Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Tax year of 2004-05
applies for home credit

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Question: The City and County of Honolulu offers real property tax relief for older low-income people. One program, "Real Property Tax Credit for Homeowners 55 Years and Older," is for real property taxes "billed and paid from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005."

One eligibility requirement is, "Have a multiple home exemption on their property during the tax year for which the claim is made." Since the tax credit is for property taxes in the 2004-2005 tax year, the property owner has to have a multiple home exemption on their property for tax year 2004-2005, right? Whether the homeowner has a multiple home exemption in the tax year 2003-2004 is not a requirement, right? It seems that the city employee person who is determining who is eligible for this tax credit does not know what "during the tax year for which the claim is made" means. Can you tell me what tax year the requirement is talking about in correct English?

Answer: In short, the tax year would be from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005.

Carol Costa, director of the city Department of Customer Services, pointed to Section 8-6.2 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu for an explanation.

That section states, "For real property tax purposes, 'tax year' means the fiscal year beginning July 1st of each calendar year and ending June 30th of the following calendar year."

Section 8-13, which covers "County Tax Credit," provides for a real property tax credit for owners of property granted a multiple home exemption under Section 8-10.4(d) of the Revised Ordinances, she said.

So, "A claim for real property taxes in the 'tax year' beginning July 1, 2004, and ending June 30, 2005, requires that the owner have a multiple exemption throughout that period," Costa said.

Verizon clarification

In last Thursday's "Kokua Line," which gave follow-up advice on what to do if you inadvertently give out personal information to a scammer or unknown person, a Verizon spokesman in Everett, Wash., said that one option for Verizon customers was to call *57 to immediately put a trace on a suspicious call.

However, he didn't mention that in some states, including Hawaii, that call trace service costs $5 a month.

Call trace may be offered as a "pay per use" service in some areas, but here, it's a subscribed service, clarified Verizon Hawaii spokeswoman Ann Nishida.

Verizon Hawaii customers who feel they may have been scammed over the phone are advised to contact both local law enforcement and Verizon's Unlawful Call Center at 800-257-2969.

Mahalo

On July 4, I went dirt bike riding at Kahuku Motorcycle Park. I was injured and required medical attention. I want to thank the other riders and individuals who helped me and kept me calm. Everyone worked in a professional and efficient manner to stabilize me, call for help and take me to safety with very little pain. Mahalo also to the paramedics, doctors and nurses at Wahiawa General Hospital. They were so kind and gave me encouragement every day. -- Michael Nelson, Hawaii Kai

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Useful phone numbers

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See the Columnists section for some past articles.

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Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
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