The county has asked Chancellor Jerri Bryant to dismiss the Petition filed by Parksville Lake cabin owners, who are protesting the county’s assessment of the value of their leases with the Cherokee National Forest.

At issue is a decision made in 2003 by Randy Yates, Assessor of Property, to assign a value to the “leasehold interest” in their property. The value of the cabins themselves has always been subject to local property tax assessments, but the land value has not. Using sales of the special use permits issued by the Forest Service, Yates determined that the value is more than the cabins themselves. Cabin owners protested, first to the state Assessment Appeals board and then to the state. After several hearings at different levels, the Assessment Appeals Commission voted 4-0 late last year to uphold the decision of the Administrative Law Judge, who agreed with the local valuation of the property.

Yates had applied “leasehold interest” values to three classifications: boat access only ($80,000), gravel road (Sugarloaf Road) access ($164,000) and Hwy. 64 access ($180,000). Determination of the valuation was a joint effort by Yates and staff from the Division of Property Assessment.

The Petition claims that the assessment of tax on such alleged “leasehold interests” is wrongful, unsupported by state law and in violation of the U.S. and state constitutions. The cabin owners say they do not hold a taxable interest in real property other than that assessed on the improvements and ask the Chancellor to reverse the assessment and repeal the tax applied. The Petition deals only with the assessment of the leasehold interest, not the value of the cabins themselves.

In its response, the county, represented by Denny Mobbs, denied that the assessment was “wrongful”, that the methodology used was unconstitutional, and that the Assessor’s failure to consider the amounts paid by the Forest Service to Polk County was unconstitutional. The county also denied that the county does not provide any services to the properties. Cabin owners also said no tax is owed because they were paying the fair market value in the form of a rental fee for their interests in the permits; the county denied that. It also denied that Yates violated state law by considering “speculative purchases of improvements.”

The county asked that the decision of the State Board of Equalization be affirmed and the Petition be dismissed.