not followed the proper rules and regulations properly in making the assessment.

The Washoe County Assessor then appealed the ruling of the Washoe County Board of Equalization, regarding the 8% taxable land value increase, to the State Board of Equalization. The Executive Director of the State Board of Equalization is Chuck Chinnock. Mr. Chinnock is also the Executive Director of the Department of Taxation. The Department of Taxation is the agency that had originally analyzed, authorized, and presented the 8% taxable land increase factor to the Nevada Tax Commission for adoption.

The 1200 Petitioners were now in the position of appealing a decision to the State Board of Equalization, whose Executive Director is also the Executive Director of the agency that had originally presented the questionable 8% factor for approval to the Nevada Tax Commission, of which he is the Secretary.

Needless to say, the 8% taxable land increase for the 1200 taxpayers was reinstated by the State Board of Equalization.

In 1971, Assemblyman Joe Dini was quoted by the District Attorney as stating, “… an elected official should have the power to appeal to a higher authority, without the consent of the same people who had turned down one of his decisions”.

Should members of the public not have the same right?

(Maryanne Ingemanson is with the Incline Village group called Nevada Property Tax Revolt.  Go to http://www.nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org.  To contact Ms Ingemanson personally, e-mail her at mingemanson@charter.net.)

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