Those cards were to be sent back designating whether or not the owner lived at the associated address. While speculation abounds over the potential for abuse, Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield said he is pleased with the results.

By mid-June, 445,302 cards had been returned, and about 77 percent -- 343,926 -- claimed to be owner-occupied, Schofield said.

"That's about what we expected," he said.

The Legislature capped the possible tax increase for owner-occupied property at 3 percent annually. Some low-income rental property also was given a 3 percent cap. Non-owner-occupied property has been capped at 8 percent annually.

There have been some issues with property owners attempting to register multiple properties as owner-occupied. Schofield said one property owner claimed 14 homes as primary residences. In an effort to catch such problems, he said the county is cross-checking records to uncover errors.

The assessor also is attributing a share of the problems to confusion. With that, he said no penalties are being assessed, yet.

"Not at this point," he said. Penalties could be as high as three times the rightful property tax, plus the actual tax owed.

"I'm not going to say people aren't trying to take advantage of the system," Schofield said. "But it's probably a small percentage that are."

He gave the Legislature high marks for coming up with a solution to the property tax issue in quick fashion. Schofield first began warning lawmakers and residents in June 2004 that the valley's rapid run-up in home values could create huge property tax increases is left unchecked.

At that time, he proposed a 6 percent overall cap in tax increases.

"What (the Legislature) eventually came up with -- even though it's 3 percent and 8 percent -- ends up being very close to a 6 percent average," Schofield said.

He also said he hoped that the solution is enough to hold off a push for a California-like Prop. 13 movement.

Such a plan proposed in the recent legislative session would have rolled back property taxes to 2003 levels and limited increases to 2 percent annually.

"Under that plan, think about seniors moving into a nice home, across the street from an identical home with a family of four and children to be educated," he said. "It's quite possible the seniors could end up paying two times or three times as much in taxes."

Schofield also added that such a plan "initially just decimated" California's coffers. He said that has been made up over time through a series of new taxes.

Those taxes have been ripped by many in the state as anti-business and attacked by groups such as the Nevada Development Authority in an effort to pull California businesses away from that state and into Nevada's "business-friendly" climate.

Kevin Rademacher is a reporter for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4069 or by e-mail at kevinr@ lasvegassun.com.