Wynn withdraws appeal of taxes on Tahoe lakefront estate

CARSON CITY - A trust controlled by casino mogul Steve Wynn has dropped a challenge of a $12 million taxable value of his "Old Forge" Tahoe estate - a value that's less than half the asking price for the lakefront property.

The Old Forge Trust contended the market value of the exclusive, 5-acre estate in Incline Village was $11.4 million. But the Washoe County Board of Equalization set the taxable value at $12 million.

Old Forge's appeal of the tax value was scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the state Board of Equalization, but the panel got a letter from an Old Forge attorney saying the appeal had been withdrawn. There was no elaboration.

The appeal had been filed prior to word in late April that Wynn was selling the estate, with its own private beach and pier, for $25 million. He has owned the property since 1993.

With the appeal dropped, yearly property taxes on the estate will run about $127,000. If taxes were calculated on the asking sale price, the amount would be about $265,000.

While there was no reason stated for the decision to cancel the appeal, the state board had been encouraged by the chairwoman of the Washoe equalization panel to ask why the trust's estimate of the estate's value was so much lower than the price it's now selling for.

Marcia McCormick added her panel actually gave the trust a valuation break in February, and wouldn't have done so had board members known about the contemplated sale plans.

Wynn's 12,000-square-foot home is one of many "trophy homes" owned by millionaires and billionaires in Incline Village - nicknamed "Income Village" because of the presence of so much wealth.

As Wynn and others bought their homes, often paying top dollar for prime lakefront sites, valuations throughout the community have soared and other, less-affluent neighbors have found themselves with nightmarish tax bills.

And gated driveways, security lights and cameras at the big homes - built after smaller, older houses were demolished - have changed the feel of a community where some longtime residents hadn't bothered to lock their doors.

Besides Wynn, others who have bought in at Incline in recent years include his longtime friend and former junk-bond king Michael Milken and, most recently, a firm headed by PeopleSoft Inc. chief David Duffield.

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