Having paid taxes elsewhere is the best bet.
Sometimes the assessor mixes up a tail number, so
suggest this in the letter and offer proof that you
paid tax
elsewhere...

At 03:30 05 April 2005, Btiz wrote:
So send the response that you are not a resident of
Kern County, and that
the glider has never been based in Kern County. And
if you have last years
tax receipt from your own county, then maayybee.. offer
then a copy.

It seems all the states and counties are getting wise
to the fact of
'personal property taxes' on aircraft, and they are
scouring the FAA record
base. A few years ago we received a 'tax bill' for
a glider that was
supposedly part of our club. Luckily some of the 'old
hat' members
remembered the glider, it was an old 2-22 that had
been destroyed and taken
to the land fill, but evidently the N number was still
in the FAA data base.

I was able to find the aircraft listed there and had
the information I
needed to address the oldsters in the club. The registered
owner had even
expired.. thankfully they did not take him to the land
fill.

A simple letter to the County Assessor stating those
facts, and the
information that the address they had for the 'owner'
did not even show up
in their own tax rolls was enough for the county to
drop the issue.

So send them a letter registered mail, that the glider
has never been
'domiciled' in their county, and neither have you.
It might help if it's on
your lawyers or tax accountants letter head.

BT

'ken ward' wrote in message
.
com...
In article ,
wrote:

wrote:
Well, they may have you by the short hairs, Ken.
If you ignore them,
they will assign a value to your sailplane and send
you a bill. If
you
don't pay the bill, they will file a lien against
your ship. If you
tell them it's in another county, they will notify
the other county.
Doesn't even work to tell them its in another state,
as they will
notify the other state, also.
Been there, Done that,
JJ


I second JJ's comments. I would call them and ask
for instructions.
Typically, they will ask you to afix a copy of you
last tax bill. that
should solve the problem.

Do NOT blow off the bill - a lien is difficult to
remove. I almost
could not close on my house because of a $50.00 lien
record for glider
property tax from the county of San Bernadino!!


But wait! I don't live in Kern County and the glider
is not now nor
never has been in Kern County. The form says it's
for 'initial or
biennial review'. Neither of those apply to me.

It seems to me that they only way I actually owe them
money is if my
glider is or was in Kern County, neither of which
is true.

Can't I just ask that they prove I owe them money?
Why should I have to
prove that I *don't* owe them money? Does every aircraft
owner get a
letter from these guys or am I just lucky?

I don't really mind paying what I owe, but I don't
owe these guys
anything.

Ken



Mark J. Boyd