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Charles Hanson <br /> Box 711397 <br /> Mountain View, HI 96771 ! P - <br /> 968-6418 <br /> 6 July 2001 <br /> Hawaii County Council <br /> Re: Bill No. 93 Relating to the Minimum Property Tax <br /> Consider that there are two reasons for properties to have a tax liability of less than $100 <br /> per year: <br /> 1. A parcel that is not worth very much will naturally have a low assessed value <br /> and low tax liability. <br /> 2. The County offers a number of exemptions that lower the tax rates on some <br /> parcels below what the assessed value would otherwise warrant. <br /> Properties in category 1 are almost all vacant land. The demand for County services from <br /> these parcels is low, so the tax revenue from them should result in a net gain for the <br /> County. <br /> Properties in category 2 generally aze homes and businesses. The tax revenue from these <br /> parcels probably is less than cost of the County services provided to the occupants. <br /> Section 19-90(g) could be rewritten as follows: <br /> (g) In cases where exemptions provided for in this chapter would lower a real property <br /> tax rate below $100 per yeaz, the tax rate shall be $100 per year. <br /> Some of the exemptions aze worded so that the exempted parcel is subject only to "the <br /> <br /> minimum tax for real property." Ivly proposal would therefore require that some other <br /> <br /> changes be made in the Chapter 19 code. Perhaps the exemptions section should be <br /> <br /> revisited in any case. <br /> <br /> Bill 93 proposes anacross-the-board minimum tax of $100. In Puna and Ka.'u there aze <br /> <br /> many parcels of land worth no more than $2000. With a higher tax rate, some of them <br /> <br /> would be abandoned. The minimum bid in the tax lien sales is now more than $1500, so it <br /> is likely that the County would start accumulating unsaleable tax foreclosure properties. <br /> Sincerely, <br /> Charles Hanson ~ f?omme Noy ~ <br /> ib~Ae 1 ° ® (J ~ L <br /> <br />