Council plans
property tax relief

A special meeting next week will
look at a half-dozen solutions

The City Council Budget Committee will take up real property tax relief -- including a proposal that could limit taxes for low- and middle-income homeowners -- at a special meeting next week.

In the wake of skyrocketing tax assessments, Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said she had received phone calls from worried homeowners, especially retirees who had seen their tax bills rise sharply during the last couple of years.

"They had one (increase) this year. They're just afraid what will happen next year and the year after that, and will they have to move," Kobayashi said. "So this is why we must do something."

Property tax assessments mailed to Oahu property homeowners rose 26 percent overall, but in some neighborhoods the increase in property values soared above 40 percent.

Kobayashi said next Thursday's meeting would take up about five other tax relief measures, including one introduced last week by Councilman Gary Okino, who proposes doubling homeowner exemptions to $80,000 from $40,000.

"We'll see how we can find some solutions," Kobayashi said.

The state's other three counties are also helping their residents cope with rising property values, she said.

Kobayashi said she was going to Maui tomorrow to meet with members of the citizen tax-relief group Committee for More Equitable Taxation (COMET), which is advocating a solution similar to California's Proposition 13, which limits taxes to 1 percent of a home's market value and freezes values until the property is sold.

"We're going over there to meet with not only the councilmembers from Maui, but the citizens committee, because they've researched this a lot," Kobayashi said.

She said she did not have a bill prepared, but was considering a limit on taxes based on a homeowner's income.

"Middle-income people always get left out of things, and they have a hard time paying their property tax also. They're paying tuition and trying to raise a family," she said. "So we're going to see about an income level (limit) high enough so it helps the middle-income level, and also a percentage, so that it takes care of the expenses of the county."

Kobayashi wants to look at such measures now, before the budget season begins March 1. "Now is a good time that we could look at how much money do we have so we know how much we can spend," she said.