Kaua'i group seeks lower property taxes for homeowners
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A group that wants to cut property taxes for homeowner-occupants expects an easy time getting the nearly 2,000 signatures needed to put a county charter amendment on the November 2004 ballot.
Princeville resident Walter Lewis, part of an ad-hoc group called 'Ohana Kaua'i, said the proposal would roll back property tax bills to fiscal year 1998-99 levels. Increases would be capped at 2 percent per year or the retirement compensation adjustment used by the Social Security Administration, whichever is smaller, he said.
County Clerk Peter Nakamura said the group needs the signatures of 1,870 registered voters — 5 percent of the voters registered in the last general election — by June 25. Lewis said he's aiming to submit the petition by March.
The mayor's office is studying the proposed amendment, which would reduce county property tax revenues and presumably require budget cuts or additional revenues from other sources.
"We are looking at it and how it is going to affect the county. We have not developed a position on it as yet," said Cyndi Ozaki, spokeswoman for Mayor Bryan Baptiste.
Residential property values in recent years have increased at considerably more than the rate of inflation, and taxes on those properties have risen at a rate many residents can't afford, Lewis said.
County Finance Department figures show that in 1998, residential and homestead land classifications for buildings and land totalled $3.19 billion. This year, they're valued at $4.3 billion — a 35 percent increase.
Lewis said two factors have driven the high taxes. One is increased high-value sales to wealthy new residents, which has driven up values islandwide. The other is a county operating budget that has increased 45 percent from $67 million in the 1998-99 fiscal year to $97.3 million this year.
"The cost of government has really gone up in excess of inflation," he said.
Other members of Lewis' group include Kilauea resident Ming Fang, Koloa resident Monroe Richman and Kapa'a resident Gordon Smith.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
