Thursday, November 18, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Notices shock homeowners

Cards stun even those braced for increases in taxable value

Click image for enlargement. Sun City McDonald Ranch resident Steve Sica stands Wednesday in front of his Henderson home. He expects his property taxes to rise $1,200 in 2005. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Steve Sica knew that the taxable value of land in the Las Vegas Valley had skyrocketed, so he braced himself for bad news when he opened his notice of value card last weekend.

The news was worse than expected.

"I knew it would go up. I didn't expect 50 percent, and I sure as hell didn't expect 58 percent," said Sica, a six-year resident of the Sun City McDonald Ranch community in Henderson.

The assessed value of Sica's land, which is less than a quarter-acre, tripled from $21,000 to about $63,000. When combined with the value of his home, his overall increase amounted to 58 percent. Although tax rates have yet to be set, Sica estimates his tax bill, which last year was about $2,000, will jump by $1,200.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," said Sica, a Southern California transplant.

For months, representatives of the Clark County assessor's office have warned residents that the boom in land values will raise property taxes to a level never before seen.

Rocky Steele, Clark County's assistant director of assessment services, said the number of calls his office has received is comparable to every year when notice of value cards are mailed.

The county sent the cards one month early, anticipating questions, confusion and perhaps a crush of appeals, Steele said. This week, his office has handled about 1,500 calls a day.

"We've been busy, but it hasn't been the levels we had expected," Steele said. "We've had a handful of passionate people, but they've been pretty understanding."

Most homeowners are interested in learning more about solutions to the soaring property taxes, Steele said.

Assessor Mark Schofield has floated a proposal to enact a 6 percent property tax cap, an issue legislators will consider in the next session.

Schofield has warned lawmakers that residents will take their frustration with rising property taxes out on their elected officials.

Sica said he and his neighbors have concluded property taxes will be the "straw that breaks the camel's back" after the Legislature's record $836 million tax increase last year and the recent passage of a ballot question calling for a quarter-cent sales tax increase.

"If something isn't done about this, they (legislators) can kiss their jobs goodbye," Sica said. "People are fed up. Enough is enough."

Interest in Schofield's proposal is building, Steele said. Homeowners who ask the assessor's office about a possible tax cap are told to call their state representative.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, has fielded about a dozen calls during the past two days from homeowners.

"Many have said, 'I voted for you, and I hope you will be able to address this issue.' I've indicated that that is what I will try to do," Parks said. "Others have been more blunt, saying if this isn't addressed, don't expect to be re-elected in two years."

Parks said callers believe that the county and state governments are awash with extra cash and that property tax bills that will be mailed next summer will only bring another windfall.

The taxable value on land increased between 20 percent and 50 percent during the yearlong period ending June 30, Clark County reports.

Land values, which shot up during a 10-month period starting a year ago, are based on home sales. Many land values were based on sales during the height of the valley's surge in the spring.

Far sharper increases were seen in land values than in the value of structures, such as homes.

Analysts said the surge was triggered by land speculators buying homes in the Las Vegas Valley, a steady stream of about 5,000 new residents each month and a diminishing supply of land.

Nancy Carey bought a home in the $100,000-range so that property taxes would not devour her fixed income. She paid $123,900 for the home at Buffalo Drive and Cheyenne Avenue in 1996. Today, it is worth $213,000, according to the assessor's office. The value of her land doubled to $30,000.

"I expected taxes to go up, but not this fast," Carey said. "We're retired and on a fixed income. If anything happens to me or my husband, we'll have to sell the house."

Bea Baker is frustrated that local homeowners are stuck with huge tax bills when wealthy land speculators from outside the state descended on Las Vegas and bought property. The big boom is over, but residents are paying the price, she said.

"It's reached its peak, and it's declining now," Baker said. "I think they jumped the gun on property values. What goes up has to come down, and it went down really quickly. In the meantime, we're stuck with high property taxes, and that's not fair."

Baker estimates that her property taxes will amount to more than $4,000, a tough bill to pay on her fixed-income of about $1,000 a month.

Baker supports a proposal authored earlier this year by Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno.

Angle's proposal, which might emerge during the 2005 legislative session, would freeze the tax rate for residential and commercial property at 1 percent of assessed value based on the 2001-02 fiscal year. The proposal would allow tax rates to increase each year by 2 percent or the rate of the consumer price index, whichever is lower.

Proponents failed to collect enough signatures to get the measure, similar to Proposition 13 approved by California voters, on the November ballot.

"People were asleep at the switch," Baker said. "I hope they can bring it to the floor again because people can do something about it. If they can do something in California, they can do something here."

Assessor's officials encourage homeowners who think their taxable value is too high to call their office.

An appraiser will meet with each homeowner and explain how they reached the taxable value.

Homeowners who are still not satisfied can appeal to the Clark County Board of Equalizations. Appeals must be submitted to the county by Jan. 18.