HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0416.000 2000-2002 J~sr os Mme'
Harry Kim ~ , ' ~y~~ William Takaba
Mayor Director
'a
- Nancy E. Crawford
•ij ,.o Deputy Director
~Tf OE'MP~
County of f-Iavvaii
Finance Department
25 Aupuni Street, Room 118 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 ~7
(808)961-8234 • Fax (808)961-8248
November 6, 2001 ~
.s,
The Honorable Chairman James Y. Arakaki
and Members of the County Council
County of Hawaii
Hilo, HI 96720
Dear Chairman Arakaki and Council Members:
On April 2, 2001 Mayor Harry Kim and members of his administration met with Ray
Soon, Chair, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), and his staff for the
following purposes:
• To establish a working relationship between the DHHL and the County of Hawaii;
and
• To discuss issues of mutual concern and work toward developing a Memorandum of
Agreement that addresses these concerns.
Several individual meetings were held since our first meeting in April and we are very
satisfied with the progress made. One of the outcomes of our meetings is that on real
property taxes, the County and DHHL would agree on the following:
1. Homestead lessees on Hawaiian home lands are responsible for the payment of real
property taxes in accordance with the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as
amended, and applicable County ordinances.
2. The County will waive penalty and interest on all delinquent real property taxes owed
by Hawaiian homestead lessees as of December 31, 2001. Such waiver will apply to
payments made by February 20, 2002, or to payments advanced by DHHL pursuant
to paragraph 3.
3. For those homestead lessees with real property tax balances, excluding penalty and
interest, of more than $500, if payment is not made by February 20, 2002, DHHL will
advance full payment of all real property taxes, excluding penalty and interest, to
bring those bills current, within 60 days of receipt of an updated real property tax
listing. This date may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties.
4. It is understood that the County's waiver of interest and penalty charges on
delinquent real property taxes owed by homestead lessees as of December 31, 2001,
~ ~ Cam.
The Honorable James Y. Arakaki
and Members of the County Council
Page 2
November 6, 2001
and the DHHL's advance of full payment of real property taxes, excluding interest
and penalty, in accordance with paragraph 3, is a one-time only offer.
5. In order to alleviate or reduce further delinquencies, the County will notify DHHL on
an annual basis of any delinquent property owners.
6. The County and DHHL will continue to meet on an annual basis to evaluate the
extent of delinquencies by Hawaiian homestead lessees on the Island of Hawaii and
take action, if necessary, to keep delinquencies from recurring.
7. The County and DHHL shall work to establish a customer trust fund by July 1, 2004
to collect real property tax payments as part of the mortgage/loan payments in order
to make smaller, regular payments.
Enclosed, please find a resolution to authorize the Director of Finance to compromise the
penalties and interest owed by lessees of Hawaiian Home Lands Homestead whose tax
delinquencies exceed $500 by December 31, 2001.
Although the exact amount of the compromise will not be known until December 31,
2001, we anticipate that the penalties and interest to be compromised will be
approximately $49,703 and $558,542, respectively, for a total of $608,245. The amount
of delinquent taxes that we expect to receive in Apri12002 as a result of this compromise
will be approximately $611,564.
In 1994, the County Council Committee on Finance adopted Communication No. 449
authorizing the Director of Finance to enter into a similar compromise with the DHHL.
As you are aware, we are not able to impose a tax foreclosure on lands belonging to the
DHHL. Under the circumstance, we recommend that the Council approve the settlement
offer.
Should you have any questions, I will be happy to discuss them with you. Thank you.
William T aba
Director of Finance
APPROVED:
Harry
Mayor
Enclosure