I’m reposting an op-ed published by the Honolulu Advertiser last year regarding the implications of the Kauai property tax case.
Whose county is it, anyway?
According to Kaua’i government officials, how much property tax homeowners pay is an issue too important to be trusted to the people who pay them.
In recent years, the
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has invalidated a voter-approved charter amendment its proponents say was intended to save millions in tax bills for thousands of property owners who own their homes and live in them.
In an Aug. 6 ruling, the court permitted the county
Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Acoba, joined by Justice Duffy, filed an extensive dissenting opinion in yesterday’s decision in County of Kauai ex rel. Nakazawa v. Baptiste (or, as it should now be called Kauai County Council v. County of Kauai), on the issue of standing that’s worth reading:
DISSENTING OPINION BY ACOBA, J.,
WITH
The Hawaii Supreme Court has issued its opinion in the Kauai property tax case, County of Kauai v. Baptiste (No. 27351, Aug. 6, 2007). A collection of posts on the case here. [Note: I represent the Appellants.]
Bottom line: judgment affirmed in all significant respects. First: government officials possess the power to manufacture and
Kauai’s newspaper, The Garden Island, has posted a story “Legal funds approved for Ohana Kauai battle.” The appeal, summarized in the story, was argued in February 2007, and is awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court of Hawaii.
Ohana Kauai, a citizens group, helped put thetax relief measure on the November 2004
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
Here is the unofficial transcript of the Feb. 15, 2007 oral arguments in County of Kauai ex rel. Nakazawa v. Baptiste,the appeal challenging the “Kauai v. Kauai” intragovernmental lawsuitinvolving 2004’s Ohana Kauai property tax Charter Amendment. The recording of the arguments is posted here.
The recording of the Feb. 15, 2007 oral arguments in County of Kauai ex rel. Nakazawa v. Baptiste, the appeal challenging the “Kauai v. Kauai” intragovernmental lawsuit involving 2004’s Ohana Kauai property tax Charter Amendment is now available, in three parts:
Appellee’s argument / Appellants’ rebuttal (at 14:45) (27mb)
Appellee’s rebuttal (5mb)
Summaries of the arguments here and here (Hawaii Public Radio report).
Continue Reading ▪ Oral Arguments in Kauai Property Tax Appeal (mp3)
A letter to the editor of the Honolulu Advertiser (scroll down to “Analysis of Prop. 13’s Effect Missed the Mark”) by the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association correcting the article Echoes of California’s Prop. 13 in Kauai’s tax case:
California is still a high tax state — we rank sixth in per
Hawaii Public Radio (KHPR) has posted a report on last week’s County of Kauai ex rel. Nakazawa v. Baptiste appeal arguments here (2mb mp3).