This year's total remained less than 2 percent of the estimated 260,000 parcels assessed each year, a level comparable to that of other years, he said.

Kailua resident Jonathan Lai is among those who filed an appeal in 2004 and 2005 because he thought city assessors got the value of his family home wrong. In an indication of the backlog of appeals, Lai said he has yet to hear back or even have a hearing scheduled for his 2004 appeal.

Although many who file appeals argue that the value of the property is assessed well above market value, Lai's appeal is simpler. Lai, an attorney, believes his assessment is a mistake.

"I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is," Lai said. "It was a mathematical computation error," assessing his garage and lanai at the same rate as the rest of the house. He filed appeals after noting that his assessment was $100,000 higher last year and $184,000 higher this year than those of neighbors with comparable square footage.

The City Council this week passed an ordinance designed to reduce the growing backlog of property tax appeals.

Council member Charles Djou, who introduced the measure, said it will allow the director of Budget and Fiscal Services to settle real property tax appeals more easily.

Kurokawa said the proposal doesn't hurt, but that officials already can settle such cases and do so. "It does help with the streamlining," he said.

But attorney Roger Moseley thinks the new ordinance goes too far and he hopes Mayor Mufi Hannemann will veto it. If they offer a settlement, and you don't take it, he said, "they can charge you $250 for their staff time to defend themselves." Moseley said "it's an overreaching draconian abuse of people's right to have their appeals heard."