County assessor’s office handling fewer appeals

Monday, Feb. 9, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

The number of appeals against property tax assessments are falling in Clark County even as the total number of properties, and their values, are going up.

County Assessor Mark Schofield reported last week that there are 727 appeals to be heard by the Clark County Board of Equalization this month, down from 776 last year and 781 the year before.

The equalization board is the first step in the appeal process. About half the property values set by the assessor are usually upheld. Most of the rest are reduced through negotiations between the assessor's staff and the property owner.

In cases in which the property owner and assessor's staff cannot agree, the board sets a value. Last year the board reduced the valuations of 46 cases without the assessor's endorsement.

Property owners who still believe the numbers are wrong can carry their appeal to the state Board of Equalization and ultimately to the courts.

Schofield said the falling volume of appeals comes because people know how much their land, homes and building are worth.

"I attribute it to a highly educated public as it relates to their knowledge of what their property is worth," he said.

He noted that in today's hot real estate market, sales and refinancing are common.

"The public knows that the value we've place on their property is fair and equitable based on what the market is showing," Schofield said.

As of December Clark County had 546,214 individual pieces of property, the vast majority of them residential parcels. Based on the value set by the assessor, the county and city governments would receive $1.4 billion in property tax revenue this year.

That's up from $1.2 billion last year. The number of parcels went up from 515,751 last year.

About 0.1 percent of assessments were appealed this year in Clark County. In Orange County, Calif., in contrast, there were 8,414 appeals on 835,091 parcels of property -- a rate of appeal of about 1 percent, 10 times higher.

Schofield said the number of appeals surprised staff members in his office, some of whom predicted that the assessor would be "inundated with appeals" because of the increasing number of parcels.

"We think that's phenomenal," Schofield said.

Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, echoed Schofield's comments.

The falling number of appeals "is always good news to hear," she said.

Vilardo said several factors probably contributed to the drop-off in appeals.

"This year with the economy rebounding, you have fewer commercial appeals," Vilardo said. "I also think it is true that the public is much more aware of the valuation process."

Another difference, she said, is that property taxes weren't significantly changed in Clark County over the last year, so fewer people received surprises in their bills.