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Home My WebLink About2010-03-02 BOR Meeting MinutesCOUNTY OF HAWAII TAX BOARD OF REVIEW MEETING MINUTES — Organizational Meeting Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Real Property Tax Conference Room 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 4, Hilo, Hawaii CALL TO ORDER: Vice -Chairman Wesley Takai called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. Present were: Board Members Wesley Takai, Harold Murata and Reiko Ford; Craig Masuda, Deputy Corporation Counsel; 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 appeal hearings held on August 18, 19, 25 and 26, September 1, 2, 8, 9, 22 and 23, October 6, 7, 13, 14, 27 and 28, and November 3, 2010 were distributed to the Board Members prior to the meeting for their review. Mrs. Ford and Mr. Takai noted the following corrections to the minutes: • October 6 pg. 2 Case Nos. 12993, 12994 and 12996 (combined) Correction: Case No. 12996 should read 12995. • October 6 pgs. 3 & 4 Case No. 12996 was omitted Correction: add Case No. 12996 immediately after Case No. 13203 on page 3 to read as follows: CASE #12996 — SCHOTT, ERIC TMK 1-4-067-010-0000 Appellant was not present. Present was County appraiser Mark Cutler. Property located in the Vacationland subdivision in Kapoho. Appeal on land and building values. County presented their case together with any and all information provided by the appellant. County recommended sustaining the assessed values. A call for questions was made. Mr. Murata moved to sustain the assessed values. Seconded by Mr. Takai. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 5:0 • October 6 pg. 4 Case No. 13016, third paragraph, second sentence reads: ".....by changing the property class from 5 to 4 and sustaining....." Correction: "... by changing the building class from 5 to 4 and sustaining..." • October 6 pg. 6 Case No. 12670, third paragraph, second sentence reads: "Seconded by Mr. Takai" Correction: "Seconded by Mrs. Ford." • August 19 pg. 4 Case No. 12527, fifth paragraph, first sentence reads: "Mr. Takai moved to reduce the assessed building value to $850,000 and land value to $638,500." Correction: "Mr. Takai moved to reduce the assessed value to $850,000 with building value at $638,500 and sustain the land." • October 7 pg. 6 Case No. 13065, first paragraph, second sentence reads: "Present was Mr. McCall on behalf of County appraiser Mark Cutler." Correction: "Present was Mr. McCall on behalf of County appraiser Elaine Yoshizumi." Mrs. Ford moved to accept the minutes of August 18, 19, 25 and 26, September 1, 2, 8, 9, 22 and 23, October 6, 7, 13, 14, 27 and 28, and November 3 as corrected. Seconded by Mr. Murata. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. OLD BUSINESS: No old business discussed. 2 NEW BUSINESS: • Welcome Any New Board Members. Vice -Chairman Takai introduced Albert Kualii. Mr. Masuda stated that Mr. Kualii is awaiting confirmation by the County Council as a new Member of the Board of Review. His confirmation is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday, March 3rd). Mr. Masuda stated that the Board has a fifth seat still vacant and are still seeking applicants. • Election of Officers. Mrs. Ford moved to nominate Mr. Murata as Chairman and Mr. Takai as Vice -Chairman for the upcoming year. Mr. Murata declined the nomination for personal reasons. Mrs. Ford stated her reasons for her nominations and her concerns. Discussion was held with Counsel (Mr. Masuda) as to the election process and the Board's right to elect a Chairman at a later date. The Board decided to postpone the election of a Chairman to a later date to be determined and move forward with electing a Vice -Chairman. Mrs. Ford moved to elect Mr. Takai as Vice -Chairman. Seconded by Mr. Murata. A call for discussion was made. Motion passed by a vote of 3:0. • Establishing Dates for 2009 Tax Appeal Case Hearings. A list of the tentative appeal hearing dates was distributed to the Members. The dates are as follows: Hilo: July 6, 7; August 3, 4; September 14, 15; October 5, 6; November 16, 17; December 7, 8 Kona: July 13, 14, 20, 21; August 10, 11, 17, 18; September 7, 8, 21, 22; October 12, 137 197 20; November 9, 107 237 24 Hilo hearings will be held at the Aupuni Conference Room and Kona hearings will be held at the Department of Liquor Control Conference Room. Discussion was held as to the Kona meetings and the confirmation of the reservations for the conference room due to the County's pending furlough schedule. Mr. McCall and Mr. Masuda both stated that they did not anticipate any problems with the confirmation of reservations as they had discussed it with Department of Liquor Control. • 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. Suggestions were made as to locations to hold the Workshop and Coconut Grill was selected. 3 Workshop will be scheduled on a date during the last week of May or first week of June from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Mr. Masuda stated that as the Board recommended in their annual report, the workshop will not include the County Appraisers. Attendees will include Board Members, Secretary, Tax Administrator, Assistant Administrator, Appraisal Supervisor, Clerical Supervisor, Finance Director, Deputy Finance Director and Corporation Counsel. Board Members will send in to Secretary all topics that they would want discussed and added to the agenda. • Discussion of Bills Relating to Assessments. Mr. Masuda reported that any and all legislative bills relating to real property tax assessments, etc., had failed. • General Legal Discussion and Training. A video presentation was done by Mr. Masuda on the role of the Board and relevant information. Mr. Masuda also stated that half-day training sessions will be conducted by him for the Board prior to the start of appeal hearings. Dates and topics will be announced later. The following items were discussed amongst Members and those present: o Executive Sessions ■ Reserved for legality and/or liability matters and also personnel issues. ■ Counsel will make the report to the record upon reconvening in regular session. ■ A 2/3 vote by the Board is needed to go into Executive Session. ■ All matters discussed in Executive Session become public record once session is adjourned. o Evidence for Appeal Hearings ■ Maps, comparables and adjustments should be presented by Appellants and County at hearings. ■ County should include instructions for such in the letter that is sent out to Appellants together with their Notice of Hearing. • Comments from Real Property Tax Assistant Administrator. Mr. McCall reported on the following: o The division wanted to thank Albert Kualii for applying for one of the Board Member positions. They are hoping that the last position will be filled by the start of the appeal hearings. 12 o The division is looking to streamline the appeal hearing process a little to make it easier for the Board Members. They will be working with Appraisers on their presentations and packets for uniformity. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth (Nina) Swain, Secretary 5