COM 0989.000 2020-2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Executive Summary Overview The Real Property Tax Division (RPT) is tasked with assessing, managing, and collecting from approximately 140,698 parcels. Real property tax collections are the primary source of revenue for the County of Hawaii, generating over $355 million and accounting for nearly 70% of General Fund revenues in FY2021*. While most assessments are straightforward with billing and subsequent collection taking place every six months, an increasing number of delinquencies are requiring more of RPT's finite time and attention. Sometimes, taxpayers are unable to meet their immediate tax obligations. In those cases, RPT needs to have flexibility to help the taxpayer recover. Alternatively, sometimes taxpayers are unwilling to meet their tax obligations. In those cases, RPT should have graduated consequences to incentivize participation. RPT's collection system will function most effectively when it can distinguish the difference between unable and unwilling and has developed tools to handle either scenario. To further complicate matters, large numbers of delinquent parcels are state-owned properties. The county can send tax bills to government lessees, but RPT is unable to foreclose. Before 1981 all real property tax collections were assessed and collected by the State Department of Taxation. When authority was delegated to county governments in 1981, RPT acquired debts dating back to 1976, some of which still show as actively owing. $9.4 million in delinquent outstanding taxes are owed from a period between FY1976 to FY2011. Graph 1 below illustrates the year-over-year collections (Green) against delinquent taxes outstanding (orange). Current Tax Collections and Running Total Delinquencies ■Running Total Delinquent Taxes ■Current Tax Collections 400,000,000 350,000,000 300,000,000 v 250,000,000 ~ 200,000,000 X Q 150,000,000 100,000,000 50,000,000 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 RPT FY2021 Statistical Information Table 7 Update Eff 18 May 22., Graph 1 Courtesy County Auditor 1IPage