The Associated Press

Thu, Sep 11, 2008 (10:27 a.m.)

A Nevada Ethics Commission panel concluded Thursday that there's no evidence to support a claim by a state Democratic Party official that Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons pressured a county assessor to get an unwarranted property tax break.

The panel agreed with a commission investigator who said there was no evidence that Gibbons used his position to obtain "unwarranted privileges" in the form of a low agricultural use assessment.

Gibbons applied for the agricultural use assessment and wound up with a $39.71 tax bill on 40 acres of land in scenic Lamoille, in Elko County, that he bought for $575,000 a year ago.