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Home My WebLink About2022-09-14 Minutes TAX BOARD OF REVIEW MEETING MINUTES APPEAL HEARINGS Tuesday, September 14, 2022 West Hawaii Civic Center | Liquor Control Conference Room 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairperson Diana Blancett-Maddock called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Present: Board Members Nelson Harano (arrived at 9:05am as was stuck in traffic), Diane Blancett-Maddock, Michael Okumoto, and Dale Tokuuke; Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson, Assistant Administrator Keita Jo, Appraisal Supervisor Dionne Costa, Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Miura filling in as Board Clerk. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC There were no statements from the public. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES There were no minutes to approve. TAX APPEAL CASE HEARINGS Note: Prior to the start of the case hearings, Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas- Ferguson announced the general procedures of the appeal hearing and advised all Appellants and the Department of the procedure the Board would be following for the rendering of their decision and the Appellants’ further right to appeal to the Tax Appeal Court located in Honolulu within 30 days from the date of the decision letter that the appellant will be receiving via certified mail. For each appeal case, the appraiser submitted a packet of information to the Board, unless there had been a prior settlement with the Appellant or withdrawal. If the Appellant was not present, any information sent in by the Appellant was presented to the Board along with the appraisers’ packet. CASE #44917 – GERS,LUKE TMK 6-2-006-016-0000 The appellant, Luke Gers, was present. Present for the County was appraiser, Hoku Manning. The parcel is a 16,737 square feet lot with a 1,768 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath dwelling in Kamuela View Estates subdivision. The building value is under appeal. The appellant presented his case. County presented their case and recommended a lower building value of $409,900 based on the appeal inspection. A call for questions was made. Mr. Okumoto moved to sustain County’s reduced building value of $409,900 for a net taxable of $581,300. Mr. Tokuuke seconded the motion. Mr. Okumoto shared the County’s comparables were more current and did take into account the degraded condition of the property. There was no lack of uniformity or inequality due to the illegal assessment methods or an error in the application of the methods. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. Mr. Harano abstained from vote as he came in late. CASE # 44684 – HOYT,JOHN D TMK 5-3-007-018-0002 Chairman Harano conducted remainder of the meeting The appellant, John Hoyt, was present. Present for the County was appraiser, Hoku Manning. The parcel has a 1,408 square feet, 2 bedroom, 2 bath improvement graded at a 3+. The building value is under appeal. The appellant presented his case. County presented their case and recommended sustaining the building value of $424,200. A call for questions was made. Mr. Tokuuke moved for the Board to go into executive session with Corporation Counsel. Ms. Blancett-Maddock seconded the motion. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. Although Lisa Miura is acting in capacity as the Board Clerk, since she is the Real Property Tax Administrator, Corporation Counsel asked for her to leave the meeting during the executive session. The recorder will remain on. Entered into executive session at 9:50 a.m. Executive session was entered to clarify the Board’s power. Corporation Counsel referred the Board members to Hawaii County Code, Section 19-97(c) was reviewed specifically “Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, each board shall have power to allow or disallow exemptions pursuant to law whether or not previously allowed or disallowed by the director and to increase or lower any assessment.” Mr. Harano ended executive session and reconvened regular session at 10:00 a.m. (audio does not reflect any motions were made to exit executive session and return to regular open session). Mr. Tokuuke moved to accept the County’s recommendation of $424,200 as the appellant has not proven that the assessed value exceeds by more than 20% the ratio of assessment to market value. Mr. Hoyt stated he has a number of 24%. Ms. Blancett- Maddock seconded the motion. