HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0488.011 2008-2010
September 14, 2009
Dominic Yagong, Finance Committee Chair
Finance Committee
County of Hawaii
Dear Chairman and esteemed Council Members,
I come to you today representing the Hawaii Island Board of Realtors, an organization of
approximately 700 professional Realtors. We are concerned about Bill 132. While we commend
the intent of transparency, we believe that it is not in the best interest of the County to require
potential buyers to disclose a plan of their intended uses. Most buyers are not going to appreciate
the fact that they have to "qualify" to purchase real property from the County of Hawaii. One can
imagine that a prospective buyer may be saddled with conditions similar to a rezoning. In this
difficult real estate market, it seems that you are presenting roadblocks to insure your own failure.
If you are truly worried about the potential future use of the property, worry no more. The lands
have a State Land Use Agricultural designation as well as County agricultural zoning. The lands
can only be used as allowed under Chapter 205 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and the County
Zoning Ordinance. Any other uses are not allowed. If a buyer wants to rezone one of the
properties, that application will have to be approved by the County Council.
Ideally the County should have sold the properties in the peak real estate market of 2005.
However, now the County and State are facing a very challenging economy and a budget was
approved by the County Council that included the sale of $8.2 million of surplus land.
Continuing to keep the lands fallow, as the prior 15 years, is a poor option that doesn't close the
budget deficit. Additionally, no real property taxes have been collected on these lands in 15
years. We believe private parties would be better stewards of the lands.
Lastly, we question whether a sealed bid auction or a public auction is the best method for
achieving the highest sales price. Most real estate in Hawaii is sold through a licensed Realtor
and not at a public auction. There must be a reason for that and we think that the County of
Hawaii is making an assumption that auctions are a better marketing methodology without having
any empirical data to prove it.
For all of these reasons, we believe that Bill 132 as written is not in the best interest of the County
of Hawaii.
Sincerely,
fRbKGI lia ms
Government Affairs Committee
Hawaii Island Board of Realtors
NO. ~ ~ ;.-R.
Comm
Ref. To:
Ref. Dai'a 15 one