Monday, Jan. 17, 2005 | 10:51 a.m.
William and Janet Rhoden moved to Las Vegas from Chicago in 1992, hoping to live out a quiet retirement in the sun and on the cheap.
But thanks to the area's growth, the couple have seen their property taxes shoot up and their house in Summerlin become less and less affordable since they bought it new for $209,000.
Last year, following the housing market's biggest boom yet, the taxable value of the house went up 41 percent in a single year.
Frustrated, the Rhodens on Friday went to the county Board of Equalization, the panel that hears the arguments of people who believe they're being charged too much in property taxes.
"I'm asking this group to give us relief, whatever you can do," William Rhoden pleaded.
The board met for the first time this year on Friday, although the deadline for appealing property assessments isn't until Tuesday. Anticipating an unprecedented number of appeals, the board wanted to get some out of the way early.
Board members were sympathetic to the Rhodens, but there was nothing they could do.
"We can't deal with the fact that taxes have gone up and property values have gone up," Scott Dugan, the board's acting chair, told the petitioners. "Our region has changed more in 12 months than it did in the last 50 years."
Board member Jared Shafer urged the Rhodens to take their fight to the Legislature. "This board cannot change the tax structure," he added. "Only the Legislature can."
County Deputy Assessor Rob Helling said he was confident change would come quickly once the Legislature convenes next month. "There's a number of pending ideas being presented as far as property tax reform," Helling told the Rhodens. "We all feel very confident that this next legislative session will bring property tax reform."
More than ever before, the board is anticipating an onslaught of griping Las Vegas Valley residents. Board members predict and hope that the assessments that are upsetting residents will soon be moot, as the Legislature faces overwhelming pressure to relieve property-tax increases estimated at 30 to 50 percent.
As of Friday, the county assessor's office was predicting that at least 1,600 appeals would be filed, twice last year's number.
The board only has the authority to adjust property value that doesn't reflect the true value of the home. Property owners who simply don't like the inflation in value won't get far.
"If you're just going to come up here to say you're unhappy, the board has no control over that," Dugan told petitioners.
The appeals process this year is being used as a tool for organized protest, with a seniors' group announcing last week that it planned to help as many as 1,000 people file with the board.
The appeals may not succeed, but the time they consume will constitute a sort of sit-in, drawing legislators' attention to the urgency of the issue, Dugan said.
The tactic of mass appeals did not work last time it was tried, however. In 1996, the Sun City homeowners' association orchestrated about 500 appeals to protest rising valuations, few of which were granted, Dugan said.
William and Janet Rhoden left Friday's hearing defeated. The five-member board denied their appeal unanimously, ruling that their home's value had increased.
Such fixed-income residents are victims of growth, William Rhoden said. Since they're not employed, they haven't benefited from the area's economic growth or the expansion of county services that property taxes fund.
"Everything has worsened," he said. "The traffic is ridiculous on Sahara and Charleston, and the road work on Rampart is terrible."
Some appellants did succeed on Friday by bringing legitimate complaints about overvalued property.
One was Tony Wish, who told the board how his driveway, which lets out on Buffalo Drive, has become unusable as Buffalo has been widened.
When he bought the four-bedroom house for about $500,000 in 1989, Buffalo was two lanes and there were no plans to expand it, Wish told the board.
Now Buffalo is a four-lane thoroughfare that's in the process of becoming six lanes. "It took me seven and a half minutes to get out of my driveway this morning," Wish said.
The house's four-car garage cannot be used. The two bedrooms that face the street have become storage rooms because noise makes them uninhabitable. Fortunately, the Wishes' three children are grown.
"It's been up for sale for five years, and we've never gotten an offer," Wish said. "My house is unsaleable."
Board members agreed that Wish's home wasn't worth the assessed value. "The government did this, and the government is now asking this amount of tax," board member Dan Ahlstrom said.
"Somewhere along the line I think collectively the government has to take responsibility for what we've done to this gentleman. He couldn't stop (the road widening) from coming, and if he had known what was going to happen he wouldn't have bought there."
The board voted unanimously to return Wish's home to the value at which it was assessed in 2003.
Out of 26 individual homeowners whose appeals were heard Friday, Wish was one of only two who succeeded. Some commercial residential property owners also got relief, including the owner of a Henderson apartment complex near the intersection of I-215 and U.S. 95 who said road construction was hurting occupancy.
The board also approved without discussion 36 reductions recommended by the assessor, most because of a clerical or other error. Those people filed appeals but didn't have to have a hearing because the assessor agreed with their complaint.
The assessor's office by Friday had sent out 2,400 appeal forms, twice as many as last year, and expected at least 700 more from the seniors' group, which distributed its own forms.
In addition to complaining homeowners, many appeals will come from businesses. For example, casino owners and their lawyers routinely challenge the assessments.
Dugan said he's not looking forward to the board's huge workload this year, but said he hopes it will lead to legislative action.
If people want to use the board proceedings as a means of protest, they have every right to do so, Helling added.
"We don't discourage anybody," he said. "If people want five minutes in front of the board to protest their taxes, that's their right."
The board's next hearing will be Jan. 28, with more hearings scheduled as needed.
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