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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-09-20 Minutes TAX BOARD OF REVIEW MEETING MINUTES APPEAL HEARINGS Tuesday, September 20, 2022 Aupuni Center | Aupuni Conference Room 101 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawaii CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Nelson Harano called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Present: Board Members Nelson Harano, Diane Blancett-Maddock, Michael Okumoto, Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson, Real Property Tax Assistant Administrator Keita Jo, Appraisal Supervisor Dionne Costa, Real Property Tax Administrator filling in as Board Clerk Lisa Miura (note: Real Property Tax Assistant Administrator took minutes during the one case where Lisa Miura was representing the County). Dale Tokuuke was excused. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC There were no statements from the public. APPROVAL OF 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 # 44406 – MARTIN ANDERSON 2012 TRUST TMK 1-4-001-074-0000 The appellant(s) representative, Garth Yamanaka, was present. Present for the County was Administrator, Lisa Miura. The Assistant Real Property Tax Administrator took minutes during this case. The property is a 47.776 acre parcel in the Puua-Kapoho area in Puna, Hawaii. The parcel is located approximately 1 mile North-East of the Lava Tree State Park. Approximately 15% of the parcel is covered in lava, majority being the access. The land value is under appeal based. Mr. Yamanaka in behalf of the appellant presented his case. County presented their case and recommended sustaining the county value of $169,100. Ms. Blancett-Maddock moved to sustain the County’s assessed land value of $169,100 because the appellant has not shown that there was a lack of uniformity or inequality resulting from illegal assessment methods or an error in the application of the methods. Seconded by Mr. Okumoto. A call for discussion was made. Board member, Mr. Okumoto indicated that ground photos would have enhanced the appellants case causing an uncertainty where the road was and that the County applied a discount. Ms. Blancett-Maddock did not hear any testimony or see pictures that there was actually a road before the lava. The motion passed by a vote of 3:0. CASE #45155 – DUNN, PATRICIA TMK 1-2-007-018-0000 The appellant(s) was not present. Present for the County was appraiser, Dori Hoohuli. The parcel is a 62.438 acre vacant parcel located off Pahoa-Kalapana Highway near the 19 mile marker in the Puna District. The 2022 land value is under appeal. County presented their case and recommended sustaining the County’s land value of $99,600 based on comparables. A call for questions was made. Mr. Okumoto moved to sustain the county’s value of $99,600 because the County provided comparables to support the value and the appellant did not prove the assessed value of the property exceeds by more than 20 percent the ratio of the assessment to market value. Seconded by Ms. Blancett-Maddock. A call for discussion was made. Mr. Harano stated the comparables used support the value and feel the county’s value is reasonable. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. CASE #45002 – BOO, SOON KOK TMK 1-8-008-004-0000 The appellant Soon Kok Boo, was present with via telephone. Present for the County was appraiser, Raynette Mar. Note: As appellant was not on the phone from the start, prior to moving forward, Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson announced the general procedures of the appeal hearing and advised Mr. Boo 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. The parcel is a 53.988 acre vacant parcel in Mountain View. The land value is under appeal. The appellant presented his case and based his request of $100,00 is due to no access to property and inequality based on large increase of assessment from prior year. The County presented their case and recommended to lower the land value to $196,600 due to the irregular shape. A call for questions was made. Ms. Diane Blancett-Maddock moved to sustain the county’s recommended land value reduction of $196,600 as the appellant did not prove the assessed value of the property exceeds by more than 20% the ratio of assessment to market value and the appellant did not prove there is a lack of uniformity or inequality resulting from the use of illegal assessment methods or an error in the application of the methods. Seconded by Mr. Okumoto. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. COMMENT TO COUNTY Ms. Blancett-Maddock commented to county this packet was very confusing as they could not tell where the county information vs the appraiser information was. Mr. Harano agreed but he eventually figured it out. County agreed there were no divider pages which is typically seen in the packets. ANNOUNCEMENTS No announcements ADJOURNEMENT Meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Lisa Miura Real Property Tax Administrator (filling in as Tax Board Clerk)