Seniors file appeals in ongoing tax protest

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

As promised, a publisher of a tabloid newspaper aimed at seniors living in some of Clark County's upscale planned communities filed petitions to appeal hundreds of property tax assessments.

Dan Roberts, publisher of Vegas Voice, a monthly publication for county residents 50 and older, delivered 863 appeals to property tax assessments as a protest to skyrocketing valuations.

Assessor Mark Schofield, who began warning of the trend towards much higher property value and thus higher bills early last year, said his staff was prepared for the protest appeals.

The appeals submitted Tuesday pushed the number the assessor's office has thus far received to a record high of 1,165, Schofield said. The number will almost certainly grow as appeals mailed before Tuesday's deadline come into the assessor's office.

Schofield said that his office has received almost 2,700 requests for the official forms to appeal property tax rates, and he expected the final number coming into the office to be 2,000 or above.

The number of appeals last year, the old record, was 776.

"What do we have here, a party?" Schofield joked when Roberts, followed by a small crowd of media and two sons, arrived with the petitions at the assessor's office in the Clark County Government Center. Despite the joke, Schofield said the issue is extremely serious. Some homeowners could see an 85 percent increase in their tax bills.

"We appreciate their concerns," Schofield told Roberts. "We'll certainly make this process as painless and with the least bureaucracy we can."

Roberts said Schofield had been "extremely cooperative" during the effort to call for appeals of the process. The problem is not in Las Vegas, but in Carson City, the publisher said.

"We need to draw attention of the state Legislature to the importance of this issue," Roberts said.

In the latest example of ongoing discussions about the matter, several lawmakers participated in a Nevada Policy Research Institute lunch forum Tuesday afternoon and discussed the several measures that have been proposed so far to stem what they fear will otherwise turn into a property taxpayer revolt.

Schofield, who also attended that meeting, told Roberts that his staff would transfer the appeals to the official documents used by his office. Roberts or the seniors themselves could attend the Clark County Board of Equalization meetings, where property tax appeals are argued, the assessor said.

Schofield has warned that appealing the valuations of property as a method of protest is not a likely road to winning a lower tax bill. Eight of 10 appeals historically fail, he noted.

However, there could be some cases among those appealing Tuesday that have other factors that could lead to reduced value and a corresponding decrease in the tax bill, he said.

Schofield said the protest appeals would be heard close to the end of the board of equalization's hearings. Schofield and Roberts agreed that if the Legislature acts before the end of those hearings in February, then the appeals would be withdrawn.

Schofield has watched as legislators have floated a number of different proposals to curb property tax increases, among them one mirroring his proposal for a 6 percent cap on increases. Other proposals from legislators include a 2 percent or less cap similar to one passed in California in 1978, a temporary freeze, and an exemption for "homesteading" owner-occupied homes.

"There is no question in my mind that the Nevada state Legislature is going to take some action on this issue," Schofield said.

Failure to act would be a disaster for the property owners and the legislators, he said.

"The real bomb is going to drop when the actual tax bills are going in the mail" in July, Schofield added.