California Political Review has posted an op-ed about the Kauai real property tax appeal, currently awaiting a decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Californians will recall that Proposition 13, with its promise of relief from crushing property taxation, was opposed by most of the state’s political establishment. Even after its approval by voters at the polls, various forces fought a rearguard campaign against full implementation.
But no strategy to undercut tax-limitation in California has been quite so brazen as what has happened in Hawaii, where local government officials on one island have actually sued themselves in an audacious effort to smother a voter-approved measure to aid hard-pressed homeowners. It is a reminder of how creative government can be when bureaucrats see their self-interest at risk. Government officials on the Island of Kauai evidently think the amount of property tax homeowners pay is a decision too important to be trusted to the people who pay the tax.
Full article here.