Marian and Jim Grey moved into their home in Hawai'i Kai 10 years ago, leaving California and planning to retire in the suburban East Honolulu community.

Now, escalating property taxes are among the factors that have sent them both back to work.

"We're failures at retirement," she said. "We moved here to retire and failed." Grey said she has worked at Costco handing out samples, and more recently, at the state Legislature. Husband Jim started part time at City Mill and then went full time.

The Greys, both 71, are among dozens of people who wrote or called The Advertiser about their soaring property tax bills and what that costs them — not just in dollars but in lifestyle changes and peace of mind, too. Their stories show the broad impact of Honolulu property tax bills that have doubled, tripled and more over the past five years and become an issue that reaches across all ages, neighborhoods and walks of life.

Arthur and Betty Kanarr moved into their new home in Kapolei in 2004. Both are in their 60s and baffled by an increase of nearly 80 percent in their property values.

Arthur Kanarr calculates that his single-story home has increased in value by a quarter of a million dollars in one year. "It's not worth that much," he said.

While he could understand any modest increase in taxes due, he says the city's assessments go too far. "The city's got to pay for things, and as things go on, things cost more," he said. "But this is a real kick in the butt. That's outrageous."

As seniors, Kanarr said, he and his wife are limited as to how they can earn more money. "What am I going to do — get a job flipping burgers?" he asked.

So they'll cut expenses and take from savings.

"It's going to put a crimp in our lifestyle," Kanarr said. "We're not going to starve."

He said they'll look at eliminating things like a planned trip to the Mainland to visit grandchildren. "That's the price of a plane ticket," he said of this year's increase in his property taxes.

He favors a proposal by Councilman Gary Okino to increase homeowner exemptions.

Mel Chang, 55, can't believe the increasing property taxes on his mother's Makiki home, which has been in the family since the 1930s.

"My mother has lived in the house until recently, when she moved to a senior assisted-living center," Chang said. "The rent she receives from her house, plus Social Security and my dad's pension, is just enough to cover the cost of the assisted-living center."

Chang said he and another tenant pay his mom a total of $2,400 a month in rent. He expects that to rise by about $300 a month at this rate as the property tax burden is passed on. As a family member, he understands why his mom would be forced to raise the rent. But he can't stomach higher and higher bills as a taxpayer. "In three years, her property tax has increased by 239 percent," he said.

And he wonders what it will do to an increasingly tight rental market.

MAYOR'S VIEW

Mayor Mufi Hannemann initially announced last month that he was inclined to leave property tax rates where they were. The increased assessments — if taxed at current rates — would bring the city $125 million more in revenue, which he sees as a way to pay for deferred costs for maintenance, rising expenses such as debt service and salaries, and a chance to put away some money in a "rainy day" fund.

But after hearing from outraged residents — some longtime community activists and others who have been inspired to get involved for the first time — Hannemann and City Council members promised tax relief.

Carol Kaneshiro said something needs to be done.

She and her husband, Norman, both 65, own their home in Kailua and another property, oceanfront on Sunset Beach.

The North Shore house is a family property they inherited and turned into a duplex by adding on. They rent out the new section — attached to the 50-year-old house — to pay for what it cost to build and to help with expenses.

Carol Kaneshiro said they have seen the value of the Sunset Beach property go up 186 percent since 2003. "It is not a luxury beachfront home but a well-maintained simple house," she said.

She worries that they'll be forced to raise the rent in the short term and maybe even sell in the long run. They now charge less than $2,000 a month for the three-bedroom, 1.5-bath rental.

"I've got good tenants, and I just don't feel good about upping the rent," she said. "As a landlord, I feel for the tenants, too. It has to be within reason."

'FORCED TO SELL OUT?'

The Kaneshiros spend a couple days a month in the old section, working on the house and the yard. Her husband is a retired mason, and they help keep up the house themselves. Because the street floods, they have appealed their assessment in the past and received a discount.

She said she couldn't believe it when the property's value topped $1 million, and now it is assessed at more than $2 million.

"I thought they forgot to put the decimal point," she said.

"Why do we middle-class people who have worked hard throughout our lives have to endure an uncertain future to retain what we have acquired?" she asked.

"We worry whether we will be able to pass on the property to our heirs, or will we be forced to sell out to rich investors?"

The Kaneshiros would like to see a temporary freeze at last year's assessed value until new proposals are worked out.

Long term, they favor priority for longtime owners, including landlords, increased exemptions and changing the method of assessment so that a neighbor putting up a new house doesn't spike assessments and punish residents who have lived there for years.

"Something needs to be done to help average citizens like us," she said. "I just can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. It's just getting darker and darker."

She said the years of increases made a big difference in community reaction this time. "This is it. I can't just sit back and grumble about it."

IMPACT ON MIDDLE CLASS

Maj. Dan Okamura couldn't just sit back either. Even though his situation isn't as dire as some others, he was compelled to write to a politician for the first time.

Okamura works full time as a technician for the Hawai'i Army National Guard. And he just got back last month from nearly a year's deployment in Kuwait.

He's single, grew up on O'ahu, and graduated from Pearl City High School and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"I've been lucky enough to have paid off my other bills by being on deployment to the Middle East this past year," Okamura said. So, when he calculates his own impact, it's "just three or four plate lunches per month."

But he's worried about the bigger picture and the future and how the increases will make it harder for middle-class working people like himself to own their own places.

He bought for $80,000 in 2000, but this last assessment put his value at more than twice that, he said.

Okamura says the city should shift its approach to spending within last year's budget instead of looking for ways to spend the $125 million in additional revenue.

He heard Hannemann challenge people to "show me where to cut," but he thinks that misses the point. "If you're getting an extra $125 million, really there's no need for anything to be cut."

One of the most baffling things for residents to understand is how their assessments can grow so much when they haven't done anything to their property.

"I just can't understand how they determine the value," said Carol Kaneshiro.

TIED TO MARKET VALUE

Here's a simplified explanation of how the city arrived at those assessments: