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If the deadline to file an appeal to Honolulu property tax assessment falls on the weekend or a holiday, the appeals may be filed on the next business day, the Hawaii Supreme Court said in an opinion handed down Friday.
The opinion involves the appeals Kalaeloa Ventures, LLC filed on Jan. 17, 2017, for the 2018 property tax assessments of 14 parcels on Oahu.
The Jan. 15 deadline to file the appeal fell on a Sunday, and Jan. 16 was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. According to state law, that shifted the deadline to Jan. 17.
City ordinance recognizes the weekend rule by allowing for the filing of any property tax notice, application, document or remittance on the first business day after the weekend or holiday.
The City Council, however, approved an exception to the weekend rule in 2015 for the filing of tax appeals, and a state judge rejected Kalaeloa Ventures’ appeals because they were filed after the Jan. 15 deadline.
The Supreme Court said the state law applies because the state, not the county, has jurisdiction of the tax court.