Sales of parcels near Lake Tahoe come under scrutiny

RENO — Three tiny parcels of land that Washoe County turned over to a general improvement district at Lake Tahoe on the condition it remain publicly owned open space have been sold to private owners at bargain rates with other special benefits, according to the Reno Gazette-journal.

The lots on Tahoe’s north shore were among 87 parcels the county handed to the Incline Village General Improvement District five years ago, forgiving more than $800,000 in unpaid property taxes on the land in exchange for a promise to maintain them as open space.

The lots wound up on Washoe County’s delinquent tax rolls because the owners hadn’t paid property taxes for at least three years. Under state law, those parcels can be given to another government agency if that agency will use the land for a specific public purpose.

But after telling the county the land would be used for open space, a district official sold three parcels to private buyers, the newspaper reported.

Although the land can’t be built on, the parcels have value because owners of land in Incline Village get exclusive access to three private Lake Tahoe beaches and discounted skiing, golfing and hunting.

The three buyers dealt directly with Gerry Eick, the district’s finance director, who carried out the transactions on behalf of the district, charging the buyers only the unpaid recreation fees plus interest associated with the parcels.

The district’s leadership has realized selling the land without a policy, without a public process and without board approval was a bad idea and they’ve put a moratorium on sales until a policy can be developed.

But they maintain it wasn’t illegal. The sales price for two of the parcels was $14,095. The third went for $19,000.

None of the buyers had to pay the $11,059 in back property taxes forgiven by Washoe County when it transferred the land to the district.