{"id":215,"date":"2026-05-22T10:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:42:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:42:28","slug":"county-council-tweaks-property-tax-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215","title":{"rendered":"County Council tweaks property tax rates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

The Hawaii County Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday that would adjust property tax rates, but not without a profanity-sprinkled protest from one member who claimed her competing proposal was \u201cblocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more PATH\u2019s 3rd annual May Day 5K<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Hawaii County Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday that would adjust property tax rates, but not without a profanity-sprinkled protest from one member who claimed her competing proposal was \u201cblocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

At issue was Resolution 574-26 \u2014 a measure authored by Chair Holeka Inaba which would increase tax rates for nonresidents and owners of second homes in a push to make up for an estimated $15 million county budget shortfall.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lots worth between $2 million and $4 million \u2014 known as the \u201ctier two\u201d residential rate \u2014 would see the largest increase, rising from $13.60 to $15 per $1,000 of taxable value.<\/p>\n

A new \u201ctier three\u201d residential tax rate will be rolled out for the upcoming fiscal year, applying to high-value second homes and investment properties worth more than $4 million, which the resolution sets at $17 per $1,000 of taxable value. The council established this \u201cluxury\u201d rate with its passage of Bill 128 on March 4 with a 5-1 vote in favor.<\/p>\n

Another new property class created this year would be \u201clong-term rental,\u201d set at a rate of $7.75 per $1,000 of taxable value, which council members have justified as an incentive to encourage second-home-owners to rent their properties to residents at reasonable rates. This new class was created with the passage of Bill 104 in 2024.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, many Hawaii Island residents would see a slight reduction in their property taxes under the proposal. Most owner-occupied homes and affordable rental housing would enjoy a 20-cent reduction \u2014 or just over 3% \u2014 in tax rates, falling from $5.95 to $5.75 per $1,000 of taxable value.<\/p>\n

This is an intentional tailoring of rates by council members to benefit locals, whom many county officials have admitted are reckoning with a runaway cost of living and housing affordability crisis.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s sparring between council members stemmed from Hilo Councilwoman Jenn Kagiwada\u2019s submission of a similar resolution last week that called for also increasing the \u201ctier one\u201d residential tax rate, which applies to properties worth less than $2 million \u2014 the vast majority of them being nonowner-occupied. <\/p>\n

The \u201ctier one\u201d rate would grow from $11.10 to $12.10 per $1,000 of taxable value under her plan. It would also raise tax rates for apartment-class properties from $11.70 to $12.10 per $1,000 of taxable value. Kagiwada co-introduced both Bill 104 and Bill 128.<\/p>\n

These two extra tax class hikes would result in approximately $30 million in additional county tax revenue, while Inaba\u2019s proposal would bring in an additional $18 million.<\/p>\n

Last week Kagiwada requested a \u201cbreach\u201d of time constraints for her proposal, which she had been refining over several years, from Inaba \u2014 a common practice during budget season.<\/p>\n

She said in an email to the Tribune-Herald that Inaba denied her breach request, yet still moved to grant his own plan a breach, resulting in only his proposal being included in the agenda for Thursday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a huge mistake not to address both tier one of the residential rate and the apartment tax class,\u201d she said at the meeting. \u201cI think it would be a mistake not to use our real property taxation authority to incentivize the behaviors we want to see and disincentivize those that we don\u2019t. I did introduce a resolution that has some significant differences that was not put on this agenda \u2026 there are significant differences including major revenue differences.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reconstructed her proposal as an amendment to Inaba\u2019s resolution, but copies of it has not been provided to council members by the time the meeting started. She asked them to be patient, offering to briefly explain the differences between the two proposals.<\/p>\n

Hilo Councilman Dennis \u201cFresh\u201d Onishi \u2014 who assumed the chair from Inaba in order to deliberate on the measure he authored \u2014 questioned Kagiwada if she was attempting to stall for time.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Very busy\u2019 hurricane season forecast for Central Pacific<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, with the discussion, Ms. Kagiwada, you\u2019re using it to kind of delay for the amendment or what?\u201d Onishi asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not using it to delay on the amendment,\u201d Kagiwada responded. \u201cI was just going to talk about (it) because people don\u2019t know what the other possibilities are, and I was basically blocked from bringing my resolution to this body on this day by the chair. \u2026 I would like to at least discuss what is in mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

She motioned to table discussion of Inaba\u2019s resolution until her amendment arrived. The vote was 2-6 opposed, and the motion failed.<\/p>\n

Kagiwada then called Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Muir to sit before the council, asking her questions about what types of properties were included in the apartment property class.<\/p>\n

After a brief back and forth, Onishi declined to allow Kagiwada to ask further questions.<\/p>\n

Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali\u2018i-Kleinfelder praised her effort, but said that since the amendment was not available yet he was making a motion to \u201ccall for the question\u201d \u2014 a maneuver used to end debate and force an immediate vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intent \u2014 admirable,\u201d Kaneali\u2018i-Kleinfelder said. \u201c(But) just to clarify process within council services, there was a few days of time to have an amendment ready. It\u2019s not in front of us today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kagiwada struck back, saying her efforts were being stonewalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very frustrated,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to say: I feel like I\u2019ve been blocked from speaking, I\u2019ve been blocked from sharing my work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaneali\u2018i-Kleinfelder then called for a point of order, which Kagiwada interrupted by saying about her amendment, \u201cthey said it\u2019s ready, and they\u2019re just not locking in. I don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA point of order is nondebatable, and I\u2019ve called for the question,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s nondebatable, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Onishi then asked the county clerk for a roll call vote on Kaneali\u2018i-Kleinfelder\u2019s motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you f***ing kidding me?\u201d Kagiwada whispered to herself, but loud enough for the podium mic to pick up.<\/p>\n

The motion failed, allowing the discussion to continue.<\/p>\n

Inaba spoke next, and offered a justification as to why he did not allow Kagiwada\u2019s proposal to move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe to clarify the record: I did not grant a breach for the secondary resolution,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have our procedural mechanisms by which we can amend a single resolution to get us to where we need to be, so that is why we have just one resolution before us today and not two. It would be far more confusing to be trying to amend potentially two resolutions that essentially accomplish the same thing of setting tax rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Inaba could finish speaking, a county clerk walked into the chamber and distributed Kagiwada\u2019s amendment to each member, who ended up voting 2-6 opposed.<\/p>\n

Read more Permits granted to carry concealed guns up 54%<\/a><\/p>\n

Email Stefan Verbano at stefan.verbano@hawaiitribune-herald.com.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

County Council tweaks property tax rates – Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCounty Council tweaks property tax rates - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"County Council tweaks property tax rates - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"County Council tweaks property tax rates - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T10:42:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"headline\":\"County Council tweaks property tax rates\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T10:42:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215\"},\"wordCount\":1153,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215\",\"name\":\"County Council tweaks property tax rates - Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T10:42:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp\",\"width\":760,\"height\":490},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=215#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"County Council tweaks property tax rates\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"County Council tweaks property tax rates - Moving to Hawaii Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"County Council tweaks property tax rates - Moving to Hawaii Guide","og_description":"County Council tweaks property tax rates - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald","og_url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215","og_site_name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T10:42:28+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"headline":"County Council tweaks property tax rates","datePublished":"2026-05-22T10:42:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215"},"wordCount":1153,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215","name":"County Council tweaks property tax rates - Moving to Hawaii Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-22T10:42:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ddd8a39cc8bda677f3e6f5732469e03b.webp","width":760,"height":490},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=215#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"County Council tweaks property tax rates"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/","name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}