Letter to the Editor for Thursday — November 20, 2003

• More opinions on Lewis’ viewpoint

More opinions on Lewis’ viewpoint

Having attended most of the Real Property Tax Task Force meetings over the past several months as a member of the public, I wish to correct some of the points raised by Mr. Walter Lewis in his Guest Viewpoint column in the Garden Island of November 8.

He raises 3 objections to the Task Force’s work. First Mr. Lewis states, “The Task Force assumes that the assessment system is operating efficiently”. This is not correct. The Task Force recognized at the onset that the assessment of every property was much too difficult and cumbersome to be adequately dealt with by the staff available. Instead the Task Force is working on a model that does not assign market values to properties.

Under this model a base year is selected (during a recent period before the onset of the real estate boom) at which the assessment is frozen and allowed to rise only with inflation at the rate of the Consumer Price Index. In this manner the assessed valuation of a property is not related to market value thus freeing property owners from the punishing effects of highly inflated sales prices in neighboring areas.

Second, Mr. Lewis raises the problem of agricultural lands. This problem is also recognized by the Task Force and will soon be addressed separately in their work.

Third, Mr. Lewis states the Task Force has “focused on assessment amounts and not on tax amounts”. While it is true that the tax rate will still be set by the County Council, the Task Force will recommend a tax rate that will supply enough tax dollars.

With the frozen assessments the Council will be forced to exercise its responsibility to control spending by controlling the only variable in the system-the tax rates. The public will therefore be able to able to know when taxes are raised.

The Task Force has been conscientiously working on an equitable, stable, fair system that will be free of sudden increases in taxes since it will not be tied to market value but to the Consumer Price Index.

I urge all concerned residents to attend these public meetings of the Real Property Tax Force to listen to the process. The Task Force encourages the public to offer ideas by always setting aside time for public input.

The meetings are held every Wednesday at 4 pm in meeting rooms 1 & 2 of the County Building, across from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Marge Freeman

Wailua