HomeMy WebLinkAboutBIL 244 Draft 03 1998-2000 COIJN° O~ I~AI`I S`T~T°l~ O~ I~~XI~I`I
SILL NO. X44
(DRAFT 3)
OIaDINANC~ NO.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19, OF THE HAWAI` I COUNTY CODE 1983 (1995
EDITION), BY AMENDING ARTICLE 10, SECTION 19-75 RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY
TAX EXEMPTIONS (EXEMPTION, PERSONS WITH IMPAIRED SIGHT OR HEARING AND
PERSONS TOTALLY DISABLED).
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Chapter 19, Article 10, Section 19-75, [Subsections (b) and (d},] of the
Hawaii County Code 1983 (1995 Edition) is amended to read as follows:
"Seetion 19-75. Exemption, persons [with impaired sight or hearing and persons]
wl?o sre blind, deaf, and/or totally disabled.
(a) Definitions as used in this chapter:
(1) "Blind" means a person whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200
in the better eye with correcting lenses, or whose visual acuity is greater than
20/200 but is accompanied by a limitation in the field of vision such that the
widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than twenty
degrees[.], as certified under this section.
(2) "Deaf' means a person whose average loss in the speech frequencies (five
hundred to two thousand Hertz) in the better ear is eighty-two decibels,
A.S.A., or worse[.] , as certified under this section.
(3) "[Person] Totally disabled" means a person who is totally [and permanently]
disabled, either physically or mentally, and who, except for such total
disability, would be able to engage in [any] substantial gainful business or
occupation, as certified under this section.
(b) Any person who is certified as blind, [or] deaf, and/or totallydisabled as defined
in [subsection (a) ofJ this section[, as long as the person's sight or hearing is so
impaired,] shall be exempt [except for the minimum tax] from real property taxes
on all real property owned by the person up to, but not exceeding a taxable value
of $50,000. [The impairment of sight or hearing shall be certified to by a licensed
audiologist, ophthalmologist, optometrist [or], otolaryngologist, or licensed
physician, as the case may be, on forms prescribed by the department of finance.]
Except that no exemption shall apply to any minimum tax payable under section
19-90 (g) of this chapter.
(c) [Any person who is totally disabled, as defined in subsection (a) of this section, as
long as the person is totally disabled, shall be exempt except for the minimum tax
from real property taxes on all real property owned by the person up to, but not
exceeding a taxable value of $50,000.] The disability shall be certified [to] by (1)
a physician licensed under chapter 453 or 460, or both, (2) a qualified out-of--state
physician who is currently licensed to practice in the state in which the physician
resides, or (3) a commissioned medical officer in the United States military or
public health service, engaged in the discharge of one's official duty. Certification
for a person who is blind or deaf mad also be made by a licensed optorreetrist or
audiol~st as the case may be• Certification shall be on forms prescribed by the
department of finance. For disabled veterans, the proof of disability submitted for
section 19-73(1) by from the Veterans Administration, [can] ~ be substituted
for the [physician's] r wired certification [of disability]. Official documentation
from the Social Security Administration [can] ~ also be substituted for the
[physician's] required certification [of disability].
(d) Any person [suffering from a temporary or momentary impairment of sight,
hearing, or total disability] who is certified as being temporarily blind, deaf,
and/or totally disabled shall [be required to] submit an annual certification or
recertification, [performed by a qualified audiologist, ophthalmologist,
optometrist, otolaryngologist, or licensed physician, as the case maybe, attesting
to the continued impairment of sight, hearing, or total disability] as required b~
this section. [1fie] No exemption shall be [disallowed for failure to submit the
required annual certification or recertification report] allowed unless the required
certification or recertification is submitted.
(e) Any person who qualifies for [the] an exemptions identified in subsection (b} or
(c) ofJ under this section shall be allowed to apply for only one of the exemptions
established in this section.
(f) In the case of a lease of Hawaiian homestead land, where either a husband or wife
is of non-l-lawaiian descent, either spouse shall be entitled to the blind, deaf, or
totally disabled exemption in the same manner as if either spouse was considered
the owner thereof, provided proof of marriage is submitted to the director of
f Hance.
(g) In the event that a person qualifies for the home exemption as provided in section
19-71 and the blind, deaf, or totally disabled exemption as provided in this
section, the exemptions shall be granted to the claimant in the fallowing order: the
home exemption shall be granted first, then followed by the applicable blind,
deaf, or totally disabled exemption on the property claimed as the owner's
principal residence. Thereafter, the exemption provided by this section shall be
applied to any other property designated by the claimant."
SECTION 2. Material to be repealed is bracketed. New material is underscored. In
printing this ordinance, the brackets, bracketed material and underscoring need not be included.
SECTION 3. If any provision of this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person
or circumstance, is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications
of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
this end, the provisions of this ordinance are declared to be severable.
SECTION 4. This ordinance shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODU B1t~~.-®~
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CO CIL EMBER, C UNTY OF HAWAII
Hilo, Hawaii
Date of Introduction:
Date of l st Reading:
Date 2"d Reading:
Effective Date:
REfEREPJ~: Corrarra. 742.004