Gorge Parcel Reclassified

The action moves the parcel into the county’s open space current use classification, according to the Columbia Basin Herald. Commissioners decided against a separate reclassification of a 24-acre parcel that Live Nation and Istar Blues also asked to be included in the current use program.

The smaller parcel includes the stage area and other constructed buildings. Earlier this year, the Grant County Assessor’s Office removed five parcels of property, which totaled about 200 acres, from the current use program, according to County Assessor Melissa McKnight.

The value of the property was assessed as if it was agricultural land for at least 12 years, the Basin Herald said. As a result, the companies in ownership of the Gorge Amphitheater were required to pay county taxes on the properties for the last seven years. Commissioners determined at an Aug. 31 meeting that the larger parcel consists mostly of the venue’s parking area, which is a grassy field area.

Commissioner Richard Stevens said his colleagues believed the parcel fit the requirements to be reclassified.

“We felt like it kind of fit into the category of public benefit, and that’s why we accepted that one,” Stevens told the paper. “It actually could return to farming pretty easily. It had been farmed before. And that’s one of the conditions, if it looks like something that could be returned to farming.”

Stevens said if the Gorge Amphitheater owners should decide to remove the venue, the larger parcel of land could be returned to farming pretty quickly, which played into the decision. According to documents from the Assessor’s Office, the total amount of back-taxes, interest and penalties being assessed on the smaller parcel is about $196,000, the Basin Herald reported.

Stevens said the commissioners’ recommendation to waive penalties and interest doesn’t mean much, because the assessor has to be the one to choose whether to assess the penalties and interest.

“I have to follow the law,” McKnight said. “I know they (commissioners) made the recommendation to waive the interest and penalties. I respectfully decline that. I have to follow the law and I have to treat everybody the same.”

McKnight said Dave Bricklin, attorney for Istar Blues and Live Nation, has already indicated that he would take legal action against her for declining to waive the penalties and interest on the small parcel that was denied the current use classification, according to the paper.