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Cathy, I enjoyed your post. I would like to invite you, and any other thoughtful citizen, to join our Mainstreet Pahoa Association to work effectively together on these very issues. Membership dues are $10 per year.
We are Puna and we can and will have a say on how things proceed.
If anyone is interested in joining up with MSPA email me at <castlleb@aloha.net>.
Aloha,
Chairman, Punaweb Committee, MSPA
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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Taking the Residence Exemption is the right way to go. It is a great way to keep the taxes down on your RESIDENCE. For my wife and I, with 8 acres of ag land, we will be able to take an exemption on the residence portion of the property – at best a ¼ acre. BUT we will still have to pay $9.85 per $1K at the county’s assessed value on the ag portion. When we do eventually build a home – not being speculators – the taxable value of the total land will go UP.
Hawaii County tax rate ($9.85 per $1K of assessed value) on ag & conservation land is not reasonable. The tax rate is too high. The County’s current formula for property taxes is out of touch. Ask yourself what has more impact on the County services: Ag & Conservation land or Commercial, Industrial, and Hotel/Resort land? To me the answer is crystal clear.
Think about this: Do you want to be that older person/couple on a fixed income that gets booted off their property due to these tax issues? Just imagine how scary it would be for a law abiding honest older couple. Do you want to be the one without a home that all the “other” people rally around and say, ”Look at this! This is wrong! This needs to changed!”? We sure don’t want to be that homeless older couple!
David D
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Catz is right, I would rather see the reclassification of some of these truly unimproved properties and a lower tax rate along with it for lots that have no or just some utilites and are accessed by private roads.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi, ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
75-5870 Walua Road, Suite 101
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
(808)327-3185
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I heard an interesting viewpoint today that may warrent some thought. Is it possible that this huge increase could be a roundabout way of getting those people who buy up the lands here for future profit w/ no plans to live or contribute to the aina to sell it back, thereby giving a local (as in born and raised) the chance to own and build in their own backyard rather than having to move to the mainland just to afford to own the roof over their heads? I know many young people here have now been effectively priced right out of the market and have little or no hope of affording a home of their own in the very neighborhoods they grew up in. I thought it was an interesting point and though it sounds like a communist plot of some sort, perhaps there is a small grain of logic behind it.
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Pam,
There might be such a plan, but I do not think the powers-that-be are that sophisticated. Plus, it is pretty bass-ackwards because those of us who are not yet ready to move to our BI houses will now have to raise the rent to cover our increased expenses. This further erodes the chance for renters to save enough money to buy their own house.
Also, we do not live in an expensive house here in Baton Rouge, so our property tax (minus the homestead exemption) is $0, plus $32 for the fire protection district. We are definitely not moving to the Big Island to reduce our property tax.
Allen
Baton Rouge, LA & HPP
Allen
Finally in HPP
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Everyone should read the front-page article on property tax projections in today's Tribune-Herald. In addition to outlining expected revenue and ideas for spending it, the article describes how we homeowner occupants already got a bigger exemption and a 3% limit on annual assessment increases. I was not fully aware of the 3% limit, but did know about the increased exemption, it being right there on my statement.
Despite my deep-rooted cynicism about politicians, I have to say that the ideas presented by County Council members make a lot of sense. Most of them seem to want to spend the increased property tax revenue on neglected services such as parks and recreation, police personnel, and affordable housing initiatives. And yes, several of them did mention infrastructure, mostly road improvements. I understand that many people on this forum worry about overdevelopment brought on by road building. Many of us, myself included, have lived in mainland areas where new or expanded roads were jammed the day they opened and lined with tacky development shortly thereafter.
It is naive, however, to assume that we can have a pleasant, functional community without some improvements to the roads and perhaps other infrastructure. Population density in some areas may reach the point where cesspools and/or septic tanks present environmental hazards. People are going to continue to move here whether we choose to deal with it or not. The trick will be to reach a consensus on how to do it without ruining the things that make this place so special. That means we have to all participate in the planning process however we can, which I intend to do.
Last, but not least, a couple of Council members suggest using some of the windfall to give tax relief to agricultural landowners. No details on that, but it might be a glimmer of hope for those of you who own land for future building. (Although I suppose that they might limit the breaks to people who are real farmers, or even redefine just exactly what Ag land is. Or does the state get to decide that?)
