Court order praised

CARSON CITY -- A new order from the Nevada Supreme Court is giving a group of Lake Tahoe residents hope that Washoe County will have to refund more than $70 million in property taxes.

Maryanne Ingemanson, a leader of the Village League to Protect Incline Assets, figures the refund, which includes interest, would be owed under terms of the court's brief order if all Incline Village and Crystal Bay homeowners got a refund for the past five years.

Suellen Fulstone, the league's Reno lawyer, said that might or might not be what the court had in mind in its July 26 order involving a class-action lawsuit filed in 2003.

The order says the issues match those in its late-2006 Bakst decision that found methods used by the assessor to consider lake views, beaches and other conditions in setting property values were invalid and unconstitutional.

For the 17 Incline taxpayers in the Bakst case, the court rolled back tax values to the 2002-03 level, basically cutting property taxes in half.

In the new ruling, Chief Justice William Maupin said the Bakst decision satisfies the relief sought in the class-action case. He gave the county and others 20 days to respond.

Washoe County Assessor Josh Wilson said he wants to know what the court wants the county to do, including whether refunds are owed for five years to all the homeowners.

Fulstone said she doesn't expect the court will answer in that way but it might be time for the high court to appoint a court master.