Fewer Kaua’i County property owners are appealing their tax bills this year. The county’s new real property tax manager, Les Brown, who came on board last November, said appeals to the regular Board of Review are down from a high
Fewer Kaua’i County property owners are appealing their tax bills this year.
The county’s new real property tax manager, Les Brown, who came on board last November, said appeals to the regular Board of Review are down from a high of 500 a few years ago to 152 this year.
Five additional claimants have filed in the state Tax Appeals Court.
Among the plaintiffs disputing the latest property assessments as too high is the Kaua’i Marriott Resort, a situation the council discussed in executive session two weeks ago.
Brown, who relocated to Kaua’i from Kona, where he was the appraisal supervisor, said going to the Board of Review first is the most “logical” move.
“If you lose at the Board of Review, you have the right to go to Tax Appeals (court) anyway,” Brown noted.
The Board of Review is a citizen panel of five, selected and approved by the mayor and the council.
The board, of course, is not hearing appeals of a person’s taxes.
“You can’t appeal your taxes. That rate is set by the council, based on value” of house and property, Brown said. “You can appeal your value which comes from the appraisal.”
Appraisals are done by Brown and his staff of six.
Brown said somewhere around 10 percent of appeals filed with the board are eventually successful.
“It’s a really emotional issue because it’s about money. But we don’t use a dart board” to come up with assessments, he said. “We’ve had to do the research.”
But when the assessors are wrong, they don’t quibble. “We will stipulate and make an agreement. We are not trying to just take money away from people,” Brown said.
Kaua’i County charges a fee of $10 for those appealing their property tax assessments.
“That’s to prevent frivolous claims. Anyone can come in and say, ‘It’s too high.’ But you need to have proof … sales of comparable property. Check with a Realtor to see what has sold, for what, in the area,” Brown advised.
A growing problem, according to Brown, are individuals claiming an agricultural exemption without actually farming or growing anything commercially on their property.
An agricultural designation “can significantly lower assessed value,” he said. For instance, the owner of a one-acre parcel who is growing three-quarters of an acre of bananas can reduce the assessed value from $75,000 to as low as $1,500, he said.
Brown predicted trouble for some citizens who have been claiming an agricultural exemption.
“There are some major problems coming up. There are people who have taken advantage of a tax break available to legitimate farmers, and now they aren’t fulfilling their obligations,” Brown said.
The tax department handed out a bill of $17,000 last week to someone who had been farming, stopped, but failed to report it to the department.
“There have been probably a half dozen (similar cases) so far, and there will be more,” Brown said. “The taxpayers have to realize we’re here to do a fair and equitable job for them.”
The County Council will, in the upcoming months, set the property tax rates for next year.
“It’s an annual event,” Brown said.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
