[Capr-announce] CAPR News July 2008

Wed Jul 30 21:30:28 PDT 2008

CAPR NEWS

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM CITIZENS’ ALLIANCE FOR PROPERTY RIGHTS

July, 2008

Court Upholds Law, Rules for Land Owners

It may not be fresh news but it’s still big news.  The only way you could
have missed it is if you were out of state or in a coma.  In Round 2 of CAPR
v. Sims, Sims lost.  Convincingly. 

On July 7th the Division I Court of Appeals agreed with land owners, CAPR
and Pacific Legal Foundation that the notorious King Co. clearing and
grading limits enacted on January 1st of 2005 are unlawful.  The summary
judgment in favor of CAPR said that the lower court had erred in that it did
not address the central issue in question.  And then, rather than send the
case back to Superior Court, the three judge Appeals Court panel stated that
the clearing and grading limits constituted and unfair tax or burden,
essentially declaring the limits unlawful.  The ruling is relatively short,
to the point and unanimous.  You can read it here
<http://www.proprights.org/PDFs/CAO_Appeal_Ruling.pdf> .

We can’t proceed without giving three cheers for Pacific
<http://community.pacificlegal.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=183&srcid=183>
Legal Foundation (PLF).  PLF is a national non-profit organization which
goes to court in support of the rights of individuals and especially
property rights.  It is a tough and expensive to “fight city hall” without
the likes of PLF in your corner.  Using taxpayer money to press its
political agenda, King Co. has huge resources.  As it became obvious that
the King Co. Council was going to enact its draconian Critical Areas Package
(CAP) in the Fall of 2004, PLF attorneys tracked the progress of the CAP.
Shortly after enactment, they filed a “facial challenge” saying, in other
words, that on the face of it, portions of these ordinances were unfair.
The Superior Court agreed that it was a valid case.  

Several PLF attorneys have worked on this case but the heavy lifting has
been done by Brian Hodges.  He prepared many pages of briefs and has argued
the case before two courts.  We owe thanks to Brian and PLF.  Remember that
as a non-profit organization, your donations to support PLF’s work are tax
deductible.  Just like the CAPR Legal Fund.

So, on to Round 3.  King Co. Executive Ron Sims has stated that the County
will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.  One can never fully predict
what the courts will do but in this case the action appears to be a “hail
Mary” attempt.  The unanimous decision was written conservatively meaning
that it is straight and to the point.  The decision reads like one of Brian
Hodge’s briefs!  The County’s regulations are unlawful.  Additionally, if
the case is taken, the Court would literally have to overturn three previous
Supreme Court rulings to rule in favor of the County.  That seems unlikely.
Did we mention that the County’s regulations are unlawful?  If there is a
good side to this, it is that it will promote the case to a higher
awareness.  On the downside is the fact that the County will waste a ton of
taxpayer money in the face of a huge budget deficit.

Sims and Stephanie Warden, Director of King Co. D.D.E.S., have stated that
they will continue to implement and enforce the regulations.  Perhaps they
missed the part where the Court declared them unlawful.  Although it
wouldn’t be out of character.  Enforcing them would be a denial of the right
to due process, which is also unlawful.  Seems there is a trend here.

CAPR plans to press the County on this issue rather than hope a challenge to
the current situation presents itself.   King Co. is certainly not going to
lay down on this issue but, we the people, need to be sure to win Round 3.
We’re close here but this isn’t horse shoes.  This is going to cost a few
bucks folks.  When the call comes, please help us help you!

Ag Exemptions in Peril?

CAPR has received several distress calls from property owners with
agricultural tax exemptions who have been told by their county assessors
that they are losing their tax status.  Of the approximately 1000 property
owners in King Co. with ag exemptions, 50 have received these notices.
Reports from other counties show this type of an up tick also.  If the
increase in the tax rate isn’t heart stopping, the huge bill demanding
several years of back taxes is!

One property owner with 12 ½ acres from the North Bend area received a
notice and a demand for over $110, 000 in back taxes.  Luckily, one of the
CAPR Advocates that help people deal with these types of issues was able to
help him meet with the assessor’s office and work out a plan to keep his
exemption.  Some will not be as lucky.

While we’re not completely up to speed on this, the problem seems to be that
the state has changed how it interprets the laws.  This is odd since the
laws have not changed.  For instance, if you are dealing with livestock, you
may now have to comply with several conditions where before it might have
only been one.  Also, the definition of what constitutes a hay product seems
to have changed, even though hay hasn’t.  Go figure.

If you’re on the receiving end of one of these notices, squelch your first
urge (you know what we mean) and contact your county assessor’s office as
soon as possible to understand the issue.  Unless your brother is a hot-shot
attorney, calm, reasoned action is your best course.  The next move is to
try to set up a plan to preserve your status.

To get a better understanding of the sections of the laws that apply, point
you browser to WAC 458-30-200
<http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=458-30-200>  and RCW 84.34
<http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=84.34> , especially section
.020.  If you have an inside track on this issue, please contact CAPR.

Future File       

Chuck Cushman to Speak at September Meeting

Be sure to mark your calendar to attend the Thursday, September 4th meeting
of the King Co. Chapter of CAPR.  Our special speaker for the evening will
be Chuck Cushman from American Land Rights Association.  ALRA works on
land-use and property rights issues on a national basis.  Note that the
meeting will be held in an alternate location suitable to a larger
attendance.  We will keep you informed.

For more on ALRA check the organization’s website at
<http://www.landrights.org/> www.landrights.org. 

Ron Ewart to Keynote Freedom 21 Conference

National Association of Rural Land Owners President Ron Ewart will be the
keynote speaker at the Freedom 21 Southeast Arizona Conference on “Civil
Liberties, Rights and Freedom”.  The day long event is scheduled for August
23, 2008.  For more information see the agenda here
<http://www.narlo.org/F21agenda1.html> .

Odds and Ends

New Website for CAPR San Juan

The folks in the San Juan Chapter of CAPR have set up an excellent new
website.  Point your browser to  <http://www.capr-sanjuan.org/>
www.capr-sanjuan.org.

Matching Contributions

If you work for a company, which adds matching funds to charitable
contributions, remember the CAPR Legal Fund.  All donations to the Legal
Fund are tax deductible and the additional contribution by your employer
makes leverages your contribution towards protecting your property rights.

CAPR Meeting Schedule

The next meeting of the King Co. chapter of CAPR will be held at 7:00 PM,
Thursday, August 7th.  The meeting site is the IHOP restaurant located at
1433 NW Sammamish Rd. in Issaquah.  Consider coming early for dinner and
conversation.

Jeff Wright

Secretary, CAPR

E-mail:        jeff at proprights.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.celestial.com/mailman/private/capr-announce/attachments/20080730/4259375f/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7958 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.celestial.com/mailman/private/capr-announce/attachments/20080730/4259375f/attachment-0001.jpe 