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Over the past few months I have been talking a lot about the County\'s real property tax reform efforts. Back in November, the County Council passed two bills that would have the effect of redefining and consolidating several of the property tax classifications, as well as creating a new tiered property tax system. RAM consistently opposed these bills because the Council did not engage in sufficient community outreach and education prior to passing them.  Last week, Mayor Victorino agreed with RAM\'s position and vetoed Bill 59 related to consolidating tax classifications. 

On Friday, December 27th, 2019, at 1:30 p.m., the County Council will hold a special meeting to discuss and override the Mayor\'s veto. In this episode of the RAM GAD POD I invite you all to provide your input to the County Council regarding this issue, and I share the Mayor\'s letter and my testimony on behalf of RAM. Here is a little sample of my testimony:

Throughout the process of preparing and passing Bill 59, public sentiment has consistently been that the Council should conduct more education and outreach prior to its passage. The Council has been somewhat responsive to these calls for more outreach by going out and holding community meetings, but that is a step that should have been taken prior to passage of the Bill, as opposed to after the fact. The Mayor has given this Council an opportunity to get more community buy-in while highlighting a major concern regarding this legislation, and the Council should not pass it up.

As the Mayor pointed out in his letter dated December 19, 2019, the new \\u201cnon-owner occupied\\u201d classification combines four very different existing classifications that currently all have different rates. Without knowing what the Council might propose as the new rate for the new \\u201cnon-owner occupied\\u201d class, there is too much uncertainty for our taxpayers. If the Mayor\\u2019s calculations are even close to correct, it means some taxpayers will likely see sharp increases or decreases in their tax rates with no real express legislative purpose other than to make things less complicated for the County. Our taxpayers deserve a more thoughtful legislative process that involves their input.

On November 22, 2019, the day Bill 59 was passed, everyone testifying in the chamber asked the Council to conduct more education and outreach prior to passing Bills 58 and 59. Though the Council passed both bills in spite of public sentiment, you have been given another opportunity to listen to your constituents and provide the education they have been requesting. I understand that the Council is trying to accomplish a difficult task, but the public should be involved throughout this process, and not just after the fact.

On November 22, Councilmember Rawlins-Fernandez asked how much education is necessary to pass any sort of bill. There is no one answer to that question, but it should be more than a couple of community meetings the week of second and final reading, or after the bill has been passed. It should be enough to help taxpayers understand if and why the County will take more of their hard-earned money. It should be enough to make us confident that you have our best interest in mind and that you know what you are doing. It should be enough to make the Mayor\\u2019s veto unnecessary. It should be more than was conducted for Bill 59. Therefore, I respectfully request that the Council NOT override the Mayor\\u2019s veto, and focus instead on crafting better legislation with public involvement.

Please provide testimony on your own behalf as well!

Mahalo,

Jason