Ethics investigator: Governor's tax break OK

A Nevada Ethics Commission investigator concluded Wednesday that there's no evidence to support a claim by a state Democratic Party official that Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons pressured a local assessor to get an unwarranted property tax break.

Investigator Michel Vavra filed the report in advance of a Sept. 11 Ethics Commission hearing on the complaint over the $39.71 tax bill on 40 acres of land in scenic Lamoille, in Elko County, that Gibbons bought for $575,000 a year ago.

"The evidence does not support the allegations that Gibbons used his position in government to obtain unwarranted privileges," Vavra wrote, adding that the property met all the requirements under state law for the low agricultural use assessment.

Vavra also said there's no evidence that Gibbons or John Marvel, a lawyer and Nevada Tax Commission member hired by the governor to pursue the tax break, pressured the Elko County assessor, adding, "Like any citizen, Gibbons has the right to apply and to receive an agricultural use assessment, if his land qualifies."

Joe Aguirre, who just retired as the county assessor, had said the tax bill without the agricultural assessment would be about $5,000. But Vavra noted that Aguirre's office also had stated the annual bill would have been just under $1,900—and the state Taxation Department had an even lower figure of $711.