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. Mr. Harano abstained from the vote. CASE # 44683 – HOYT,JOHN D TMK 5-3-008-010-0000 The appellant, John Hoyt, was present. Present for the County was appraiser, Hoku Manning. The parcel is a vacant undeveloped .557 acre parcel of land on the makai side of Akoni Pule Highway, in the Halawa Ahupua’a. The land value is under appeal. Appellant purchased the property in 2019 for $150,000. The appellant(s) presented their case. The County presented their case and recommended to sustain the land value of $222,500. A call for questions was made. Mr. Tokuuke moved to sustain the county’s assessed value of $222,500 as the appellant did not prove the value of the assessed value of the property exceeds by more than 20% the ratio of assessment to market value. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 3:1 with Mr. Okumoto being the nay vote. CASE #44682 – WOODLEY,ROBIN MAUREEN TMK 5-4-007-074-0000 While the case was being called, Mr. Hoyt withdrew his appeal stating this is a waste of his time. If you are only looking at the market rate then this is a sham and I withdraw my appeal. You are having a very negative impact on our community. He apologized but is frustrated. Mr. Harano called for a 5 minute recess at 10:31 a.m. while Corporation Counsel Sinclair spoke with the appellant outside. Mr. Harano reconvened the hearing ending recess at 10:38 a.m. Mr. Harano made a motion to accept Mr. Hoyt’s withdraw of the appeal and return the $50 appeal fee. Motion passes with a vote of 3 ayes, Ms. Blancett-Maddock abstained. Mr. Tokuuke seconded the motion after the fact. CASE #44598 – LANGAN,CHRISTOPHER L TMK 5-9-012-029-0000 The appellant, Mr. Langan was present. Present for the County was appraiser, Hoku Manning. The parcel is a 3.327 acre vacant property in Kohala Ranch, a gated community. The land value is under appeal. The appellant presented his case stating use is bee apiary. The County presented their case and recommended to sustain the land value of $264,000. The owner did not apply for the agricultural use program. A call for questions was made. Ms. Blancett-Maddock motioned to sustain the county assessment at $264,100 for the land due to the appellant did not prove that the assessed value of the property was more than 20% the ratio of the market value and the appellant did not prove an there was a lack of uniformity or inequality resulting from the use of illegal assessment metods or an error in the application of the methods and the appellant did not prove the assessment methods were illegal or unconstitutional. Mr. Tokuuke seconded the motion. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. CASE #44479 – GRATZ,ADAM & MITCHELL, FAYE TMK 6-2-009-019-0002 The appellant, Adam Gratz was present. Present for the County was appraiser, Hoku Manning. The parcel is a 2.415 acre property with a 3,052 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath improvement with a grade 6-. The property is located in the Kanehoa subdivision. The building value and land value are under appeal. The appellant presented his case to lower the value of the land to $200,000 and the building to $200,000 stating concern of the county water tank. The County presented their case and recommended to sustain the land value of $317,700 and building value of $954,300. The property was purchased in 2021 by the appellant for $1,300,000. A call for questions was made. Mr. Okumoto moved to sustain the county value at $317,700 for the land and $954,300 for the building with a net taxable value of $1,152,000 for tax year 2022. The county followed uniform and equitable practices and there was no illegal assessment methods or an error in the application of the methods. Ms. Blancett-Maddock seconded the motion. Mr. Harano confirmed the homeowner exemption of $120,000. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. Mr. Harano called for a recess at 11:28am. Mr. Harano called the Board out of recess at 11:35am CASE #45035 – WESTIN,STEFAN/LORELEI TMK 7-5-001-021-0000 The appellant, Lorelei Westin, was present. Present for the County was appraiser, Eric Dennis. The parcel is a 5 acre vacant parcel north of the Keopu Mauka and Kalamona Road intersection. The land value is under appeal. The appellant presented her case. Appellant requested to have land value of $12,400 which is similar to prior owners as they are doing more to get the coffee back to production than the prior owners. County presented their case and recommended to lower the land value to $299,200 due to prohibited use due to the easement. Unable to grant the entire property for ag use as the appellant filled out the application for what was granted. A call for questions was made. Mr. Tokuuke made a motion to sustain the County’s recommendation of $299,200 for year 2022 because the appellant did not prove they were denied an exemption which they were entitled to as all requirements were not met by the applicant. Ms. Blancett-Maddock seconded the motion. A call for discussion was made. Mr. Tokuuke stated the exemption was denied, but it appears the appellant made a mistake as the County had given what you applied for. