A simple way to handle agricultural property tax rates: Make the owner prove that the ag property is producing money from agriculture products. In order to get rate water rates, the land owner must provide copies of general excise tax return and federal and state tax returns to show the actual income produced from this real property. A clerk can handle this process very easily. Check with the water department, officials will tell and show you this is easily done.
The biggest tax evaders on Maui are all government facilities that pay nothing for the real property they own. The retort is that if they have to pay taxes they will raise the overall taxes paid and hence have to add more burden on all taxpayers.
If fairness is the issue in determining tax rates, then the people who use should pay. Every government real property facility uses more Maui County benefits than the average property owner.
Think it out carefully: The person who uses should pay, irrespective of who the user is - a government agency or facility or private users.
It takes a lot of guts to stand up and do the right thing.
Bill Blietz
Kula
