Property tax dispute ends in Incline, Crystal Bay residents’ favor
By Brian Duggan, Reno Gazette-Journal
The Nevada Supreme Court ended a nine-year property tax dispute between 8,700 North Lake Tahoe residents and Washoe County on Thursday, saying homeowners in Incline Village and Crystal Bay are due a property tax refund.
While estimates of the refund came out to about $13 million in 2009, with interest county officials are now estimating they could owe the residents up to $40 million, impacting the Washoe County School District, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Incline Village General Improvement District and the state.
The high court on Thursday knocked down the county’s appeal of a 2009 district court decision that agreed with a series of previous tax panel decisions hat said the 8,700 residents paid too much in property taxes in 2006-07 and should have paid at 2002-03 levels.