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. Mr. Tokuuke was excused and left the hearings at 12:10pm CASE #45137 – HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION TMK 6-9-007-039-0000 The appellant requested for a reschedule of the hearing (Exhibit A). Ms. Blancett- Maddock moved to deny the continuance based on the late notice from the appellant. Appraiser supervisor stated County was anticipating a withdraw and did not prepare an appeal packet. The motion was seconded by Mr. Harano. Mr. Okumoto questioned email correspondence between County and the appellant regarding last hearing date. Motion passed to deny the extension to October 11 request by a vote of 3:0. Ms. Blancett-Maddock requested in the future that the County not use the Complaint Hearing to reschedule cases to. Mr. Harano asked the County to call the case. The appellant was not present. Present for the County was appraiser supervisor, Dionne Costa. The land and building values are under appeal. The County recommended to sustain the land value of $19,076,200 and building value of $118,977,500. A call for questions was made. Ms. Blancett-Maddock moved to sustain county’s assessment ffor both the land and building for a total of $138,053,700 as the appellant has failed to show any grounds for their appeal. Mr. Okumoto seconded the motion. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. CASE #44285 – ELLIOTT, PAUYL & CODDE-ELLIOTT, CHARLENE D TMK 5-5-018-037-0000 The appellant was not present. Present for the County was Assistant Real Property Tax Administrator, Keita Jo and appraiser, Hoku Manning. The parcel is a 2.301 acre property located in Maliu Ridge. There is a 2,458 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath improvement. The receipt of the 3% CAP of the homeowner exemption is under appeal. The County presented their case and explained per Hawaii County Code, the 3% CAP year starts with a base year of 2022. Per appeal form, the appellants want the 3% CAP to start with 2021 as the base year and have the 3% apply to the 2022 year. Ms. Blancett-Maddock moved to sustain the county’s values for the land value of $399,600 and the building value of $760,400 as the appellant did not show a denial of an exemption to which they were entitled. Chairman Harano confirmed they are receiving the homeowner exemption of $120,000 but the 3% CAP starts with the base year of 2022. Mr. Harano seconded the motion. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. CASE #45006 – NEDUNGADI, ASHOK TMK 5-9-013-060-0000 The appellant was not present. Present for the County was Appraiser, Hoku Manning. The parcel is a 3.301 acre property located In Kohala Ranch. The land value is under appeal. The County presented their case which included the appellants paperwork submitted at the time of appeal. County requested the land value of $221,200 be sustained. Mr. Okumoto move to sustain the County’s land value of $221,200 as the appellant has not proven that the assessed value of the property exceeds by more than 20% the ratio of assessment to market value. Ms. Blancett-Maddock seconded the motion. A call for discussion was made. Mr. Harano stated the comparables County provided supports the County’s value. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. ANNOUNCEMENTS No announcements were made. ADJOURNEMENT Meeting was adjourned at 12:40 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Lisa Miura Real Property Tax Administrator (filling in as Tax Board Clerk) EXHIBIT “A” From: Jameson, Keith <Keith.Jameson@ryan.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2022 9:01 AM To: Jo, Keita <Keita.Jo@hawaiicounty.gov> Cc: Costa, Dionne <Dionne.Costa@hawaiicounty.gov>; Pineros, Rick <Rick.Pineros@ryan.com>; Thompson, Steve <Steve.Thompson@ryan.com> Subject: Appeal No. 45137 - TMK 690070390000 - HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION - Request for Postponement RE: APPEAL NO.: 45137 TMK: 690070390000 APPLICANT: Hilton Resorts Corporation th HEARING DATE: September 14 Hawaii County Board of Review: th Please accept this e-mail as our official request to postpone our hearing until October 11. We are requesting the additional time to allow to property owner for more internal discussions on the valuation issues of this appeal. Your consideration is greatly appreciated. Mahalo, Keith Jameson Director, Property Tax Commercial Ryan 300 Spectrum Center Drive Suite 1060 Irvine, California 92618 949.206.4503 Ext. 60-4503 760.822.8135 Mobile ryan.com