HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0915.006 2004-2006
TESTIMONY REGARDING PROPERTY TAXES
5/18/06
My name is Ted Vorfeld and my wife and I are residents of
Holualoa. We moved from Honolulu to Holualoa 16 years ago.
We have a five acre AG parcel on which we have our home
plus and Ohana. We raise and sell coffee, macadamia nuts and
oranges.
The taxable value of our property has risen 41% in the coming
year over the previous year. Over the previous 4 years, the
taxable value rose only 1%.
The current "Market" value rose 100% over the previous year
while during the 4 prior years the market value rose only 8%.
Clearly the aberration is due to recent high end property sales
in our area.
Tying the assessed value of property to recent sales is neither
rational nor fair. In my specific case, I have no County water
or road and clearly that fact is not reflected in the assessed
value. Further, my need for County services has not increased
in proportion to the assessed value.
Adjusting the rate per thousand dollars of assessed value is
helpful, but it poses difficult `fairness' issues that will likely
lead to the community insisting on a Proposition 13 type of
assessment.
I suggest that the County move to a system by which all land of
a similar classification be assessed at the same value per acre,
regardless of location, and the structures that sit on the land be
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assessed at their current replacement value based on their
square footage. The Council would then set a tax rate
sufficient to satisfy budgetary needs.
The flush of windfall tax money under the current tax system
will lead to unbudgeted expenditures which will quickly
become permanent standard levels of spending.
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to speak and thank
you for joining us here in Kona, where the impact of high end
property sales is greatest.
Ted Vorfeld