COM 0645.001 2016-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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budget deadlines. To receive this benefit, the current program requires the veteran be 100% disabled due to a service related injury and the property needs to be the Veteran's primary residence. This program currently has 609 parcels and at the current $200 minimum tax, the County receives $121,800 in revenue annually. There was much discussion regarding the value of the properties in this category, the potential increase in properties that could end up qualifying for this substantial discount and the concern with the loss of revenue during a time when the County is having difficulty balancing the budget.The consensus is these are 100%disabled veterans due to a service related injury and they have already paid the ultimate price. 2. Repeal the Non Speculative Residential program. This would require a change to the Hawai`i County Code. Recommended steps include informing all owners currently with parcels in this program of the repeal for tax year 2019, allow all parcels currently in this program to automatically convert these parcels to the Homeowner Exemption program(by virtue of the program they already technically are part of the Homeowner class) at the 2019 frozen value and explain the 3%CAP would then be applied to the tax year 2020 (first year they would see the increase). This has been a recommendation the Real Property Tax Board of Review has reported for several years as this program does not allow new applicants into this program therefore it is not considered to be fair and equitable. It is our understanding when the County Council approved the 3% CAP and the additional 20% homeowner exemption (up to $80,000) there was discussion to have this program completely repealed however it ended up being an"optional out"for those in the program. There are currently 483 parcels in this program. The impact to the real property tax revenue in tax year 2020 based on the current frozen non spec values would be $23,000 total. In addition, the County will save approximately $4,400 per year in staff time which was allocated to the administering of this program. In addition to the above recommendations,the Review Group is currently having ongoing discussions pertaining to the Residential and Agricultural tax classifications. The Ag Committee is looking at all the current and proposed Agricultural programs in great detail.Any changes or recommendations to the Agricultural program will not have an impact on real property tax revenues until tax year 2020. As there are many parts to this program, the Ag Committee is not making any recommendations at this time,however,we are looking at programmatic and interim recommendations/guidelines on how to improve the application of this program. The current committee members for the Real Property Tax Review Working Group are: Members from the general public: Mary Begier, Mary Begier Realty(Hamakua, Hilo) William Moore, William L Moore Planning (Islandwide) Marissa Harman, Kamehameha Schools (Islandwide)