A double whammy of rising tax rates and rising property assessments has some Oahu homeowners crying foul, and understand- ably demanding relief from the City Council and Mayor Kirk Caldwell. The city must craft a multi-step solution that eases the fiscal pain without unduly depleting city coffers.

What municipal leaders essentially billed as a plan to soak the rich — and the offshore rich at that — has caught too many everyday homeowners off guard and trapped them in untenable financial situations, unable to pay nearly doubled 2014 property-tax bills on homes they or their families have occupied for decades and have no intention of selling.

Some of these problems were predictable, and could have been prevented by a more comprehensive public-awareness campaign to advise Oahu property owners of a new, much higher tax rate for homes worth more than $1 million. Such a campaign would have served to remind owner-occupants to apply for the exemption that mitigates the impact of a tax hike aimed at the owners of expensive second homes.

Roughly 7,400 properties on Oahu fall into the new Residential A tax class, which carries a rate 71 percent higher than the usual residential property tax rate.

More than a few homeowners in this class could have qualified for the owner-occupant exemption — if they had known on a timely basis to apply for it.

The other tax jolt is the result of Oahu’s tight housing market, which drives up prices so high that when one neighbor sells, others on the street see a higher tax bill.

Their property assessments rise because they own real estate "comparable" to that which just sold at Oahu’s sky-high prices, even if they bought the home decades ago at a much lower price, have no intention of selling and lack the cash to pay a much higher tax bill.

City officials must act quickly to address a combination of factors that have resulted in this perfect storm.

First off, they should extend the time owner-occupants have to apply for the exemption that removes them from the higher Residential A tax class; the current deadline is Sept. 30.

Extra money that would flow into city coffers from these folks is temporary anyway; owner-occupants who missed the exemption this year won’t overlook the opportunity in the future.

The city also should redirect resources so that more city workers are handling property-assessment appeals.

There already was a backlog. Now, as the number of appeals skyrockets, property owners face waits of two years or more for decisions on whether the city has overvalued their properties.

Homeowners must pay at the higher assessment pending the outcome of the appeals; those who win their appeals can expect a refund, plus interest, but that is little solace to property owners who don’t have the money to pay higher bills now.

More than 2,100 property owners are appealing their 2014 property value assessments, a 41 percent jump from last year, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Rob Perez reported.

Dramatically higher assessments, sometimes twice the value the home was assigned just a year ago, are especially common in neighborhoods such as Kahala and Diamond Head, where out-of-state buyers are paying top dollar for high-end properties.

But some longtime residents accuse the city of using those recent sales figures to artifically inflate the value of more modest nearby homes in order to pump up tax collections.

"This is pure manipulation," said Michelle Matson, whose home on Gail Street was assessed by the city at nearly $3.2 million, up 92 percent from the year before; her property tax bill jumped from $5,400 in 2013 to $10,700 this year.

Taxing expensive second homes at a higher rate is a legitimate tax policy, only if the availability of exemptions for owner-occupants is clearly and broadly articulated and property valuations are fair and transparent. The backlash on Oahu won’t quiet until these requirements are met.