Land's assessed valuation increase

[David D]

We don’t live on the Big Island yet (I don’t like using “BI”, kind of like calling San Francisco “SF” or Frisco. I know, I know, even Deborah thinks I’m anal!). The property we have is raw ag land, 8.288 acres to be precise. I did some checking on the County property tax web site. There was no tax difference between resident and non-resident for ag land. Everyone in our area has a tax bill equivalent to $182.31 per acre (to the 1/1000th of an acre). I didn’t have enough info to make comparisons on residential housing for our area. There are programs to help with residential property tax, but I don’t think there are any programs for ag land. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.)
I know this is just number crunching and Deborah & I can afford to pay the bill, it just bugs the heck out of me (I’d like to use stronger words!) that the County can raise the tax rate on Deborah & me by 84% in ONE year! Over a two year period the increase is 167%! This is not reasonable. It’s more like a racket: Don’t pay? Then loose what your land. Period!
I am going to contact the Mayor’s Office:
http://www.hawaii-county.com/email.htm
And the Hawaii County Council:
http://www.hawaii-county.com/council/con...ouncil.htm

I suggest all property owners, resident & non-resident a like, contact these ELECTED County officials. If we don’t tell them “Enough!” they are going to continue to raise taxes at obscene and glutton-ness rates.

David D