Kauai officials slam
property tax ballot bill

LIHUE » Mayor Bryan Baptiste and each member of the Kauai County Council took turns yesterday bludgeoning the property tax reform measure on the Nov. 2 ballot.

A group calling itself Ohana Kauai got enough signatures on a petition to place the measure on the ballot, the first initiative in 20 years.

The ballot measure would amend the County Charter to freeze all owner-occupied residential property tax bills at 1999 levels plus 2 percent a year.

But the group acknowledges that the measure does nothing for renters, businesses or farmers and does not apply to future home buyers.

Proponents and opponents say the ballot measure either complements or competes with a proposal submitted by a blue-ribbon Property Tax Task Force to the Council, which is the reform the mayor and Council are backing.

The Task Force proposal would freeze the assessment -- but not the tax rates -- on every property on Kauai at the average between 1999 and 2003. Unlike the Ohana Kauai ballot measure, the taxable value would remain with the property if it is sold.

The task force proposal also offers incentives for owners of rental properties to find long-term tenants instead of using the home for vacation rentals.

Ohana Kauai says the major fault in the task force proposal is the failure to address tax rates, leaving that decision to the mayor and County Council.

Ohana Kauai spokesman Walter Lewis testified first and said both the Charter amendment and the task force proposals could be implemented. Council members said they believe the two cannot be reconciled.

Councilwoman and former Mayor JoAnn Yukimura, the Council's most vocal opponent of the Ohana initiative, tore into Lewis with so much criticism that Council Chairman Kaipo Asing had to remind her to ask questions rather than debate Lewis.

Lewis left the meeting immediately after his presentation.

No one from Ohana Kauai remained to rebut Baptiste and Deputy Finance Director Eric Knutzen, who teamed up to hammer the ballot proposition.

Baptiste said that because the ballot item is a Charter amendment, the county would be left without the flexibility to address sudden changes in the economy. The Charter could not be changed until the next election.

"The Ohana proposal will shift the tax burden to businesses, farmers and new homeowners," Baptiste said. "I do not believe the Ohana ballot measure will result in the equitable tax relief we are looking for."

The mayor was followed by Knutzen, who predicted county tax revenues would drop by at least $3 million in the first year. About half of the county's $102 million in general fund spending comes from property taxes.

Knutzen said that a drop in revenues could result in decreases in police and fire services and a long list of county programs.