COM 0221.000 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

MtV or NI Harry Kim ~_c~ ~ ~~j~o William Takaba Mayor Direc(or Nancy E. Crawford Ueputy Direc(or • of Mr County of Hawaii Finance Department 25 Aupuni Sheet, Room 118 • Ililo, Hawaii 96720 (RO8) 961-8234 • Fax (808) 961-8248 April 14, 2003 Honorable James Arakaki, Chairperson and Members of the County Council Hawaii County Council 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, HI 96720 Dear Chairman Arakaki: Enclosed is a Bill for an Ordinance amending Chapter 19, of the Hawaii County Code, relating to real property taxes, by clarifying native forest dedications. The purpose of this measure is to align the native forest provisions of the real property tax code with the intent of the original law passed in 1996, which was to preserve and restore the County's watershed and ecosystems and encourage new native forest initiatives. Placing "native forests" in the same section as "agriculture" allowed native forest properties to receive lower assessments based on "productivity" values. The law also established a 20-year native forest dedication program to grant a tax advantage to owners who committed their properties to the restrictive provisions of this program. What actually happens, however, is that since native forest properties are in the agriculture section of the code, they can receive the lower productivity assessments and participate year-to- year without dedicating the land to native forest use. This year-to-year assessment is contrary to the long-term objectives of native forest preservation and restoration. The enclosed Bill assigns the native forest dedication program to a unique section of Chapter 19 (Article 8, Section ] 9-59) and clarifies that the benefits for the native forest program are available only under this section. Sincerely ours, 9' William T aba Director APPROVED: 22~ _ tt~l. ia._ Harry Ki Ref. Uote ePR 9^•_„ Q 7„i.~_, Mayor Enclosure ~(~l1 1Cl