Property tax breaks for flood victims advance

Bills giving tax breaks to Oahu residents and farmers whose properties were damaged by flooding earlier this month will be taken up by the Honolulu City Council Budget Committee on Wednesday.

Most of the flood damage on Oahu caused by the April 13 storm was concentrated in East Honolulu and Windward Oahu. Gov. David Ige included Oahu in a state-of-emergency proclamation originally issued just for Kauai, and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed an emergency declaration.

The American Red Cross Hawaii Chapter, which went door to door assessing properties in affected areas, reported three homes completely destroyed and 65 homes sustaining major damage. Another 146 homes were deemed to have sustained minor damage or otherwise affected in some manner.

Two of the homes destroyed were in Kuliouou, and one was in Aina Haina. Besides those two areas, houses were damaged in Niu Valley, Hawaii Kai, Waimanalo and Kailua/Lanikai.

It’s unclear how many agricultural lots sustained damage or how extensively.

Bill 36, introduced by East Honolulu Councilman Trevor Ozawa, would specifically allow Oahu homeowners to pay only the city’s minimum property tax of $300 for the 2017-18 tax year if their homes were deemed by the American Red Cross to be completely destroyed or have sustained “major damage” by the flood.

Homeowners whose homes were deemed to have sustained “minor damage” would need to pay only 50 percent of their 2017-18 property tax bill.

The Department of Budget and Fiscal Services already has a policy that allows for homeowners to apply for “a remission of taxes in cases of natural disasters” with the relief to be determined by the BFS director. An Ozawa aide said the intent of the bill is to ensure victims do not run into any problems when seeking a tax break.

Bill 34, introduced by Windward Councilman Ikaika Anderson, allows farmers with properties determined to have been destroyed or damaged by the flood to get a one-time extension to pay property taxes for the 2018-19 tax year.

Unlike residential properties, agricultural lots are not eligible to apply for a remission of property taxes, but Anderson said his bill will at at least give owners a deferral without worrying about incurring late penalties or interest.

The maximum length of the extension has yet to be determined.

To be eligible for the agricultural break, an entire plot of land must be dedicated to farming.

Both bills received the first of three needed approvals from the full Council on Wednesday.

Caldwell has not said whether he supports the bills. But in the days after the flooding, Caldwell cited property tax breaks as one thing the city could do to help affected residents.

Click here for more coverage on this month’s Kauai and Oahu floods.