While Mayor Kirk Caldwell has suggested increases in tax rates for pricey investment and hotel/resort properties, City Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Koba­ya­shi is proposing increasing the burdens on high-priced homes and lessening the hike on hotels and resorts.

 Kobayashi’s plan calls for:

» Applying a tax rate of $6 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation for the new Residential A property class, made up of properties valued at $1 million or more and that don’t have homeowner exemptions. That’s up $2.50 per $1,000 value from what the owners are currently paying and 50 cents more per $1,000 of value from the rate schedule submitted by Caldwell on Feb. 28.

Kobayashi estimates the proposal would net the city $31.4 million to $32.4 million annually.

» Charging the resort/hotel property class at a rate of $12.90 per $1,000 of valuation — 50 cents above what owners are currently paying but 50 cents less than the $13.40 per $1,000 proposed in Caldwell’s budget submittal.

The increase would bring in a projected $4 million. Resort and hotel property owners currently pay $12.40 per $1,000.

The Budget Committee will consider changes at its meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Kobayashi said the changes will provide some relief for hotel and resort property owners and allow the city to increase bus routes without Caldwell’s controversial plan to sell advertising on the sides of TheBus. The plan will also assure that tax rates will remain at $3.50 per $1,000 for owner-occupants of homes valued at more than $1 million who live in their homes and are eligible for homeowner exemptions.

The city’s revenue has also been bolstered in recent weeks by the state Legislature’s decision to raise the cap slightly on the counties’ share of hotel room taxes, a move that gives Hono­lulu a projected $4.4 million in additional revenues in fiscal 2015.

Some have raised objections to the $1 million threshold for residential properties to be included in the Residential A class, which was created in September and would take effect in the coming tax year. Last year, Councilman Joey Mana­han introduced legislation to move the threshold to $1.5 million in response to concerns raised by families who said they would be adversely affected by the higher tax category and would have to pass on the added expenses to renters. That effort failed.

The Honolulu Board of Realtors raised concerns with Caldwell’s plan to charge Residential A property owners at $5.50 per $1,000 — $2 more than other single-family property owners. The board noted that the real estate industry defines luxury homes in Hawaii as homes valued at $2 million or more and suggested that homes valued up to $2 million pay at $3.50, homes valued between $2 million and $4 million pay at $4.50 and homes valued at more than $4 million pay at $5.50.

Told Monday that the Council is now considering an even higher rate than Caldwell’s proposal, Hono­lulu Board of Realtors President Julie Meier reiterated her group’s concerns that the $1 million threshold is too low.

"We believe the threshold for any additional taxes should begin at $2 million," Meier said in a statement. "Any new property tax rate increase will have a negative impact on renters, because any rate increase will be passed onto them. We would like to see the city defer action on this measure until a more equitable, tiered rate structure can be considered."

But Kobayashi stressed that anyone who is eligible for a homeowner exemption does not fall into the Residential A category, regardless of the value of their home.

"Your house can be $10 million, but if you have an exemption, you’re still in the residential class, not Residential A," she said. "The reason we put the $1 million figure is because we wanted to protect renters, and most people do not rent a home that’s more than $1 million."

Late Monday, Caldwell spokes­man Jesse Broder Van Dyke said the administration supports the increase Koba­ya­shi proposed. Pointing out that Caldwell also lobbied hard to raise the counties’ hotel room tax share, Broder Van Dyke said Caldwell "would like the city to have diverse sources of funding to pay for visitor services."

Hotel and resort property owners have testified against Caldwell’s proposed $1-per-$1,000 hike, arguing that it would come during a volatile time in the Hawaii visitory industry.