Bills that would allow people who keep horses on their agricultural lands to once again be eligible for significant tax breaks advanced out of the City Council’s Budget Committee Wednesday.

Horse owners and stable operators testified that their livelihood and their ability to own horses are being jeopardized because of a bill approved by the Council last year designed to curb the practice of "gentlemen’s farms," properties where no actual agriculture usage is occurring. The bill inadvertently excluded horse boarding and stabling from the definition of "agricultural use," making such uses ineligible for agricultural dedication which provides substantial tax breaks.

Bill 12, introduced by Windward Councilman Ikaika, would include "horse boarding and stabling" in the legal definition of "agricultural use." Bill 30, also introduced by Anderson, would repeal the current law, which severely curtailed the number of lot owners eligible for agricultural dedication breaks.