Posted on: Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Council ponders tax break for agricultural land

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The City Council may approve a tax break for agricultural land today and overturn Mayor Jeremy Harris' vetoes related to the city budget, but Rusti the orangutan will have to wait at least one more month for a decision on his new home.

Some big land owners and farmers who lease property from them have lobbied hard for the tax measure, which would allow the council to slash taxes on vacant agricultural property for one year.

Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz says the bill is urgently needed because changes to the agricultural tax structure have unfairly increased the tax burden for many agricultural parcels.

Harris says the measure could cost the city more than $9 million and throw out of balance the $1.5 billion budget the council approved last month.

Councilman Gary Okino says the real problem is that some landowners won't agree to restrict their property for farming — and qualify for a tax break that's already allowed — because they can make far more money by developing huge housing tracts later. The bill would allow them to pay less in taxes in the meantime.

Councilman Charles Djou said he may propose a compromise that would allow the administration to decide whether tax on a property should be cut, then forward the decision to the council for final approval. He said he was unsure whether there would be sufficient support for the change.

Dela Cruz also hopes to overturn Harris' vetoes of 11 budget items contained in three bills, but Harris says that would be illegal and would lead to a court battle. Overturning a veto requires at least six of the council's nine votes.

The vetoes trimmed $703,000 from the council's budget and rejected various spending restrictions that Harris said were problematic and in some cases illegal.

Harris says the council is too late to challenge the vetoes because the new fiscal year covered by the budget began July 1. Dela Cruz believes that the council can try to overturn a veto up to 30 days after it was recorded, despite the fiscal calendar.

The City Charter is not explicitly clear on which deadline trumps the other, and Harris and Dela Cruz have obtained legal opinions supporting their positions.

One vetoed restriction would prevent the city from awarding a key recycling contract to a company that has been cited for various code violations. Harris says the ban would violate state contracting laws.

Another restriction would require the city to provide a $240,000 subsidy for a popular private trolley that runs from Kaimuki to Waikiki. But the measure could violate a union contract by causing service cuts to regular bus service.

Other restrictions would ensure that several cultural and arts groups receive city money, but would leave no money to run the city's art office.

The state Office of Information Practices warned Dela Cruz that he may have violated the state Sunshine Law by meeting privately with other council members to solicit support for challenging the vetoes.

"Any discussion about council business with more than one other council member cannot be undertaken outside of a properly noticed council meeting," OIP director Leslie Kondo said in a letter to Dela Cruz.

Dela Cruz said he had not believed it was improper to seek support before discussing the issue publicly today.

City Managing Director Ben Lee said he would ask the council to postpone a vote on a new enclosure for Rusti the orangutan while the city continues to work out details with the popular ape's owners, the Orangutan Foundation International.

The foundation agreed to spend $200,000 on a new cage at Honolulu Zoo, but design estimates put the cost at $450,000. The council is pressing for a contract requiring the foundation to cover all costs and to give the zoo final authority over Rusti's care.

Rusti has lived on a "temporary" basis for seven years in an old gorilla cage that fails to meet modern zoo standards. He has become one of the zoo's most popular attractions, but his plight has outraged some animal lovers and zoo employees.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.