Kaua’i County officials are projecting at least $40 million in real property taxes will be coming into the local government coffers in the next few weeks, but nothing is official yet. The deadline for tax appeals for those who feel
Kaua’i County officials are projecting at least $40 million in real property taxes will be coming into the local government coffers in the next few weeks, but nothing is official yet.
The deadline for tax appeals for those who feel their assessment is too high isn’t until April 9, “so we have no official (certified) numbers yet,” said Eugene Jimenez, the county’s deputy director of finance.
Jimenez said a real property tax increase of about 9 percent was projected. He said final numbers would be certified on April 19, 10 days after the appeals deadline.
But the new official rates for next year are set by the council, which has to make a decision, mandated by the county charter, no later than June 20.
There are eight separate categories of real property assessed: Single-family home, apartment, homestead (owner-occupied only), conservation, hotel/resort, commercial, industrial and agriculture.
Current rates for a single-family, owner-occupied residence, claiming the homesteading exemption, is $3.99 assessed per $1,000 of valuation for the building and $4.85 assessed per $1000 for the land.
If the residence is a rental, assessed property taxes jump to $4.75 per $1,000 for the building and $5.74 for the land.
Jimenez, deputy finance director since 1995, said there is no way to tell for sure until the April 19 certification, but his sense is that appeals will be down.
“I think they are down because people are aware that our whole real property assessments are based on fair market value,” Jimenez said.
This year, the assessments have been handled by the newly hired property tax manager, Les Brown.
“Everything is a ‘guesstimate.’ It’s all speculation until we get our certified lists in the next couple of weeks,” Jimenez said.
“I’ve received some calls from people concerned about their tax bills going up as a result of increasing property values,” Councilman Gary Hooser said.
Hooser is optimistic, though, about the future rates the council will set in June.
“I am absolutely convinced we won’t see an increase in the tax rate. I will be working with my council colleagues to lessen the individual burden. It is also time to look at exemptions and see if they can be increased,” Hooser said.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
