Counties get right to sue on taxes

Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 | 10:09 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Counties have the right to sue to overturn decisions of the state Board of Equalization on property tax disputes, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled.

The court, in a split decision Thursday, overturned the ruling of District Judge Michael Griffin, who ruled that Mineral County could not sue after the state board reduced the property values of Day & Zimmerman, which manages the ammunition depot in Hawthorne.

In the 1998-99 tax year, the state board lowered the taxable value of the housing of Day & Zimmerman from $1 million to $275,000.

Mineral County filed suit but lost at the District Court level.

he court, in a majority decision written by Justice Bill Maupin, said the law "presents no barrier to a county's right to see judicial review of a state board decision."

Maupin said denying a county's right to sue "would allow the state board to set binding precedent regarding state tax legislation, which could subject county citizens to an unjust outcome and an inequitable distribution of taxes in the event of an incorrect interpretation and application of law."

Justice Jim Hardesty wrote the dissent, saying only taxpayers, not counties, may sue to challenge the decision of the state board. He said there is nothing in the law to permit a county to sue the state board.