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Home My WebLink AboutRES 183 Draft 01 2012-2014 JMtV'eF... ••. COUNTY OF HAWAII STATE OF HAWAII • �T•OFNF'•l, RESOLUTION NO. 183 13 A RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 18-13, DRAFT 3, WHICH ESTABLISHED A REAL PROPERTY TAX STAKEHOLDERS TASK FORCE. WHEREAS, Resolution No. 18-13, Draft 3, establishing a Real Property Tax Task Force (RPTTF) was adopted on July 10, 2013 ; and WHEREAS, Resolution No.18-13, Draft 3, established the membership of the RPTTF as Council Members Margaret Wille and Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Finance Director Nancy Crawford, Real Property Tax Administrator Stanley Sitko, Real Property Assistant Administrator Lisa Nahoopii, Deputy Corporation Counsel Ryan Kanakaole from the Administration, and three members from the general public; and WHEREAS, the Office of the Corporation Counsel in consultation with the Office of Information Practices, subsequently opined that members of the RPTTF might be subject to Hawai`i Revised Statutes Chapter 92, Public Agency Meetings and Records, "the Sunshine Law"; and that in an abundance of caution the task force should proceed as a"board" subject to the Sunshine Law; and WHEREAS, at the August 29, 2013, RPTTF meeting, the members agreed the reasonable course of action and in the spirit of public transparency, that compliance with the Sunshine Law is in the best interest of both the task force and the public; and WHEREAS, at that August 29, 2013, RPTTF meeting, it was determined that in light of the requirements of the Sunshine Law, members of the Administration on the RPPTF would be prevented from performing their daily jobs including advising the Council on matters relating to real property taxation due to the Sunshine Law, as they would not be able to discuss real property tax matters with the Council for the duration of the task force; and WHEREAS, the RPTTF members do not want to curtail the Administration's job performance nor interfere with communication between the Administration and the Council during the duration of the task force; and WHEREAS, the RPTTF can continue with the two Council Members and the three members from the general public comprising its full membership, and with the Administration working in an advisory and administrative capacity; and WHEREAS, the Council has since indicated it may refer real property tax measures to the RPTTF for consideration, which measures may not be interpreted as within the framework of the recommendations included in the report of International Association of Assessing Officers referenced in Resolution No. 18-13, Draft 3; and WHEREAS, the Council wants to ensure that if there are additional matters related to the County's real property taxation program which the Council may want to refer to RPTTF, that the scope of the RPTTF is not limited in its ability to address those additional matters; and WHEREAS, the Council would also like to clarify the number of members of the RPTTF that would constitute a quorum; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that Resolution No. 18-13, Draft 3 is amended to read as follows: "A RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH A REAL PROPERTY TAX STAKEHOLDERS TASK FORCE. WHEREAS, the March 5, 2012 International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) Report entitled "Technical Assistance Report Evaluating Property Tax Policies and Administrative Practices in Hawai`i County," as transmitted to the County Council by Communication No. 641 (2010-12 Council term), suggests the establishment of a group of stakeholders to address several of the 40 recommendations contained in the report; and WHEREAS, a stakeholders task force would extend public outreach to address public complaint issues, with the exception of appeals to the Real Property Tax Board of Review, as provided in Section 19-97 of the Hawai`i County Code; and WHEREAS, a stakeholders task force should conduct periodic reviews of brochures and forms for readability; and WHEREAS, a stakeholders task force should examine whether the creation of sunset provisions for exemptions are beneficial and if so, create and review such sunset provisions for all exemptions to force periodic review of underlying policies; and WHEREAS, a stakeholders task force should review the intent of underlying policies and allegations of abuse of the agricultural use exemption; and WHEREAS, a stakeholders task force should look into consolidating agricultural use eligibility options weighing the benefits of a simpler, more transparent system against specific tax shifts; and WHEREAS, a stakeholders task force should determine specific ways to make the relationship between taxes and value changes more transparent; and WHEREAS, a stakeholders task force should identify problems related to tax relief and review options; and WHEREAS, the Council formed an Ad-Hoc Committee on July 31, 2012, to review and prioritize the 40 recommendations contained in the IAAO report; and 2 WHEREAS, the Ad Hoc Committee made recommendations to the Council on December 18, 2012, including the recommendation to continue working on improving the County's real property tax program, in the form of a task force; and WHEREAS, [it] the Council determined it would be beneficial to continue the work of the Ad-Hoc Committee in the form of a task force; WHEREAS, the RPTTF or the Council, may identity additional issues related to the real property tax program that should be addressed by this task force; now, therefore, [WHEREAS, Section 92 2.5, subsection (a) of the Hawai`i Revised Statutes provides made or sought and the two members do not constitute a quorum of their board; now, therefore] BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it hereby establishes a Real Property Tax Stakeholders Task Force [,under the direction of the Finance Director] to address those recommendations contained in the International Association of Assessing Officers Report. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this task force should review and make recommendations on items the Council refers to it that may not be included in the 40 IAAO recommendations; and such other related tax matters that the task force determines appropriate to address in the context of its review of the County's real property tax program; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this task force will be comprised of Council Member Margaret Wille and Council Member Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, [Finance Director Nancy Crawford, Real Property Tax Administrator Stanley Sitko, Real Property Assistant Administrator Lisa Nahoopii, Deputy Corporation Counsel Ryan Kanakaole] and three members from the general public who shall be selected as provided herein. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Council Member Margaret Wille, Council Member Dennis "Fresh" Onishi and Finance Director Nancy Crawford shall each select one member of the general public to serve on the task force. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if one of the selected members of the public is unable to continue serving on this task force for any reason, the task force member who selected that member of the general public shall select a replacement member from the public in an expeditious manner so as not to unduly delay the progress of the task force. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that quorum shall be defined as three of the five members being present. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the finance department will offer advisory and administrative support. 3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, absent extenuating circumstances, this task force meet at a minimum of once per month and [shall] submit quarterly reports to the Council that provide all findings and recommendations of the task force, including all alternatives for specific measures to address the appropriate recommendations in the International Association of Assessing Officers Report and such other recommendations as the task force deems appropriate. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this task force will be dissolved on November 30, 2014, unless prior to that date the Council approves by way of resolution a one-year extension. [ ; . - , • - - -. -- -. - . - - - - -- - - . • _ Director of Finance; Stanley Sitko, Administrator of the Real Property Tax Division; Lisa Nahoopii, Assistant Administrator of the Real Property Tax Division; and Ryan Kanakaole, Deputy Corporation Counsel.]" BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall forward copies of this resolution to the Honorable William P. Kenoi, Mayor, County of Hawai`i: Nancy Crawford, Director of Finance and Lincoln S.T. Ashida, Corporation Counsel. Dated at Kona , Hawai`i, this 16th day of October , 2013. INTRODUCED BY: 4/ v i' ' / i e J4 & b Le 1 c-, t,.5' COUNC L MEMBER, COUNTY OF HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE County of Hawai`i AYES NOES ABS EX Hilo, Hawai`i EOFF X FORD X I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by ILAGAN X the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the KANUHA X County of Hawai`i on October 16, 2013 KERN X ONISHI X ATTEST: POINDEXTER X WILLE X i � / YOSHIMOTO X 8 0 1 0 OP Reference: C-453/Waived FC COUNTY CLERK CHAIRPERSON & PRESIDING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO. 183 13 4