Ag land valuation
meeting slated
The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation has scheduled a meeting for farmers regarding a city and county ordinance that changes the method of agricultural land valuation and could mean higher tax bills for farmers. The meeting will take place Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Hawaii Agricultural Research Corp. offices at the old Aiea Sugar Mill.
Myron Murakami, chairman of the state subcommittee on land for the bureau, said the intent of the meeting is informational. The city will begin mailing out the new tax bills Monday.
Farmers originally had until Sept. 3 of this year to submit an application notifying the state tax division of how much land they had dedicated to farming. However, many, unaware of the new ordinance, missed the deadline and were unable to appeal their new tax bills. But a recently-passed City Council resolution extends the deadline for the application through July 20, according to the bureau.
"So you can make the application during that time even though it's well past the stated deadline," said Murakami.
With tax bills about to be mailed out, it's important for farmers who have not submitted an application to do so and to come to the meeting, Murakami said.
"At that point, once the farmer receives the notice, if there is any significant difference, he's going to have a lot of questions," Murakami said.
"It doesn't help if you haven't yet completed an application, because you've nothing to appeal."
Also speaking at the meeting will be Lowell Kalapa, executive director of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, who will give his views about the ordinance and its implications for farmers.
Farmers with questions can call Alan Takemoto at the bureau at 848-2074.