The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0049.000 2002-2004 Harry Kim William Takaba Mayor ' Finance Director _ • Nancy E. Crawford • Deputy Director r`• ~'«:M'~ County of Hawaii DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE -REAL PROPERTY TAX Aupuni Cen[er 101 Pauahi Street Suite No. 4 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Fax (808) 961-8415 Appraisers (808) 961-8354 Clerical (808) 961-8201 Collections (808) 961-8282 75-5706 Kuakini Highway Suite 112 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 Fax (808) 327-3538 C' Appraisers (BOS) 327-3542 Clerical (808) 327-3540 r`-' r ~ November 29, 2002 The Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor The Honorable James Arakaki, Chairman and Members of the Council County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, HI 96720 Enclosed is the 2002 annual report of the Real Property Tax Board of Review as required by Chapter 19. W. F. N, Chairm n Tax Board of Review Enclosure c: William Takaba, Director of Finance Comm. No. ~ File No. I y Ref. To: FG Ref. Date DEC 17 2002 REAL PROPERTY TAX BOARD OF REVIEW 2002 ANNUAL REPORT I. Introduction Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 19, Article 12, Section 19-97(e), Hawaii County Code as amended, the members of the Real Property Tax Board of Review submit the following report of activities and recommendations of the 2002-2003 tax year. The recommendations relate to both legislative and administrative matters. The following is a list of officers and members of the Board: W. F. "Bill" Green, Chairman Fred Yamashiro, Vice Chairman Gus Ogasawara David Powell James "Jimmy" Low Potential appointees should be apprised of the demands of their time that service of this Board entails before their names are submitted to the County Council for confirmation hearings. This is not a ceremonial commission. All members are expected to attend all meetings. Meetings in Hilo or Kona are usually a weekly occurrence from July through October with two nights away from home or office. II. Board Membership To replace Brian Nakashima, James Low was appointed in 2002, term ending 2007. W. F. "Bill" Green's term ends at the end of 2002. III. Activities A. Organizational Meeting The annual organizational meeting of the Board was held on March 22, 2002, at the Real Property Tax Office conference room in Hilo for the purpose of electing officers and establishing a tentative appeal hearing schedule for Hilo and Kona. 20~~ ~®ard o$ l~evie Annual Deport page ~ . ~~~eai ~~~~ing~ °~hree hundred seven appeals ~efe scheduled to be heard th"ss x year. ~i his is ~ppdeo/_~`rea~e $rs~opr~ry~q 3~2s~~a~~ep~~hpe~~rpd~ ire t~h~ei~pDr®e~vQ~io~a~~gt~®xa ye~ayyry~, ~Ty®~eagoSr~p°arr~~d Q}~this ~6dard, h~G1fP 99 ig dG~~~aB 4TdlSi rev ~S~e4 #V"6 V 7Ge7L ~~9®~i9 C®i1BF 4D~YtlilBrdg ~6dly iJ6~~, and ~ for fast Ha~ali cornrr~encir~g on July 16, 2002). ~i~a-i nu r o$ h~~arin~s held v~`as 1 ~ with a cancellations of ore hearing each from ~llest !°°lav~aii and Emast €~a~rai€. the ~o~rd's final rapg€~p rr~eetirag was held in 4°lilo on ®ctober 2~2, ~vvhich included fors~~alatia~g the draft e4r~raua! Report. C~plai~t hearings As rea~uired by Chapter 19-97(e), a notice was published in ~epter~ber specifying s period of ten days ithir~ v~hlch complaints ~~y #iie filed ~y an ta~cpayer. C~~e cor~tcla€;nt ~ filed. the cor»pialr~t ~?as in regard to land valua~or~, ~shi ~s riot within the board's ~aartsdiction. ¢sar~'a Co~~nts 1. The proceda~re making decisions in open session on each appeal imrraediately upon completiorB of testimony by ~ x ofl'~ce appraiser af3d the appellant Continues to be accepted Iby 2. T`he presence of a recording secretary to take ar~d Cos~npile the rr~in~€tes of the maeetings has beers helpful to the merr~bers the ~®ard ar~d is in Corr~plianCe with the lam. 3. ~°he halfmday workshop amo~ag staff and hoard members prior t® Cor3~r~acement of hearings va'as helpft~! arm encouraged to Cor~~if8L8e. 4. l•iaving Corporation counsel at each rr~eeting is very helpful and encouraged to csantinue. Ti€~e block scheduling has been implerYaented and found i1 workable. 6. l'3istrlbutiorti of materials relating to each case as soon as possible prior try hearings Baas helpful. 7. A recording system that was purchased for the Kona meetings has worked out very well. 8. The Board appreciates the budget that was approved for their general operating expenses. E. Board Recommendations 1. The practice of training new Board members is encouraged. 2. The vacancy left by W. F. Green be filled prior to the organizational meeting. 3. Homeowner's exemption deadline be reconsidered (see attached letter from Board member Gus Ogasawara). 4. Develop a standardized form, known as Executive Summary, for the appraisers to submit to the Board members highlighting the pertinent information relative to the case, including the appeal issue. F. Closing Comments The Board appreciates that all of last year's recommendations were adopted. G. Chairman's Comments The Board members and all others have done a wonderful job, and it has been a pleasant experience working with them all. Submitted by members of the Board of Review: W. een~n Fred Yamashiro, Vice Chairman awara, M~ Davi Powell, Meriiber i G ~ mes Low, Member Gordon N. Ogasawara P_ O- Box 55 Kapaau, HI 96755 August 14.2002 Mr.Bill Takaba Finance Director. County of Hawaii C/o Mr. Wes l'akai Aupuni Cen[er 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 4 Hilo. HI 96720-4679 Dear Mr. Takaba, As you and other members of the County administration and staff consider many changes to the current codes. I would like to offer some thoughts about a particular aspect which has come to my attention. As a member of the Real Property "Fax Board of Review for the County of Hawaii. I am particularly troubled by the yearly number of cases heard regarding [he disallowance of the standard homeowner's exemption when all requirements are met by the taxpayer except [he timely filing for i[ by the mandatory due date of December 3 I During 2 'h years of my service. this Board has consistently found in favor of the County in [hese situations and rightfully so. considering the current code and requirements- But I and many of my fellow board members hold great sympathy for the taxpayer because in most cases the following factors exist: the taxpayer would otherwise have been entitled to the exemption the taxpayer was truly unaware of the requirement the penalty is severe considering the nature of the infraction. it is contrary to the public policy of encouraging home ownership In many instances, these exemptions involve first time home buyers or those unfamiliar with real estate transactions. Also, relying on real estate professionals (brokers end escrow) does not always solve the problem and who can say whether the fault lies with the professional or the individual.. As a possible solution among others. I suggest extending the deadline for filing to some other date and/or its complete elimination. While this may be burdensome on staff who may manually have to make mid- year adjustments, the number of such instances will be relatively small such that it should not be an overwhelming event. Perhaps the date can be axtended to the same dart as for appeals of the assessment. or made similar to that for disability exemptions which have e December 31 and a.lune 30 deadline By at least extending ii to the same date as for an appeal of the assessment, we afford the taxpayer [o review hard copy evidence of the exemption. or lack thereof when the assessment notice is mailed in March. I hope the above is useful. and I thank you for your consideration in advance. Sincerely. Gordon N. Ogasawara Board Member CC. Chairman Bill Green & members of the Board Gary Kiyota