In several cases, the delinquent tax bills tie to foreclosures, bankruptcy and business closings.

The city was owed a total of $9.2 million in delinquent property taxes as of May 31, with $5 million from the current year and the rest owed from previous years, said city spokesman Bill Brennan.

In past years, the uncollected debts included big bills that drove the totals to more than $10 million for the top tax scofflaws.

Escalating property values and a solid economy may be giving more owners an opportunity to sell their properties, Brennan said, and the old taxes are paid during a sale.

The company filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2003, said Steve Guttman, attorney for Halekua. The tax is owed on undeveloped land in Kunia, Guttman said, and as the reorganization process continues the city will be fully paid its taxes "as the city has the first position on the property," and will be paid before other creditors.

The second-biggest debt is $230,902 — owed by the Church of Hawai'i Nei — which identifies itself in state business registration papers as the "official religious body for the Hou Hawaiians, a self-determined tribal entity teaching the relationship between Hawaiian beliefs and Christianity."

Retired university professor Fred Trenchard, a spokesman for the Church of Hawai'i Nei, said the native Hawaiian organization does not have to pay because of the legal status of its Hawaiian founders.

"That's because it's a Native Hawaiian of-the-blood church protected by the religious land use and institutionalized persons act," Trenchard said, even though the city has not defined the organization as a church.

"It's not taxable; it's a constitutional right."

Property taxes make up the biggest single source of revenue for the city's operating budget, and this year soaring property values pushed up revenue. Despite the increasing bills, there has been a decline in the number of properties that are delinquent over the past decade from more than 17,100 parcels in 1995 to 7,699 in 2004.

This year, the city expects to send out bills for $498 million worth of property taxes compared with $430 million last year. Last week, the city collected $522,981.56 in what had been delinquent property taxes owed on two properties in Waikane Valley.

Guttman said there are fewer big delinquency bills because of rising property values. Not only can landowners sell, he said, "there's been a greater ability for people to refinance." A standard condition of refinancing is paying off such taxes.

The Advertiser made repeated attempts to contact all 15 of the top debtors, reaching representatives of nine and leaving messages for two others. For four property owners, the last known telephone numbers were disconnected or no one answered.

Tin Myaing Thein, Pacific Gateway Center executive director, said she was dismayed that the center was on the delinquent list. She said the nonprofit organization asked to be waived from having to pay real property taxes based on its nonprofit status and has been awaiting a response from the city since making the request in April 2004.

"We assist low-income people, refugees and immigrants," with social services, employment assistance and training, economic development, and community building, Thein said.

Center business manager Joy Barua said the organization has received federal grant money in the past through the city and estimated it received about $1 million in federal grants through the city last year.

The city's Brennan said the center filed for exemption based on its nonprofit status and received an exemption for the current tax year of 2005. But the organization did not ask for, or receive, a waiver for 2003 or 2004. "Therefore, they are delinquent," he said.

Rightstar Hawaii Management, which runs the Valley of the Temples cemetery in Kane'ohe, is going through a foreclosure proceeding, said Ricky Takemoto, director of corporate affairs.

"There were some cash-flow problems," he said, which caused the company to fall behind on payments. But now Rightstar is catching up, he said, saving money through cost-cutting, and has paid the 2003 bill and expects to pay off the rest by the end of this month.

Nuuanu Onsen, the landmark Japanese tea house, also owes back taxes. Owner David Kameda said that's because the tea house was closed two years ago because no one in the family business wanted to keep it going.

Without money coming in, Kameda said the company fell behind, but has since paid more than $17,000 and is working to pay more. "We're trying to sell that property," Kameda said, which would settle the rest of the debt.

Brennan said that three of the properties are three or more years' delinquent, which ordinarily would prompt the city to foreclose. However, he said that didn't happen. With Halekua, the bankruptcy stopped the city and with Kinau Street Enterprises, the city was set to foreclose and sell the property but stopped when the owner sent in a check before a key deadline. But the check later bounced, he said.

With Sogo Hawaii Inc. in Kapolei, land records indicate a chemical wood treatment company previously owned the property. The city said property contamination has prevented the city from foreclosing on Sogo, a company that has been involuntarily dissolved.

One of the property owners of the Kristina Quiton Trust is Sigrid Sundstrom. She said the family trust ran into problems paying the back taxes when a previous tenant walked out on the lease on the Iwilei land. Another issue arose when the state was considering condemning the property to ease traffic on Nimitz Highway, she said.

Sundstrom said the property is on the market and the trust expects to pay the rest of the taxes soon.

A2B Hawaii, which does business as Truck Supply Depot, also said the company is working to pay off its debt. President Philip G. Smith said the company has already paid a substantial amount of the past-due taxes and is working with the city to make payments monthly or quarterly to pay off the rest.

"We should have it resolved by the end of the year," Smith said. He was shocked to find a bill of $36,000 put his company on the top 15 delinquent list. He said the property needed extensive renovation when the company bought it in 2000 and lost business when it moved from a nearby property.

He had tried to appeal when the company got the first tax bill — with a value at nearly double the purchase price — but filed too late.

Attorney Leroy T. Kuwasaki Jr. said his late father once owned the Waipahu land on the list as a commercial property. He said he wasn't aware of the current tax status of the land.