From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –
The Mat-Su Borough says cabins on property that is owned in part by Sarah Palin are worth $99,700 and taxes need to be paid on them after all.
The borough did an aerial survey last month after questions were raised about why taxes had not been paid on the buildings. The borough had not sent a tax bill to the property owners because it apparently didn’t know they had been built.
The Palins own the two properties along Safari Lake along with a family friend, Scott Richter. Property taxes have been paid on the land, which is located about 100 miles north of Anchorage in an undeveloped area near Denali State Park, but there was no tax assessment for any buildings there.
The aerial survey found a pair of two-story, house-sized cabins, a workshop and a sauna. Mat-Su borough tax assessor Dave Dunivan said that all the structures are located on one of the properties. The property owners have until March 30 to appeal the $99,700 tax assessment if they want.
The tax issue first appeared on the blog Mudflats, which frequently criticizes Palin. Here is an excerpt describing what happened from an Associated Press story that was written at the time:
The issue has attracted the attention of local tax officials who conducted the scheduled aerial survey of properties in the area on Thursday. The area is accessible only by floatplane, snowmobile or four-wheeler.
Dave Dunivan, the assessor for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said such a survey had not been done there in five years, before construction started on the cabins.
Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said it is not the responsibility of property owners to report structures that go up on their land.
"It is the borough's job, " he said in an e-mail. "The property taxes on this parcel are fully paid and have never been delinquent."
Dunivan, however, said owners are required by state law to report any omissions or errors in their tax assessments. Often, the borough learns of new structures in remote areas when neighbors report them. Dunivan said no one has called the borough on the Palin lots, among many in the region to add structures, the flyover survey found.
"Typically, if there are errors, we hear from owners, " he said. "If there are omissions, we don't. Every once in a while we do have someone call us about omissions, but not often."
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