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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-06 BOR Meeting MinutesCOUNTY OF HAWAII TAX BOARD OF REVIEW MEETING MINUTES — Organizational Meeting Tuesday, March 6, 2012 Real Property Tax Conference Room 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 4, Hilo, Hawaii CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Albert Kualii called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. Present were: Board Members Wesley Takai, Scott Church and Michael D'Amico; Craig Masuda, Deputy Corporation Counsel; Stanley Sitko, Real Property Tax Administrator, Michael McCall, Real Property Tax Assistant Administrator; and Elizabeth (Nina) Swain, Board Secretary. No members from the public were in attendance. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: No statements were made. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes from the complaint and appeal hearings held on November 15, 2011, were distributed to the Board Members prior to the meeting for their review. Mr. Takai noted the following correction to the minutes: • Pg. 4 Case No. 17727 Correction: change "Mr. Ford" to "Mrs. Ford" Mr. Takai moved to accept the minutes of the November 15, 2011 hearings as corrected. Seconded by Mr. D'Amico. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. OLD BUSINESS: No old business discussed. NEW BUSINESS: • Welcome Any New Board Members. Mr. Masuda provided the Members with an update as to the status of the filling of the one (1) vacancy. One application was received, however, after discovering the time commitment required to attend meetings the applicant withdrew their application. Mr. Masuda requested assistance from the Members in seeking out candidates for the vacant position and informing them of the application available on-line to apply. • Election of Officers. Mr. Takai nominated Mr. Kualii as Chairman. No other nominations were received for the Chairman position Mr. Takai moved to elect Mr. Kualii as Chairman. Seconded by Mr. Church. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. Mr. D'Amico nominated Mr. Takai as Vice -Chairman. No other nominations were received for the Vice -Chairman position Mr. D'Amico moved to elect Mr. Takai as Vice -Chairman. Seconded by Mr. Kualii. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. • Establishing Dates for 2011 Tax Appeal Case Hearings. A list of the tentative appeal hearing dates was distributed to the Members. The dates are as follows: Hilo: July 18, 19; August 22, 13; September 25, 26; October 16, 17; November 28, 29 Kona: July 10, 11, 24, 25; August 7, 8, 28, 29; September 11, 12, 18, 19; October 23, 247 307 31; November 13, 14; December 11, 12 Hilo hearings will be held at the Aupuni Center Conference Room in the Aupuni Center and at the Puna Conference Room in the County Building. Kona hearings will be held at the Department of Liquor Control Conference Room in the West Hawaii Civic Center. Mr. Church and Mr. Takai informed the Members of dates that they would not be able to attend due to personal commitments. • Establishing Workshop Date, Place and Agenda. A discussion was held amongst the Members as to the date and place of the Annual Board of Review Workshop. It was decided that the Workshop will be held on June 5, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., in the Mala Ikena Room at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. Topics for workshop agenda items are to be sent to Ms. Swain. A discussion was also held as to the State Board of Review Conference tentatively scheduled to be held on either May 18th or 25th on Oahu. 2 • Discussion of Bills Relating to Assessments. Mr. Masuda reported that there were no legislative bills pending that would impact the Real Property Tax office or the Board of Review. • General Legal Discussion and Training. Mr. Masuda presented training material to the Members on the duties, procedures and responsibilities of the Board of Review. Discussion held amongst the Members and Mr. Masuda as to implementing the new rules of the Board specifically the five minute time limit set for presentations. Enforcement of the five minute rule will be included in the written and verbal instructions that appellants and appraisers receive at all hearings. • Comments from Real Property Tax Administrator Mr. Sitko stated that the division is working closely with the appraisers as almost one-third of the staff is newly hired. Administrators are working on training and will try to hold smaller workshops with all appraisers to have uniformity in their appeal presentations. Board Members stated their concern as to all appraisers having the same format in presentations including the additional information that was requested of the Board in their annual report. Mr. Sitko assured the Members that appraisers will be prepared to provide the Board with the necessary information. • Other Miscellaneous Reports and Comments o Letter Received from Wallace Rodecker Mr. McCall informed the Board that a letter dated February 29, 2012 was received by the Real Property Tax office addressed to the Tax Board of Review from Wallace Rodecker regarding overpayment of property taxes for Tax Map Key 1-1-030-056-0000. The letter was read into the record and discussed amongst the Members with Mr. Masuda. It was stated that a letter should be sent to Mr. Rodecker from Chairman Kualii informing him as to the Board not having jurisdiction over the payment of property taxes. Further, the letter should be forwarded to Mr. McCall for a response from the Real Property Tax office. Mr. Takai moved to have a letter be sent to Mr. Rodecker from Chairman Kualii as to the non -jurisdiction of the Board on tax matters and informing the taxpayer that his letter will be forwarded to the tax office for further response. Seconded by Mr. Church. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 4:0. 3 ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted, E. Niyw/Swct,�w Elizabeth (Nina) Swain, Secretary