HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1046.001 2012-2014 lril' A
September 30, 2014
2oiq scp 3a AM s: 42
RE: Testimony Against Bill 293
Good Morning:
My name is Wes Takai and I worked for the Real Property Division for 39 years as an
appraiser, supervising appraiser, and the administrator.
My testimony on Bill 293 is to urge you not to pass this bill. Attachment#1 is the front page of
Ordinance No. 04-123 introduced by Aaron Chung which established the two deadlines for
filing home exemptions. One of the purposes of this ordinance was "to establish two windows
to file a home exemption claim that would cut the potential waiting period from a maximum of
18 months to 1 year." For decades prior to the passage of this ordinance, there were a
number of complaints from taxpayers who filed after the December 31 deadline and had to
wait up to 18 months to get the benefit of the home exemption. These complaints were made
over the counter, to council members, and at appeal hearings. In their annual report to the
Mayor and County Council, the members of the Board of Review recommended for several
years that a second filing deadline be established. Their recommendation was finally
accomplished in November 2004 with the passage of this Ordinance.
The purpose of Bill 293 is to increase the efficiency of the real property tax division by
eliminating the one-half year application of the home exemption. I was the administrator when
the 2004 Ordinance was enacted and wrote the procedures to implement this bill. A few
procedural modifications were made after the first year but the additional tasking did not have
a major impact on the overage workload of the clerical section most affected by this change.
The success for this smooth transition was accomplished mainly because of the "can do"
attitude and professionalism of the division's employees . It is interesting to note that after my
retirement the number of positions in this clerical section decreased from 11 to 9, indicating
that the additional task created by the second deadline continues to have no major impact on
the annual workload of the division.
What is the property tax impact on a new homeowner? Attachment#2 is the tax calculations
for a property with a $200,000 assessed value. The last row of bolded numbers shows the first
year tax impact to be between $636.00 and$820.50.
In closing I urge you to keep the present two filing deadlines as the property tax savings is big
for the homeowners, especially first time buyers, with a new mortgage and the financial
hardships encountered during their first year of home ownership.
If you have any questions on my testimony or if I can be of help in the future on any real
property questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for your time.
Comm. No
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