BIL 023 Draft 01 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNTY OF HAWAII ORDINANCE NO. STATE OF HAWAII BILL NO. 23 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19, ARTICLE 3, SECTION 19-32 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2005 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO REDUCTION OF THE REAL PROPERTY TAX PENALTY AND MONTHLY INTEREST FOR DELINQUENT TAXES. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. Purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to reduce the penalty and monthly interest for delinquent real property taxes. Currently, the penalty and interest equal 22% for the first year. In this time of financial hardship, when bank interest rates are very low, the county should not be making excessive amounts of money from financially distressed people or charging credit card company interest rates on a debt that has the collateral of land. SECTION 2. Chapter 19, article 3, section 19-32, of the Hawaii County Code 1983 (2005 Edition, as amended), is amended to read as follows: "Section 19-32. Penalty for delinquency. There shall be added to the amount of all delinquent taxes, a penalty of [ten] five percent for each year of such new delinquent taxes as determined by the director, which penalty shall be and become a part of the tax and be collected as a part thereof. All delinquent taxes and penalties shall bear interest at the rate of [one] one-half of one percent for each month or fraction thereof until paid, beginning with the first calendar month following the calendar month designated for payment in section 19-31. The interest shall be and become a part of the tax and be collected as a part thereof. No taxpayer shall be exempt from delinquent penalties by reason of having made an appeal on the assessment, but the tax paid, covered by an appeal duly taken, shall be held in a trust account as provided in section 19-102." SECTION 3. Material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New material is underscored. In printing this ordinance, the brackets, bracketed and stricken material, and underscoring need not be included. SECTION 4. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end, the provisions of this ordinance are severable.