07-08-2009, 05:39 AM
I've seen several older unpermitted homes that reflect nothing but land tax with no imporvements shown or additional tax added. The building department is the vehicle in which the tax department most relies upon for it's updating. Looking at every property in the county would be a daughting task to say the least. Very seldom do they search vaccant lots and those lots with structures deep in the woods are seldom known about. Some lots cannot be entered if locked up. I think the tax accesors office has to gain permission to enter private property. The only folks I know of that don't need permission to enter private property or secure a court warrent is the U.S. Census department.
In addition to this issue, using high resolution satellite images can only alert the tax office to a structures presence, it cannot be used to determine the exact taxable information on the improvement in determining an actual value.
People do not build a non permitted structure to escape taxation not in the case of the small modest house, they do it to escape the high jacking fees they will encounter by being forced to use Architects, plumber and electricians (who by the way can now charge what ever they like because they know you have to use them). In the state of Hawaii with the $100,000 owner occupied home exemption, one would have to be a nut not to take advantage of this exemption as most of these homes have very little value and the exemption can knock out the land value portion tax in many cases too. This would leave them to pay the minimum possible tax, less than a neighbor who only has vacant land in many cases.
So on that note… the tax collection would be a wash at this point as the assessor’s office would really have no motive to find your non permitted house. The county would lose vacant land tax revenues they currently collect if the house were to be noted and the owner occupied exemption put in place. In other words… a large loss in current vacant land taxes would be put in jeopardy if they tried to go after these non permitted homes. So they are not going to run out and try to find them.
Anyhow, my concern has very little to do with the taxation portion; it has everything to do with the safety issues that revolve around possible municipal water contamination and sewage treatment issues.
Let’s say John Doe built a house non-permitted 5 years ago. Let’s assume his house is now worth $50,000 thus creating a $50,000 improvement and let’s assume his land value is worth $50,000. He has a total net property value of $100,000. At this time John pays around 1 percent for vacant land at $50,000 value and his tax is $500 for the year. If they try to include the house he is living in one may initially think he will now pay around $1,000 a year in property tax. Wrong… if he claims the owner occupied exemption $100,000 will be knocked off his taxable base property value and his tax bill will only reflect the minimum default tax payment of what ever that is… I forget the exact numbers but they are well below his old vacant land tax that was collected. So the county will lose revenue if they go after John. What’s the incentive for the county to go after him? No incentive whatsoever.
So now John may send turds down to the ocean reef and backwash his lawn fertilizer into the county water supply that he may have tapped into.
E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.
In addition to this issue, using high resolution satellite images can only alert the tax office to a structures presence, it cannot be used to determine the exact taxable information on the improvement in determining an actual value.
People do not build a non permitted structure to escape taxation not in the case of the small modest house, they do it to escape the high jacking fees they will encounter by being forced to use Architects, plumber and electricians (who by the way can now charge what ever they like because they know you have to use them). In the state of Hawaii with the $100,000 owner occupied home exemption, one would have to be a nut not to take advantage of this exemption as most of these homes have very little value and the exemption can knock out the land value portion tax in many cases too. This would leave them to pay the minimum possible tax, less than a neighbor who only has vacant land in many cases.
So on that note… the tax collection would be a wash at this point as the assessor’s office would really have no motive to find your non permitted house. The county would lose vacant land tax revenues they currently collect if the house were to be noted and the owner occupied exemption put in place. In other words… a large loss in current vacant land taxes would be put in jeopardy if they tried to go after these non permitted homes. So they are not going to run out and try to find them.
Anyhow, my concern has very little to do with the taxation portion; it has everything to do with the safety issues that revolve around possible municipal water contamination and sewage treatment issues.
Let’s say John Doe built a house non-permitted 5 years ago. Let’s assume his house is now worth $50,000 thus creating a $50,000 improvement and let’s assume his land value is worth $50,000. He has a total net property value of $100,000. At this time John pays around 1 percent for vacant land at $50,000 value and his tax is $500 for the year. If they try to include the house he is living in one may initially think he will now pay around $1,000 a year in property tax. Wrong… if he claims the owner occupied exemption $100,000 will be knocked off his taxable base property value and his tax bill will only reflect the minimum default tax payment of what ever that is… I forget the exact numbers but they are well below his old vacant land tax that was collected. So the county will lose revenue if they go after John. What’s the incentive for the county to go after him? No incentive whatsoever.
So now John may send turds down to the ocean reef and backwash his lawn fertilizer into the county water supply that he may have tapped into.
E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.