Calif glider property tax fishing?

I know a pilot, a national champion, who rec'd his tax bill one year and it
was several times higher than ever before. "Wait", he thought, "the tax
assessor is my buddy". So he called his tax assessor buddy and explained
the problem. The assessor asked him if there was an article in the local
newspaper on a certain date about him winning the Nationals. "Yes", he
replied. And what did you tell the reporter your glider was worth?

After the assessor stopped laughing he asked what the owner really wanted to
pay. Buddy, indeed.

True story.
-Bob Korves

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'll give my tax man experiences and it may answer some questions /
devious plans to outwit the county:

+++ Sierra County sent me the fishing expedition letter and I ignored
it, they called up Truckee and asked old Les Seabold what an LS-6 was
worth. Les was a friend, so he told them 16K. I got a bill based on
that value. I then decided I would like to talk to them and called the
tax office. Errrr, that value isn't right, I only payed 6K for my LS-6
(factually true, but it was rolled up in a ball at the time) Too late,
you should have responded before our assed value was
assigned....................... I paid it.

+++ A few years later, got another letter asking about a Grob 103 I had
on lease-back at Truckee. This time I told them it was based at Minden,
NV. (somewhat true, as it left Truckee in the fall and could have been
stored at Minden) Nothing for about 6 months and then I get a letter
from Douglas County, Minden, NV. Thought I'd try ignoring them, bad
idea. They assigned a value and sent me my
tax........................... I paid it.
:) JJ

In article .com,
"Limus" wrote:

I think we are missing the point on what Ken was asking about. The
issue is not about paying propert tax in the county where aircraft is
based. The issue is about counties sending fishing expedition letters
based on the data from the FAA database alone, having no proof
whatsoever that glider is actually stored in the county. Now imagine
if you would receive letter from the county stating that they think you
violated speed limit on their roads and unless you can prove that you
haven't been in their county for the past 5 years you owe them fee for
the traffic violation ! That would be ridiculous, but so is this! Why
do I have to spend my time and money to defend myself when I did
nothing wrong ?

I have no problem with counties sending notifications that would let me
know that if the glider is stored in the county I owe tax. However, I
think counties should be required by law to provide significant proof
that aircraft is stored in the county before threathening with
penalties for not suppying them with information.

Having said that, when I received a letter from LA county demanding to
supply them with information about the aircraft, I did what people
suggested here to do - called them up, let them know aircraft is not in
LA county , then send them a mail with an invoice for the arcraft
purchase and letter stating where aircraft resides. Haven't heard from
them since and still waiting to hear from the county where the aircraft
is stored.


Limus


Yes, this is my point. Fair is fair, and I'll pay my fair share to the
County where my glider is based. I still have *some* Kansas
conservative principles remaining.

What I feel is wrong is that Kern County is demanding that I supply
information about my glider's whereabouts and value, with no evidence
offered that it's ever been there, and threatening penalties for
non-compliance.

If this is considered acceptable behavior, imagine getting such a notice
from every single County in a two state area! It might be more
lucrative than spamming for V|@gr@...

When the City of Cincinnati sent me a $50 invoice for transient aircraft
usage of their facility, they let me know the day and hour my tail
number was recorded. With the help of AOPA we found a Twin based in
Dayton whose N-number could have been mistaken for mine, if you swapped
a B for a 8. I wrote them a polite note and never heard back.

My fallback plan was to get them to sign a landing form so I could claim
a straight-distance record from MEV, but since the landing was at 10pm
on 12/25 it probably would have been denied. ;-)

Ken

I also got a prop tax "fishing" bill from Kern County last year,
probably because my glider was assembled and tied down outside on the
day the assessor happened to visit that airport. The letter came to the
address in the FAA database connected to my N number. I filled out
their form and sent it back with the info that the glider was based in
another county. 9 months later I have yet to recieve any further
correspondence. Bureaucracy can sometimes work in your favor.

On 6 Apr 2005 20:15:51 -0700, "OscarDelta" wrote:


I also got a prop tax "fishing" bill from Kern County last year,
probably because my glider was assembled and tied down outside on the
day the assessor happened to visit that airport. The letter came to the
address in the FAA database connected to my N number. I filled out
their form and sent it back with the info that the glider was based in
another county. 9 months later I have yet to recieve any further
correspondence. Bureaucracy can sometimes work in your favor.

Might be amusing to display bogus N-numbers on everyone's trailer...

rj

Ralph Jones wrote:

On 6 Apr 2005 20:15:51 -0700, "OscarDelta" wrote:


I also got a prop tax "fishing" bill from Kern County last year,
probably because my glider was assembled and tied down outside on the
day the assessor happened to visit that airport. The letter came to the
address in the FAA database connected to my N number. I filled out
their form and sent it back with the info that the glider was based in
another county. 9 months later I have yet to recieve any further
correspondence. Bureaucracy can sometimes work in your favor.

Might be amusing to display bogus N-numbers on everyone's trailer...

rj
hahaha

Let's see, I think I'll paint Gary's on one side and Jerry's on the other!

Good on ya Ralph.

Frank Whiteley

F.L. Whiteley wrote:

Ralph Jones wrote:

On 6 Apr 2005 20:15:51 -0700, "OscarDelta" wrote:


I also got a prop tax "fishing" bill from Kern County last year,
probably because my glider was assembled and tied down outside on the
day the assessor happened to visit that airport. The letter came to the
address in the FAA database connected to my N number. I filled out
their form and sent it back with the info that the glider was based in
another county. 9 months later I have yet to recieve any further
correspondence. Bureaucracy can sometimes work in your favor.

Might be amusing to display bogus N-numbers on everyone's trailer...

rj
hahaha

Let's see, I think I'll paint Gary's on one side and Jerry's on the other!

Good on ya Ralph.

Frank Whiteley
Oh yeah, then take a six months road trip to several soaring sites!