Editor's note: Humboldt County Assessor Jeff Johnson submitted this letter he sent to Anthony Lesperance to the Humboldt Sun in response to Lesperance's Guest Commentary in the Dec. 23 - 26 edition.
Town Hall Meetings planned on assessments
Mr. Lesperance:
I have no problems explaining our responsibilities to any taxpayer that honestly wants to know. However, I do not see the benefit in having a debate through the media about those responsibilities. Instead, I am inviting you and anyone else with similar concerns to discuss them in a public Town Hall Meeting. I will explain what we are required to do by law, how it is to be accomplished and provide a time for questions from the public. We have scheduled two times for these meetings. One will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, and the other will be at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. Both meetings will be held in the Humboldt County Commissioner Meeting Room.
I share some of your concerns but have limited authority to deal with many of them contrary to what some may believe. I am willing to take full responsibility for following the law as I am required. My office answers to the public, the Nevada Department of Taxation and the Nevada Tax Commission. In fact, an audit was recently performed by the Department of Taxation which will be made public shortly. I am told this audit is planned to be presented to the Humboldt County Commissioners sometime in the near future. In the meantime, I will be happy to use your property as an example during the Town Hall Meeting regarding how values are determined and how they relate to market value.
I am enclosing a copy of Understanding Nevada's Property Tax System published by the Nevada Taxpayers Association. I am also providing you with a form for filing a formal appeal to the County Board of Equalization because pursuant to NRS 361.357(2) Before a person may file an appeal pursuant to subsection 1, the person must complete a form provided by the county assessor to appeal the assessment to the county board of equalization. A phone call or a letter in the newspaper does not constitute an appeal.
I look forward to seeing you at one of the Town Hall Meetings.
Sincerely,
Jeff Johnson
Humboldt County Assessor
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