The City Council this evening reversed an earlier vote and approved a new property tax category for owner-occupants that could lower their bills.

The council this morning originally voted against the bill. Honolulu is the only one of Hawaii’s four counties that does not have a “homeowners” category.
However, at the urging of Mayor Mufi Hannemann, the council voted to reconsider the bill, and at about 7:15 p.m. voted 5-3 to approve the bill.
Voting for the bill were Todd Apo, Donovan Dela Cruz, Nestor Garcia, Gary Okino and Rod Tam.
Voting against the bill were Ikaika Anderson, Romy Cachola and Ann Kobayashi. Councilman Charles Djou, who had opposed the bill, was not present for the evening vote.
Supporters say with the city headed into a rough fiscal year in which property taxes are nearly certain to increase, a new category is necessary to shield those on fixed incomes or otherwise can least afford to pay them.
But opponents say a new owner-occupant category only gives the city a more convenient way to jack up property taxes on other categories, adversely affecting renters, commercial property owners, landlords and other non-owner-occupants.