Attorneys for Hawaii’s four counties are trying a new tack to invalidate a general election ballot question that could lead to the state Legislature collecting property taxes to help fund public education.

The counties oppose the potential amendment to the Hawaii State Constitution because they argue it would encroach on their ability to collect property taxes. State law currently gives counties, not the state, the power to collect property taxes.

The counties on Wednesday filed a petition with the state Supreme Court for “extraordinary writ seeking pre-election relief,” a maneuver Honolulu Corporation Counsel Donna Leong acknowledged is rare.

But the counties want the high court to rule before the Nov. 6 general election on whether the constitutional amendment question should be invalidated, Leong said. The counties believe it should be invalidated because its approval would give new taxing authority to the state Legislature without the word “tax” being included in the question, she said.

The counties are separately filing, with the Intermediate Court of Appeals today, an appeal of Circuit Court Judge Jeff Crabtree’s decision earlier this month to reject their request to have ballots with the constitutional amendment question blocked from distribution, Leong said.

“We don’t think that appeal will be timely enough for the court to render a decision before the general election,” she said.

The points raised in the counties’ petition are similar to the ones made in their original request to have the ballots stricken.

The counties allege the ballot question is misleading and unclear because it describes the proposal as a surcharge on real investment property rather than as a new tax. The counties also question the use of the phrase “real investment property,” pointing out that there is no definition for what that would entail. The counties further argue that the proposal does not spell out that the new revenues collected are to be appropriated to educational services.

“What this particular measure does is encroach into the counties’ only constitutionally dedicated source of taxation funds,” Leong said.

There’s no deadline for the Supreme Court to make a decision on whether to consider Wednesday’s request, Leong said, but she’s hopeful the counties will get a hearing before the election. Mail-in ballots are expected to be mailed to voters Oct. 15 or Oct. 16, she said.

State Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago told her that the general election ballots have already been printed, Leong said. As a result, the counties are asking not that the ballots be changed, but that a proclamation be issued invalidating the ballot question, she said.

Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said the constitutional amendment would not take away money from the counties.

“Instead, the counties are trying to prevent our school system from being adequately funded,” Rosenlee said in a statement. “It is disappointing that the counties are wasting taxpayer dollars to fight for wealthy outside investors and illegal vacation owners rather than Hawaii’s own keiki.”