Kailua-Kona resident urges Hawaii County Council to cut conservation property tax rate

Vice Chair Holetka Inaba presided over a May 29, 2024 special public hearing of the Hawaii County Council in Hilo (with participants in Kona), where two residents testified on proposed real property tax rates and urged lower rates for conservation and affordable-housing property classes.

The session was a public hearing only; Holetka Inaba said the Council would consider a resolution and related budget bills in a vote the next day. He cited Hawaii County Code chapter 19, article 11, section 19-90 as the authority under which the Council published proposed rate ranges in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and West Hawaii Today on May 22.

Simi McMichael of Kailua-Kona told the Council the conservation property class is currently being taxed at $11.55 per $1,000 of net valuation and said that rate matches the hotel/resort classification. “The rate is quite high. It's $11.55 per thousand net valuation. It's right up there with hotel resort,” McMichael said, and urged the Council to lower the conservation rate to $5.75 per $1,000 to encourage preservation and prevent development pressure.

Hope Sermelj of Kohala said she agreed with the conservation concern, said she had submitted a written document from Waimea, and offered a proposed schedule of rates she said would be more equitable and would support housing and preservation goals. “Let's keep it at 5.75” for affordable housing, Sermelj said, and suggested that apartments, commercial and industrial properties, and hotels/resorts should carry higher rates (she cited apartment places at about 11.7, hotels and resorts at 12.45, and commercial/industrial around 11.45). For agriculture and natural-forest classifications she suggested a lower rate (she cited about 8.60 versus a higher proposed 9.35); for homeowners she suggested about 5.40.

Neither speaker proposed a formal motion; both were offering public comment during the hearing record. County staff confirmed no testifiers appeared in Hilo or via Zoom and that the two in-person/remote comments came from Kona and Kohala. Holetka Inaba closed the hearing at 5:09 p.m. and said the Council will take up Resolution 525-24 and Bill 136 (draft 3) — including the operating and capital improvement budgets — at a 9 a.m. session the following morning.

What happens next: The Council will consider the resolution and the budget bills at the scheduled vote; public participation was invited at that meeting.