HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0232.023 2024-2026L
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PUBLIC TESTIMONY AT COUNTY COUNCIL FOR BILL 44, 3"
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Aloha Chairman Inaba and Council Members: —,a
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Let me start with I support this bill 44 because it is moving in the right direction!
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I would like to add some information and history with this testimony. x �
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I'm a third generation beneficiary of Hawaiian Home Lands descent. My mom
pure Hawaiian, my dad is Scottish, English. I've learned that some things in life you
cannot choose. Your parents are one of them. This makes me 50% Hawaiian as
defined in the Hawaiian Homes Act of 1920 as a native Hawaiian. As I mentioned
in my first testimony, second reading, I, as well as other Hawaiian Homes
beneficiaries, live by different rules, laws and policies from other residents in
Hawaii. For example, the land that you own and bought, you can sell it, use it for
collateral, or even sell part of it. I, living on Hawaiian Homes land, cannot do that.
If Elon Musk offered you 50 million dollars because he just liked the way the
property was or the view it has, you could sell it to him. I, on the other hand, cannot
do that because the land that I live on is leased land, otherwise known as trust land.
I cannot use it for collateral to build a house or improve on the land because it is
leased land and is leased for 99 years.
The Hawaiian Homes Act of 1920 which was passed on July 9, 1921 was created to
help rehabilitate native Hawaiians because the playing field financially was not the
same. Hawaiians were suffering from diseases from immigrants, cultural changes
and nearly one-third of the Hawaiian population was wiped out due to pandemics.
Beneficiaries of Hawaiian Homes lands during the time of territorial did not pay any
taxes because federal trust lands were exempt. In 1959, after statehood, counties
started to see improvements on Hawaiian Homes lands, which was federally
protected from real property tax, and somehow grouped us with everyone else in
paying real property taxes. There is no law in the Hawaii Revised Statutes, any
policies or rules giving counties the right to tax Hawaiian Home lands. But
somehow we got grouped in with everyone else.
The only thing that the State legislature has passed is HRS 264-2.5, which gives
Hawaiian Homes lessees an.exemption for 7 years. Now remember the trust lands
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are federal protected lands like the post office, the national park and military camps
such as Pohakuloa, which are exempt from paying real property tax. Hawaiian
Homes lands fall in the same category because they are federal trust lands which
should not be taxed. The county of Kauai charges no real property tax to their
Hawaiian Homes lessees because they understand the trust. But I'm honest with
myself and the Caucasian side of me says Hawaiians should pay something because
services which they receive, such as police protection and fire services. But in
reality, the police and fire services for Hawaiian Homes falls under the state of
Hawaii. This is because of the jurisdiction that it falls under, which is the State of
Hawaii. Because the State accepted the Hawaiian Homes land under the state
constitution as part of statehood, in reality DNLR and the sheriff s under the state of
Hawaii should be the police for Hawaiian homes and the fire services would be
those nice looking trucks at the airport because they are state funded.
As council members you may feel that you are doing Hawaiian Homes beneficiaries
a favor by lowering the fee through Bill 44 but I don't know who's doing who a
favor. May I share this example. The water I am charged for by the Water
Department I pay for is $19.00 per 1,000 gallons, approximately $90 to $100 every
two months. The sewer line which runs through Keaukaha is an easement. The
County pays $1.00 per year to the Dept. Of Hawaiian Homes for that easement.
Along with the water reservoir in Waiakea on Hawaiian Homes land, the county
pays $1.00 per year to the Dept. Of Hawaiian Homes for the use of that land. That
is not much to pay considering the benefit in revenue that the county receives.
There is no real revenue in charging for the easement. It's what flows through the
pipes that is the money maker, which is water. If I was charged for the easement on
my property for water it would probably be about $5.00 every 2 months. The sewer
line that goes through Keaukaha takes care of all of Hilo, all of Waiakea, the hotels
and the condos in Keaukaha. We, Hawaiian Homes and beneficiaries, helped the
County by allowing the sewer line to go through Keaukaha rather than around. This
saved the county of Hawaii millions of dollars. The sewer line that goes through
Keaukaha is about a 4 foot in diameter concrete pipe and allows 3 million gallons of
sewer to flow through it each day.
Let's use the evaluation that the county uses to calculate water that flows to my
house in Keaukaha and let's apply it to the sewage that flows through that concrete
pipe that is on the easement given to the county for the sewer line.
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3 million gallons x .01 = $30,000 a day
$305000 x 30 days = $900,000
$900,000 x 12 months = $10.8 million
This is the cheapest calculation that I use, not considering the 1,000 gallon per unit
times $19.00 per 1,000 gallon which would amount to over 20 million dollars for
revenue to the Dept. Of Hawaiian Homes.
Do you see the DEI in that?
I think the Hawaiian homes beneficiaries have been very generous to the county of
Hawaii for not going after the county for such charges. This is just one of the many
generous things that Hawaiian Homes has done for the county of Hawaii.
Exemptions throughout the United States are usually given to nonprofits, charities
and groups that contribute to helping the counties or state. I think we meet that
requirement. After all, we are indigenous people of Hawaii.
Maybe this is the beginning of getting to full exemption for Hawaiian Homes lands.
Thank you for your time.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHINT K. MCBRIDE
199 Kualua Place
Hilo, HI 96720
808-895-1673
johmncbridel256@grnail.com
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