STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1259

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1532

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 2

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 1532, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY TAX APPEALS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require real property tax appellants to first obtain a decision from an administrative body established by county ordinance prior to appealing to the Tax Appeal Court when required to do so by county law.

     Your Committee finds that this measure would provide for more timely adjudication of real property tax assessment appeals as the procedures before county boards of review are generally less complicated than court procedures.  Each county has at least one board of review, whereas the Judiciary has only one judge hearing tax appeals, and currently trial dates for cases filed in the Tax Appeal Court are scheduled for approximately eighteen months after the date of filing the tax appeal.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1532, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1532, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair