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Candidate Eligibility
#11
How long then has Tiffany Edwards Hunt been taking a homeowner's exemption for that property, if she didn't actually live there?
She says she has owned it since 2004 - and has been "trying for a couple years" to get it changed? It ain't that difficult!
I wonder if she intends to pay the back property taxes?
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#12
quote:
Originally posted by leilanidude

How long then has Tiffany Edwards Hunt been taking a homeowner's exemption for that property, if she didn't actually live there?
She says she has owned it since 2004 - and has been "trying for a couple years" to get it changed? It ain't that difficult!
I wonder if she intends to pay the back property taxes?



We got my mom's property changed after she died (made the change on Feb 2013) and it showed up on her July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014 billing. (4 months later).

Tiffany - Let me tell you how to do it - you go in the RPT office, fill out the form, sign it, and hand it back to clerk. I guess you could also print it out online and mail it in, too.

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#13
It was explained to me by a lawyer that the changes the electorate made to the Hawaii County Charter not that many years ago gave the vote only to citizens in that council district. And the statement a candidate signs on filing candidacy papers states that he/she is a legal resident of the district he/she is running for.

It was also explained that it's a Hawaii County rule, not a state rule. You can run for a state office for a district anywhere in the state from anywhere in the state but if elected to the state office, you have to move to that district to take office. That rule, I'm told, does not apply to Hawaii County Council races.
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#14
I don't think there's any real doubt that Tiffany "resides" in Hawaiian Acres and is registered to vote in District 5, and uses Kurtistown PO as her mailing address (used to file).

The issue I see is that she was knowingly getting a tax break on a property where she was not residing, by claiming that she resided there. Those of us who claim homeowner's exemptions are I would hope clear that we get the tax break on our primary residence only. (Husband and wife get only one between them if they live separately.)
quote:
Who qualifies for the home exemption?
You are entitled to the home exemption if:
1. You own and occupy the property as your principal home for more than 200 calendar days of a calendar year. The term Òprincipal homeÓ is defined as the place where an individual has a true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which place the individual has, whenever absent, the intention of returning. It is the place in which a person has voluntarily fixed habitation, not for mere special, temporary, or vacation purposes, but with the intention of making a permanent home.
The three elements that are necessary for real property to be considered a Òprincipal homeÓ are:
The taxpayer has no other home exemption, or principal home in any other jurisdiction
Intent of the owner to create or maintain a principal home within the County
OwnerÕs actual physical occupancy of the principal home within the County [emphasis mine]
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/hawaii-rea...-taxes/123
Obviously, it she resides in Hawaiian Acres, she doesn't meet either of the elements I bolded above.
You're supposed to go in and change it if you move out of that home. It's a simple form. You just walk into the County Property Tax office and relinquish your exemption or if you own a different home you shift it. The tax break itself may not change until the next billing goes out, but the change is in effect right away in terms of you complying with the rules.

I doubt she should be disqualified on residency requirement, but there is an ethical question for the voters regarding taking an unentitled tax break. She's between a rock and a hard place now. Either she lives in the Hilo house and is not eligible to run in District 5, or she falsified a homeowner's exemption. I don't see a middle road here, but very likely her attorney is working one up. Meanwhile, she already said publicly that she lives in HA, so that leaves the improper HO exemption as the problem.

Then she's between a rock and a hard place there too, because either she admits some fraud or she pleads stupidity and confusion. Calling it the homeowner exemption "thing" is I guess going with the I don't really get it defense?

Anyone who in all honesty and attempt to be "akamai" as she puts it on the video takes a couple years to "sort out" the rules on where she can take an HO exemption might not be equipped to be a councilperson and write legislation. JMHO, but it's not rocket science and the form is very clear. And if you're not clear, the clerk in the Property Tax Division will make it clear in under five minutes. There's no "what's best" for your marital estate consideration. It's simply what you're entitled to based on where you actually reside.

ETA. There's no question of which property gets the exemption when spouses reside in the same home. When spouses reside separately, then yes there is a decision as to which spouse's property gets the exemption. But Tiffany clearly stated that she and her husband reside together, so that's not a viable excuse.
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#15
What Kapohocat said. I didn't see her post until I had submitted mine.
(ed. for typo)
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#16
It seems like this is more of an issue with the property tax people than the elections division, the elections division doesn't care about what you do with the property tax people. If Sativa wants to drop a dime on Tiffany with the property tax office, she can do that, but it won't have any impact on her residency for voting or running for office, but it will probably cause her problems with the tax office. So if Sativa's goal is to make RJs opponents have difficulties in their personal lives, and making RJs campaign look mean and vindictive at the same time, she is doing a bang up job at it!

I am amazed that after that little temper tantrum viedo taped at the forum that anyone involved in this campaign is throwing stones. I had a friend contact me from the mainland because she saw the video on a news feed somewhere and wanted to know what kind of crazies we have running for office here, so the sad affair is going viral.



Carol
Carol

Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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#17
The issue I see is that she was knowingly getting a tax break on a property where she was not residing, by claiming that she resided there.

In other words, "property tax fraud" instead of "candidate registration fraud".

Ethics much?
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#18
IMO is Tiffany qualified to run? Yes. Based on her apparent tax dodging, is she qualified to serve? No.

The homeowners' exemption qualification language isn't ambiguous or complicated, and if she can't figure out what's "pono" on an issue this simple, how is she going to handle the more complex issues that Council Members must consider? Or does she think that rules only apply to other people, not her or her friends.
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#19
Carol, are you seriously saying you don't care if your councilperson to be commits property tax fraud? Because you think the persons complaining were out of line at a meeting? (with which I don't disagree).

It's a basic principle of logic that the only question relevant to an accusation like this is -- is it true or not? The motives of the questioner are not relevant, because those motives have no ability to affect what is and is not the truth.

Example using extremes to illustrate: you could have an axe murderer break the news that Nixon ordered the Watergate burglary cover-up. The character of the axe murderer cannot be logically used as a defense by Nixon that what he did was legal or ethical, and the public shouldn't take that into consideration either.
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#20
my guess the is that tax bill in Hawaiian Acres is quite a bit lower than the Hilo one.... so claim you live in Hilo and save a bundle in taxes, while the rest of us play by the rules. I feel ripped off!
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