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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0387.030 2000-2002 12-13 01 19:11 DON J~COBS T:8®6 96S ®361 p:01 15-2722 Popaa Street 1.IEG ~~i ~~'1 CO~/965-®3S1 Pah®~, f~Bl ~6T7~ email: don~~al®ha.r~et December 13 ~ 1" - ' ~ ~ + 1 A t~t~~iEV1Y ~ ~`=~v^1, . 1~0: Mr. Jarraes Y. ArakalCi, Chalrn,an de Presiding ®fficer MernberS ®f the l~#awaii County C®uncil cc: Mayor Harry B~ir~ ~ Pay ~.in+~®ln Ashida, Corp. Council 1f'estiev9ony bef®r~ the Oou~ty C®tsncil C~~cer~b~r 19, X001. I ®ppose dill 1 ~ l , Draft 3. I respectfully request that y®~ kill l3iil 121, ®raft 3, or defer acti®n ®n this bill until the legality of the l~inirnurn ~"ax issues have been determined. T'he current Mini~tun~ fax, per Article 11, Seotion 19-9®(g) of the Hawaii C®unty Code the 100 Minlnturn fax pr®posed in dill 1 Z 1, draft 3, are both in violation ®f the Equal Pr®tectior~ Clausestn the U.S. C®nstitution (1 nth Arnendrnent) and Article VUI, Section 3, of the l~awaii State C®nstitution. Regarding °Taxati®n U.S. Suprenne C®urt Justices have handed down the foil®wing oplnl®~s: • the Equal Pr®tecti®n Clause "aPPlies only t® taxation which in fact bears unequally ®s~ pars®ns or pr®perty of the same class". a A state may divide different kinds ®f property into classes and assign to each class a different tax burden so l®ng as those divlsi®ns and burdens are rasa®nable. m T'axati®~ shell be equal and uniform throughout the state, and alt property, real anal personal, shall be taxed in proportion t® value. • 1'he Equal Prptection Clause pr®tects the individual from state action which selects hitn ®ut for discriminatory treatrraent by subjecting him to taxes not imp®sed ®n ethers ®f the same class. Any change In the liawail County Code that increases the tax burden f®r 5®me ®f the pr®perties in a class of real property but n®t f®r all ®f the pr®perties in that same class is discrirninat®ry. ~iie f. ~~s 12-13 01 19:12 DON JR~CBS T:9®B 965 9361 P:®2 A rrsinirrsurn tax that increases the levy rate (the tax burden per ~ 1,~(~~ ®fi assessed valuation) i~or s®rr~e ®f the pr®perti~ss in a class of real pr®perty but ~®t ~~ar atl of the properties in that same Mass is discrirroinat®ry. ~~T~: ~ have men called ~`or ~urY duty and may n®t be excused to attend the ~3ecer~nbe~ i ~~®1, hearings. i# so t reser~ae the right t® have an appointee read ~y testi€~ony. Sincerely Jacobs ~ r _ G ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ P"PE ~ ~ ~ ~1 ~ H ~ ~ F9 ~ cy a o o ® o e~ ~ o Ps ® ® f'~! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ c~ ~ cs ~ ® o ca ~ ~ ~ ~ ca e9 ~ ~ ~ g ~ S ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ ~s ® ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ` ! ~ dA? r i i ~ _ I ~ ~ i id4 ~ ~ y ~ i ~ i t I ~ ~!i g~ Sl9 ~ ~ . i ! ~ I i i ~ ~ ~ ~ t~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i li ~ ; i I ~ ~ 0~4 ~ ~ i I i ~ +e~e I I i ~ I i ~ ~ I ~ I i I I I i i ~ ~ ~ ! , ~ j ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I ~ i ~ ~ , ' i i ~ ~ d$~ ~ A i ~ I ~ ~ i I ~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ` I I i ~ ~ ~ ~b ; ? ! ~ I I ~ C9Pi I ~ ~ ~ r~ V ~ ~ I I , ! 1 I i I i ~ I ~ ~ i ! I I ! ~ I i ~ I i i i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~l ~ v E®~d ZSE6 S~6 ~®S~l S800d!' N00 ET~6ti ~0 EZ-2S ~®n Jac®bs 1 5-2722 Popaa Street 606/965-03.61 Pahoa, ICI 9676 email: donjC~a#oh~.net ®ecember 16, 2001 l~o: I~lembers of the I~awaii County Council I am opposed to bill 121, ~rafC 3, on the grounds that it is discriminatory and violates the Equa! Protection Clause in Article 1, Section 5, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii. ~XO~ I ~ IT` e4 Rm ®n December 10, 2001, I wrote to Lincoln Ashida, Corp Counse#, asking his opinion as to whether bill 121, draft 3, violates the constitution. Rlo response to-date. Since that time I did some research at the law library and found Reoardino Taxation U.S. Supreme Court Justices have handed down the following opinions: ~ ~fhe equal Protection Clause "applies only to taxation which in fact bears unequa#ly on persons or property of the same class". ~ A state may divide different kinds of property into classes and. assign to each class a different tax burden so long as those divisions and