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property tax time again....question to ask - emorata - 07-30-2007
aloha punawebbers,
Here's a question i wanted to ask...i have some parcels of vacant land and i'm located out of state....seeing that property values have depreciated quite a bit on the east side for vacant land. I think the recent assements for vacant land to be higher than their valuations especially for out of state people. Is there a process for a re-assessment of our vacant land parcels that we can have initiated prior to paying the current due for the fiscal year?
thanks in advance for your input.
noel
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - Jeffhale - 07-30-2007
I doubt your assessment is higher just because you are out of state, Noel, abet higher payment for none residents. As in most states/counties, if you disagree with your assessment you can appeal it. Just give them a call. Most times or my experience with Hawaii county, they'll give you their reasons, recent sales data which supports your assessment right there on the phone. Regardless, you can ask for reassessment and if needed file for a formal appeal..
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - rbonplaza - 07-30-2007
Equally mistified about the property tax increases. From 04-05 our taxes increased 83%; from 05-06 the increase was 93%; and this year the increase is 40%.
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - emorata - 07-30-2007
maybe some of the experienced owners or agents can give us an update to the property tax situation in regards to valuations and how that applies to out of state participants.
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - Hotzcatz - 07-30-2007
It is really rather rare for the assessed value to be higher than what the actual selling price would be. Call a Realtor to ask what they would estimate the selling price of your land to be. You could also check the newspapers to see what the current asking prices are. It may be that you ask for an assessment and the price may go up?
Vacant land used to be taxed really cheap, but awhile back (several years or more) they decided to put a minimum charge on each parcel and since then there have been other measures to generate revenue from vacant land, but I forget what the details were. I suppose they figure that vacant land doesn't generate any income except for property tax. If folks live on the land, then the state gets income tax from the folks as well as an increased amount of taxes from the land. I don't know if the folks who decide land taxes have gone through this line of thought, but keeping it as vacant land does keep their revenue base low. However, considering how few services we have, one would think that much revenue isn't necessary.
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - John S. Rabi - 07-30-2007
You should have received the assessment notice at the beginning of the year and you could have appealed the assessment back then. Since you didn't, you will have to wait until next year when you receive the new assessment notice. You can appeal only on the previous year sales data and there has to be at least 10% difference between the assessed value and the sales data. The appeal is $35.00.
In my experience, the assessed values are still lower than the real values. My family trust owns several properties and only one was assessed higher than the real value was. However, the difference was not worth the appeal so we didn't.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi, ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,RB
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - Frankie Stapleton - 07-30-2007
Noel, go to www.hawaiipropertytax.com for direct answers to your questions. There is an appeal process for any valuation but there are deadlines for those appeals. Having made use of the appeal process myself last year, you need to have strong, documented evidence for your appeal.
If you have the 2007 Real Property Assessment Notice that came out in March (the one that says in red letters "This is not a bill" just above your parcel ID number) there's a lot of information in small print on the back that relates to your question. And now I see this year's deadline for appeal WAS April 9, 2007. Oops. But call their office 808.961-8201 or 961-8354 and talk story with them ...there may be another avenue for you to get a break. Good luck.
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - emorata - 07-30-2007
Thanks for the replies, i had my assessment notice buried under a pile of receipts (you know how that goes when you need the information ready for review) anyway i just wanted to toss this out to see what others have gone through any reassessments.
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - missydog1 - 07-30-2007
as some others have said, I'm just glad they don't keep it 100% up to market value ... we have a lot and I think it is assessed under ... barely. Our taxes on it are painfully high, and they do make it harder to hold onto vacant land. It's zoned RS-15 which I believe is a lot worse than Ag land.
Have properties really depreciated in that they are selling for less money, or is it just that the sales volume is down and listings are sitting on the market? The assessor only cares about closed sales, not the days on market. I'd be interested to hear if property has really been going down in price. I don't have access to comps.
RE: property tax time again....question to ask - emorata - 07-31-2007
I have a few parcels of vacant land that are almost half of what you would pay with a home already built on the parcel....makes it hard to hold onto vacant property and then you include road maintenance fees, hoa dues and other costs - it does get pricey holding onto vacant land.