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Are our property taxes fair?
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02-01-2015, 05:53 PM
Compared to the rest of the country, Hawaii has very low property taxes because schools are funded at the state level. On the mainland, schools are funded at the town/city level by property taxes and they're typically 3x as high as they are here. Of course, the difference is made up by other taxes elsewhere, like the GET, and by the weaker schools.
02-02-2015, 03:32 AM
if you're locked in for two years and the assessed value goes way down like it probably will
Tax is ( value * rate ). When values go down too much, County simply revises the rates upward. With exemptions and/or low property value, the tax hits a minimum (often $25 or $100), at which point it can be predicted for the next several years or more. What's NOT fair is the "inappropriate ag exemption" which causes desirable high-value Hilo lots to be taxed LESS than "worthless private ag subdivision" lots of the same acreage.
02-02-2015, 10:27 AM
quote: So you think if the lava cuts the highway off and the affected property values get cut in half the county will double rates just on these properties to make up the difference? Get real! Any rate increase would have to be the same for everyone.
02-02-2015, 11:04 AM
Any rate increase would have to be the same for everyone.
Exemptions do not have to be the same for everyone. Kalapana Gardens landowners enjoy a "lava exemption" which reduces their property tax bill to $25, I expect the same will be applied to whichever subdivision is next destroyed and/or made unreachable.
02-02-2015, 12:43 PM
quote: I would hope so.
02-02-2015, 12:50 PM
With exemptions and/or low property value, the tax hits a minimum (often $25 or $100), at which point it can be predicted for the next several years or more.
How can this be fair? If the exact same size lot next door with the identical house, might be charged $2000 per year and that next door neighbor lives off-island and only lives here 2 weeks a year? What services is the off-island owner using that costs them more than the full-time resident? It actually should be reversed!
02-02-2015, 02:54 PM
What services is the off-island owner using that costs them more than the full-time resident?
For starters, they get to pay GET and possibly TAT on their rental income, and deal with Planning for an SUP if it's a vacation rental... hmm.
02-05-2015, 02:16 AM
"What services is the off-island owner using that costs them more than the full-time resident? It actually should be reversed!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Off-island owners who just hold onto lots frequently harbor some wonderful non-native invasive species like Albizia which fall down and take out everyone else's power until HELCO gets it cleaned up. They also grow great crops of little fireant which doesn't affect the absentee owner at all but sure makes the residents' lives miserable. People who live here maintain their own roadway frontages but off island owners rely on the County or private subdivisions to maintain their right-of-way.
02-05-2015, 03:23 AM
Great -- let's just amend the Code to require that off-island owners "maintain" their property to be free of invasives and to have "suitable access", thereby creating a service industry around such mitigation... with taxes and registration requirements... just think what it would do for the economy!
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