Committees advance bill to ensure counties apply homeowner exemptions to resale-restricted homes

Chairs introduced Senate Bill 3333, a measure intended to prevent resale‑restricted affordable homes and newly eligible homeowners from being assessed at higher property‑tax rates when they qualify for homeowner exemptions.

Thomas Crowley, who identified himself as chair of the Maui County Real Property Tax Board of Review in 2020, described four cases of first‑time affordable‑housing buyers who either forgot or were unaware they needed to file a homeowner exemption and consequently paid taxes he said were “five times higher” than they would have been with the exemption. Crowley said the board lacked authority under state and county law to grant retroactive relief in those cases and urged passage of the bill to ensure counties apply the correct, lowest tax rates to such homeowners.

Carrie DeMott of Nahalia Maui testified she supports SB 3333 and described an example in which a home appraised at $1.16 million was resold under the program’s resale formula for about $492,000; DeMott said buyers in such programs are never able to sell at market rates and should be taxed appropriately.

The chairs noted overwhelmingly positive written testimony and proposed passing the bill with amendments, including inserting a defective effective date and technical adjustments. The committee recorded votes and adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass SB 3333 with amendments; one senator registered reservations.

Next steps include drafting the committee report and final amendment language prior to referral.