Property owners who appealed got tax breaks

Molly Ball

Thursday, March 3, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.

Clark County property owners who appealed their assessments got a break to the tune of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars this year -- a big number that nonetheless represents less than half of 1 percent of the county's total taxable value.

The Clark County Board of Equalization, which hears appeals to assessments of properties' taxable value, finished its work for the year on Monday, having received a record number of appeals. The 1,933 appeals were nearly three times last year's amount, 724, according to Deputy Assessor Rob Helling.

The board's work was in the spotlight this year as widespread anguish about property taxes gripped fast-growing Clark County. Homeowners saw their tax bills rise as much as 50 percent because of the property's increasing value.

Some of those beleaguered homeowners sought relief from the board, especially after the Las Vegas senior citizens' newspaper Vegas Voice urged seniors to file appeals as a protest.

However, by law, the board can only consider how much a property is really worth, not how much its owner can afford in taxes.

Of the 1,933 appeals filed, 461 were withdrawn before they could be heard; 231 were recommended for change by the assessor's office, meaning both sides agreed on a change in the original assessment; and 1,241 were heard by the board.

In 10 days of hearings over the last two months, the board granted just 42 of those appeals, voting not to change the original assessment in 1,199 cases.

The total amount of reduction was $772 million out of the $9.5 billion total value of the properties appealed.

The single biggest reduction in value that was granted represented nearly half of the total: an alteration in the value of about 6,000 acres of undeveloped land in west Summerlin, owned by General Growth Properties, amounted to $354 million, Helling said.

Appellants still unsatisfied with the taxable value of their properties can appeal to the state Board of Equalization by March 10.

The county's total taxable value now stands at $182.6 billion, according to the assessor's office -- an increase of 31 percent over the previous year.

"That is attributable to the county and the growth that we've had, and the huge appreciation we've seen," Helling said.

The Legislature is currently sorting through various plans for property-tax relief, but there are concerns that a tax cap could violate the state constitution.