Before Justices Hardesty, Parraguirre, and Cherry. Opinion by Justice Cherry.
In this writ petition, the Court addressed the conflict between Washoe County and the governmental units to which Washoe County distributes property taxes it collects. The dispute arose because, in a series of previous cases, Washoe County was ordered to refund excessive property tax payments to property owners in Incline Village and Crystal Bay because the taxes were based upon improper appraisals. Washoe County withheld a pro rata share of the amounts it needed to refund, plus interest, from distributions made to its taxing units, including petitioner the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District (the “FPD”). The FPD petitioned for mandamus, arguing that Washoe County exceeded its authority when it withheld payments. After reviewing Nevada’s political question jurisprudence, the Court expressly adopted the factors from the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962), to help determine if a case presents a political question inappropriate for judicial review. Concluding that the Washoe County Commissioner’s had discretion to make a policy decision regarding the tax refund liability, the Court determined that the Commissioner’s decision presented an issue that had no judicially discoverable or manageable standards for resolution and was impossible to decide without an initial policy determination of the type not suited to the courts. As such, the Court held that the writ petition presented a political question inappropriate for judicial review and denied the writ. Petition denied. (Kerry S. Doyle, Associate in the Reno office of McDonald Carano Wilson.)
