Pending cases could lead to more Incline refunds
By Susan Voyles, Reno Gazette-Journal
David Creekman really knows how to silence a room.
Washoe County Commissioner David Humke asked the chief deputy district attorney the other night about outstanding lawsuits involving Incline Village.
Creekman said that five cases are outstanding.
In one case, the Nevada Supreme Court has not ruled on the lawsuit that would force county property tax values to be equalized, or made similar, to those of lake properties at Glenbrook in Douglas County. That could mean more refunds for the same 9,000 Incline Village homeowners.
“There is a potential for enormous financial liability in those five cases,” Creekman said. But he later said he had no estimate of what it could be.
Todd Lowe, a leader in the Village League to Save Incline Assets, said property values at Incline Village and Crystal Bay would be too high even if they were rolled back to 2002-03 levels. He said they were too high then.
The property tax bill for his lakefront home totals $64,343 this year. The home is listed as having a taxable value of $5.6 million, most of it in the land.
“I live in the county. I hate to see it unnecessarily harpooned again. But that’s their fault. It’s their actions,” he said.
As evidence, the residents compare the home of Maryanne Ingemanson, village league president, with two properties in Glenbrook that have bigger new homes, more acreage and more beach frontage.
Despite those attributes, Lowe said Ingemanson paid $369,284 in property taxes during six years ending in 2007, while one Douglas County homeowner paid $113,276 in taxes and another paid $151,196 during the same period.