Anyway, there is the potential for some real progress here if we do our part and let the political leaders know what we need.
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I just want to add a little about California's Prop 13 and the long term consequences of it that affect me personally. I just got hit pretty hard with my property tax hike for my home in Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos. But to me it still seems reasonable. Because here in CA where I am currently living I pay my regular property tax plus what we call Mello-Roos. Mello-Roos tax is levied upon me because there was not enough money to pay for the necessary infrastructure (schools, roads, landscaping, street lights, parks, etc.) for where I live because of Prop 13. The problem with Mello-Roos is that it is not a property tax. because of that it is not tax deductible like a property tax is. In my case it constitutes about 60% of my total tax bill. And I cannot deduct it! It is also supposed to be a temporary tax (20 year maximum). But from what I have seen by the way it is written, it appears that it can be renewed for almost any reason and without voter approval. Don't get me wrong, I am not happy at the large increase I am having to pay for my home on the BI. But at least I can deduct it from my income taxes. Small consequence.
Kona Dave
Kona Forum
http://www.konaforum.com
The Kona Forum
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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former". --Albert Einstein
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Like it or not, property tax is related to property value. We bought our property in Leilani in 2001, paid 15k because it had been previously cleared, leveled, and had minimal landscaping. The raw properties were going for 5-8k. Up until last year, our tax bill was calculated on a value of 8k. The 2005 valuation went up to 18k. This year the valuation is 50k. Am I peturbed? Of course I am. Do I have a legitimate bitch? No, I don't. The market value has gone up. I wanted to sell; but my bride, the War Dept, would have none of it.
There were some statements made to the effect of "my property should be assessed on what I paid for it". One has to wonder if the same held true concerning the sale of a property prior to moving to the Big Isle. Naturally, it didn't. Anyone who wishes to do so may challenge the taxing authority as to the assessments, but the market data of the past couple of years will make any such challenges futile. Real estate is market based and that's just the way it is. Supply and demand. I know that's over-simplified, but that's what one has to live with.
As far as the Californicated voter initiatives are concerned, and this is just my opinion; I hope their presence in Hawaii die a quick and horrible death. The initiatives, that is. All that can be said is...look where it got California. There's an actor as Governor, Congressmen are resigning due to scandal, (we have one of those here in Texas), and there's a move to ban cigarette smoking on private property due to "concerns" of second-hand smoke. This from the worst air-polluted state in the country. And there is no way that anyone could convince me that when I fly into the Los Angeles area, that brown funk the airplane descends into is all second-hand smoke. Thanks, but no thanks...please leave the "voter initiatives" in California. And this is not a slam on people from California; I just think Calif politics are a bit....skewed.
If anyone remembers, the same thing happened on Oahu in the late '80s when the Japanese went on their "shopping spree". While the Nissei eventually took a beating, the effects are still being felt in HNL and the surrounding communities.
The situation on the east side will probably get worse before it gets better. On the other hand, taxes on the east side still aren't as bad as on the Kona side. But, as more and more people continue to pay the prices of real estate, the tax bills will go up. One has to learn to live with it.
I apologise for the rant, there were just some things I wanted to say. My bride and I will be residents in about 2 years. Until then, we'll pay our taxes and go on. I do have to say that I have concerns that what was once our dream of again living in Hawaii on our own terms will turn into a battle against Haolewood.
RB Byrd
http://www.dejavuduband.com
Flower Mound, TX
RB Byrd
Flower Mound, TX
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I suggest that people do appeal their tax appraisals if --- they havent done improvements in a long time (i.e value less than brand new shiny spec house), if the property is in a flood zone, or has some other problem that wouldnt be apparent from a comparative market analysis only. The tax office does take these things into account. I did do an appeal about 8 years ago and the tax office lowered my taxes on a property in Honomu. It was fairly painless although there is a small filing fee.
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Easier said than done. You can not appeal your assessment unless it is more than 20% of the market value!
Aloha,
John S. Rabi, ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
75-5870 Walua Road, Suite 101
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
(808)327-3185
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