A re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party, complete with patriotic music, colonial garb and the spilling of water as faux tea into Lake Tahoe, provided the backdrop of a tax protest Friday at an Incline Village beach.
Members of the Village League to Save Incline Assets spoke to an estimated crowd of more than 200 on the point at Burnt Cedar Beach, urging them to pay their taxes under protest and to support the league's lawsuit against Washoe County for appraisal methods that led to the 30 percent average increase in local property taxes this year.
The group aimed its collective finger of blame for the taxes at the County Assessor's Office.
"They view us as 'Income Village,' ... and gouge us for taxes," said league member Chuck Otto. "They have the attitude that just because only 123 of us went to them to protest, then it isn't a problem.
"Our days are numbered unless we put a stop to it. It's time we awaken the silent majority and become the vocal majority. We need to let them know how we feel."
Otto said the 5,000-some local taxpayers would receive a letter instructing them how to pay their taxes under protest.
"Instead of 123 folks protesting, which the assessor says is a victory, we're going to shove the signatures of 5,000 people down their throats," he said.
The county's property tax bills went out last Thursday.
Signs declaring, "UNEQUAL IS UNFAIR," "PROPERTY TAX REVOLT," and "NO CLUE ABOUT VIEW" highlighted the league's concerns about the appraisal methods. Much of the wrath at the meeting concerned a view system that increased a property's value based on the quality of a its view of Lake Tahoe.
The league and its legal counsel say the system is inconsistently applied, and that no similar system exists anywhere else in the county.
League president Maryanne Ingemanson said this was an important element of the lawsuit against the county, which she expected to be filed by Friday.
"The purpose of the lawsuit is to prove that there were illegal and unfair taxes in the many years past," Ingemanson said.
"It takes a lot to get Incline folks out," said Irene Schwartz. "We're irate."
Incline Village resident Phyllis Farr said the recent escalation of property taxes was driving some of the elderly because of their reliance on an income that couldn't keep up.
"I've lived here 17 years, and these taxes exceed anything I could have imagined," she said. "My taxes increased 152 percent this year, and 121 percent the year before that."
Farr said she has friends who could no longer afford to stay.
But both the county and the state boards of equalization have upheld the methods used by the Assessor's Office.
County Assessor Bob McGowan has in the past defended the appraisal methods and their results at Tahoe, saying both were lawful.
"Conditions are unique at the lake," McGowan said. "There have been tremendous increases in the market."
McGowan said the system isn't broken, and said residents can always appeal their valuations.
"Reasonable people can disagree," McGowan said. "As citizens of this county, they have the right to hold the assessor's feet to the fire."
