Hawaii County finance committee forwards 'Aina Kupuna' property‑tax relief bill to full council

The Hawaii County Council Committee on Finance voted 8-0 on June 16 to forward Bill 163 — the "Aina Kupuna" real property tax relief proposal — to the full council with a favorable recommendation after adopting a series of amendments on implementation, reporting and eligibility.

The bill, introduced to amend Chapter 19, Article 8 of the Hawaii County Code (2016 ed., as amended), would create a targeted tax treatment for properties that have been in the same family for at least 100 years. Councilmember Eustace, the bill's maker, said the aim is to "explore whether targeted property tax relief can help qualifying families retain generational lands and maintain connections to properties that have often remained in family ownership for decades." The committee approved three amendments and forwarded the amended bill to council.

The adopted changes add transparency and implementation rules. One amendment requires the Director of Finance to submit an annual report on the Aina Kupuna dedication program showing applicant counts, estimated total tax relief provided and an estimated average relief per participant to allow the council and public to evaluate participation and fiscal impact. A second amendment clarifies how the $10,000 eligibility threshold applies to agricultural properties, stating that qualifying agricultural parcels should be evaluated based on the taxes that would have been assessed absent the agricultural-use assessment so farms are not inadvertently excluded. A third amendment sets the initial application timeline: property owners seeking participation for the tax year beginning July 1, 2027, must submit applications by Dec. 31 of the preceding calendar year and the Director of Finance is to notify applicants of eligibility by February 2027.

Councilmembers pressed for clarity on administrative capacity and cost. Councilmember Callegueta said the reporting requirement was important “so that we can, make sure that we fund and pay for this as we go forward,” warning that the committee needs a clear sense of reduced revenues for budgeting. Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Murrah told the committee her office could meet the timeline after moving the first-year application deadline from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31: “We're definitely grateful that this moved to December 31 for this 1st year instead of September 1 ... We can do this.”

The committee also clarified substance and eligibility: the bill limits eligibility to parcels not more than 20 acres, and establishes a threshold that the total real property taxes assessed on the property for the 10 years immediately preceding a petition must exceed $10,000. Administrator Murrah confirmed that "real property taxes assessed" refers to the total taxes due each year for both building and land, and that the $10,000 figure reflects the sum over the prior 10 years rather than a single‑year measure.

Committee discussion included whether the program should be temporary for reevaluation; Councilmember Kimball suggested including repeal language for the transitional provisions and recommended consulting the Legislative Reference Bureau for precise drafting, and Councilmember Eustace said the implementation language was placed in a non‑codified section so it would not permanently alter code and that staff would work with LRB on any clarifications.

After adopting the amendments and returning to the main motion, the committee voted to forward Bill 163 to the full council with a favorable recommendation; the chair announced eight members in favor and Councilmember Villegas excused. The bill will next be considered by the full Hawaii County Council.