Property owners seek to cut taxes

A chorus of almost 6,000 property owners have chanted the same mantra all month: Lower our taxes.

They ranged from billion-dollar casino companies to humble homeowners who argued that their properties' assessed values should be reduced to better match the plummeting market prices of the past year, and therefore they should get smaller tax bills.

Several thousand owners resolved their cases with the county assessor's staff and avoided a hearing, but a few thousand more appealed directly to the Clark County Board of Equalization.

Some owners who appeared before the five-person board Friday at the County Government Center seemed satisfied with the rulings. Some were displeased but took their medicine. Others were peeved.

"I've been a lender for 15 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said Edward Locke, pressing the board to reduce the values of two area homes. "It (market) fell off a cliff."

Board member Scott Dugan retorted that he had been a lender for 40 years and had never seen anything like this.

The downturn drew a record 5,900 appeals to the county assessor's office by the Jan. 15 deadline, dwarfing the 1,300 filed last year.

Although expressing some sympathy to Locke, board members denied his request to knock the assessments below $400,000.

Agitated, Locke argued that the county can't jack up assessed values when the market is strong to generate more tax revenue and then keep the assessments high when times are bad.

"You can't have it both ways," Locke grumbled.

"Get control of yourself," board member James Howard scolded.

Those who disagreed with the board's decision were told they could appeal to the Nevada State Board of Equalization.

But Assistant Assessor Rocky Steele predicted that only a small portion of property owners will take that step, and only a fraction will win the state appeal.

This year's high volume strained staff and the board, he said, noting that the office ran from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and employees all took on extra tasks.

"It's been a huge challenge," Steele said.

In past years, a few dozen appellants might attend a hearing, he said, whereas today almost 300 people are scheduled to appear.

The board agreed to hear about 100 more appeals on Wednesday, the first time since the 1950s that meetings ran beyond the end-of-month deadline, he said.

Acting impatient, Dugan often spoke sharply, even sarcastically, to appellants who argued or griped.

Peter Kingman, a homeowner, thought the board kept the assessed value too high on an older house. He complained that he had paid too much in property taxes for 13 years.

"Where do I go from here?" Kingman asked.

"You go home and enjoy your life," Dugan said.

Values that were reduced ran a wide spectrum.

The board cut the assessed value of the hotel in Palms Place, a condominium complex, to $4.4 million from $73 million.

It also trimmed the estimated value of the equipment and furnishings on a defunct Quiznos to $12,500 from $30,000.

The total reduction in assessed values should be tallied by late March, Steele said.

More than 200,000 property owners in the county could pay lower taxes this fiscal year, compared with 55,000 in 2008, according to county estimates.

Given the skid in real estate prices, there's no reason to believe the tide will slow next year, said Deputy Assessor Gary Relyea.

Several years ago, tax increases were capped at 3 percent on owner-occupied homes and 8 percent on commercial properties, based on 2004-05 assessed values.

Many people who appealed might not realize that their values must fall below 2004-05 levels before their tax bills decrease, Relyea said.

Locke said he's unable to unload his houses in the slumping market and instead pays thousands of dollars in property taxes.

"For what?" he said. "Services I don't use."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.