burdens are reasonable. ~ Taxation shat! be equal and uniform throughout the state, and al! property, real and personal, shalB be taxed in proportion to value. ~ The equal Protection Clause .....protects the individual from- state action which selects him out for discriminatory treatment by subjecting him to taxes not imposed on others of the same class. ~XI~II~I~ ~ The proposed X100 minimum tax effectively raises the levy rate for lower valued properties while them: would be no increase in Unimproved Residential class properties with assessed valuation of ~ 10,000 or more. `This is discrirvtinatory. I respectfu#ly request that Gil! 121, Graft 3, be deferred until it can be determined whether it is #egal or not. ~®n Jacobs II~ ~®n Jac®bs 15-2722 Popaa Stra~et 808/95-0361 Pah®~, 96fi~78 email: donjC~aloha.n~t Oarcember 1®, 2001 Lincoln Asl~ida, Corporation Counsel 101 Aupuni St. Suite 325 I-Iilo, HI 96720 Ref: Clgapter 19, Hawaii County Cody and Bill 121, I)raf4 3 1~1~.L~; l~~+~wl"~'~'1~ (1~1~T 1~ ~11`l~:j dill 121: ~~~~d:~ a~p4~r 19, A:~l~l~ 11, ,-won 1~-t.~1,1-1~~~,i`i ~.~~:~~aty[.~'?R ~1ral"t 19 (199 ~21j Alin 1~, 41~e nai~zit~an~ ta~c., ! ln~.~~;~ irli~. rl p~p~~ty ta:~ 2~ 10~ s~~~tl~ ~olloi fR ~c~ti:~~. ~3~1~.1t I`ll a4 I) Pp~F l.~ tl~~ 1-l~~r~:{~~° ~'1~4 2~ l~p~ ~~~~~.~d~t ~I a~al~~ 1~ ~ ~~u~l ~~€~~;..~rad ~ Fey rim a Tf $€11~ I~l~af ~~l ti`1~~~ F~~.p.. l~~e: Cow 3~~`. r"~ppr'o~ l°~°-1 [dear Mr. ~shida: I am s~~k"sng your opinion. ®oes the "minimum tax", as sit forth in Article 1 1, Section 19-90(g) and in Eill 121, [~ra~t 3, as it applies to vacant '°Pmproved residential" land and vacant "l9nirnproved residential" land as described in Article 11, SaYction 19- 53(e), vio-late than fourteenth amendment to shay Constitution o~ the lJnitea Statars of ,America? Excerpt fram: The Constitution of the United States of America Amendment XIV (1868) Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. ~o state shall make or enforce any lam which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the: United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, +~rithout due process of lave; nor deny to any person uvit6~in its jurisdiction- the equal protection of the laves. "Improved residential" and "lJnimproved residential" are two specific classifications of land subject to taxation under Article 11, Section 19-90, at levy rates established by the Hawaii County Council. these levy rates, expressed in dollars per 1,000 dollars of assessed valuation (AV), apply to all properties within these two classif cations without regard to the amount of the assessed valuation of the land subject to taxation. `The "minimum tax" is discriminatory. If dill 121, Oraft 3, is approved, the levy rate on a ;$3,000 "Improved residential" lot will be raised from $x.50 per $1,000{AV) to X33.33 per ~ 1,000(AV) While a ~ 50,000 lot would have no increase in its levy rate. for an extreme example (at current levy rates): A $10,000 "Improved residential; lot would be taxed X35 at $x.50 per $1,000(AV). but a ~ 100(AV) property taxed at the current X25 minimum would be taxed at an effective -levy rate of X250 per ~ 1,000(AV) levy rate almost 30 times higher. the owner of a X100{AV) lot is being taxed at 25®/~ of the current value of his land. fi axation of properties, within a given classification, at an equal levy rate for all assessed valuations is fair taxation everyone pays their fair share. both the ~lawaii County Council and the Administration have expressed their intent to revamp Chapter 19 of the Hawaii County Code. Now is the time to clarify this important issue. Sincerely Oon Jacobs Copies to: Mayor Harry Kim and the Council x~~ ~ ~ O Q o ~ ~ ~ ~ o O ~ ett Ao- ~ o N ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ f ~ o o q~ ~ ~ "Zs ~ ~ ~ ° ~ ~ ~ ° ~ a~ N ~ o® ~U ~ ~ ~ er, ate ~ ~ t~9 o 00 ~ as ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ N Ao~ ~ O ~N O N ~ - ~ ~ t9 ° ^ ~ ~ ~ ~ O o ~ ~ ~ o ~ ° o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ' ~ ~3 ~ ~ o ~ ~ O ~ ~ o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O O O O ~ O O O ~'s O O tee O O O O O O O C5 O O O ~ O O O O O O O O O O O ~ O ~ ~ C9 lA ~ m N ~ ~ ® ~ d84 ~ r^ ~r ~ dd3 $61 ~ 4f3 ~t d~1 ~ > ~ i~t3 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ O ~ U C~ ~