Incline assessment case back to equalization board

The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered the appeal over property tax rollbacks for 8,700 Incline Village property owners to the State Board of Equalization.

The court unanimously ruled that the State Board of Equalization arbitrarily and incorrectly remanded the case back to the Washoe County Board of Equalization.

The state board did so asking the county board to provide specific evidence as to which of those parcels were valued with methodologies the court has already ruled unconstitutional.

But the county board and Village League to Save Lake Tahoe argued that wasn't the core reason for the county board decision to roll back property values and, therefore, taxes on all those parcels.

They appealed, saying the state board improperly sent the issue back to the county.

The high court agreed: "How the 8,700 properties were individually valued, however, was not the question the county board was considering when it made its decision."

The county board ruled that the court decision rolling back taxable values for 300 Incline Village properties created a situation in which the 8,700 properties were effectively being overtaxed. To equalize taxation as required by the Nevada Constitution, the county board decided to lower the taxable values of all those properties.

The Supreme Court opinion directs the state board to take up the county assessor's appeal of the rollback on its merits.

Washoe County officials have said if the rollback stands, it will cost the county an estimated $12 million in property taxes.

- Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.