Developer pays $490,000 in back taxes on land near Red Rock Canyon

Developer Jim Rhodes, who filed last year for bankruptcy protection, paid $490,000 in back taxes Friday on the land he owns next to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

A Rhodes representative delivered a check to the Clark County treasurer, paying off two years of taxes, interest and penalties Rhodes owed on 2,400 acres in the midst of a heated feud.

Rhodes had until July 2011 to pay the debt before the county began proceedings to auction off the land. He issued the check through Harmony Homes LLC, one of his many companies in Nevada.

Last week, county commissioners narrowly approved an agreement with Rhodes to let him apply for denser housing than the one home per two acres allowed under the current zoning.

Rhodes' push to get the county to consider a denser subdivision on the hilltop land has irked conservationists, nature lovers and residents who say that would destroy Red Rock's majestic beauty and the area's rural character.

Terry Murphy, Rhodes' spokeswoman, said his willingness to pay off the tax debt shows he is committed to developing the land. It should quiet those who claim he only wants to flip the property, she said.

"Everything I've seen shows he wants to move forward with the project," Murphy said, noting that he recently hired environmental and traffic consultants.

Rhodes plans to begin taking public comments in a month about how the land should be developed, Murphy said.

But one of Rhodes' most vocal critics said she is not convinced that he is serious about developing the land.

"I think his whole purpose is to set up the perception that he's moving forward," said Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, whose group, Scenic Nevada, seeks to protect pristine areas.

Paying off the taxes clears one hurdle on a long list, Mayo-DeRiso said. Next on the list is making the former mining site suitable for homes.

She questioned how Rhodes, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection against $400 million in liabilities, came up with a half a million dollars.

Murphy said he pulled the money from some of his solvent companies. Rhodes Homes is the main company under the Chapter 11 reorganization, she said.

The county assessor reduced the taxable value of his land this year to $5,000 per acre from $10,000, because of the restrictions on density, said Rocky Steele, assistant assessor.

Rhodes wasn't satisfied and asked that the assessed value be further reduced. The county Board of Equalization sliced the assessed value in half to $2,500 per acre.

Steele noted that this year was the first time Rhodes challenged the land's assessed value since 2007.

Rhodes thinks the county taxed him too much on the land because it was assessed as a residential property when it was still a mining site, which is worth less than residential land, Murphy said.

Mayo-DeRiso said she is appalled that Rhodes could dish out a half a million dollars in response to negative publicity about his tax debt amid allegations that he stiffed dozens of people who did work for him.

Some of those creditors are small businesses struggling in the bad economy, she said.

"To me, that's unconscionable," she said.

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