HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0257.004 2000-2002 Charles Hanson
Box 711397
Mountain View, HI 96771 ! P -
968-6418
6 July 2001
Hawaii County Council
Re: Bill No. 93 Relating to the Minimum Property Tax
Consider that there are two reasons for properties to have a tax liability of less than $100
per year:
1. A parcel that is not worth very much will naturally have a low assessed value
and low tax liability.
2. The County offers a number of exemptions that lower the tax rates on some
parcels below what the assessed value would otherwise warrant.
Properties in category 1 are almost all vacant land. The demand for County services from
these parcels is low, so the tax revenue from them should result in a net gain for the
County.
Properties in category 2 generally aze homes and businesses. The tax revenue from these
parcels probably is less than cost of the County services provided to the occupants.
Section 19-90(g) could be rewritten as follows:
(g) In cases where exemptions provided for in this chapter would lower a real property
tax rate below $100 per yeaz, the tax rate shall be $100 per year.
Some of the exemptions aze worded so that the exempted parcel is subject only to "the
minimum tax for real property." Ivly proposal would therefore require that some other
changes be made in the Chapter 19 code. Perhaps the exemptions section should be
revisited in any case.
Bill 93 proposes anacross-the-board minimum tax of $100. In Puna and Ka.'u there aze
many parcels of land worth no more than $2000. With a higher tax rate, some of them
would be abandoned. The minimum bid in the tax lien sales is now more than $1500, so it
is likely that the County would start accumulating unsaleable tax foreclosure properties.
Sincerely,
Charles Hanson ~ f?omme Noy ~
ib~Ae 1 ° ® (J ~ L