Bill Text: HI HB1828 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To The Taxation Board Of Review.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-04-28 - Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 925). [HB1828 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-HB1828-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1828 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
H.D. 3 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 2 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE TAXATION BOARD OF REVIEW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 232-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§232-6 Taxation board of review; appointment, removal, compensation. (a) There is created a taxation board of review for the State.
(b) The board shall consist of [no more than ten]
three salaried members who shall be residents of the State and shall be appointed
for terms of six years each and be removable by the governor as provided
in section 26-34[.]; provided that the terms of the salaried members
first appointed shall end on June 30, 2025, June 30, 2027, and June 30,
2029, respectively, as designated by the governor at the time of their
appointments. Notwithstanding section
26-34, no member shall be appointed to the board for more than three
consecutive terms.
The governor
shall designate a member of the board to act as chairperson [thereof.],
who shall be:
(1) An attorney having ten years of active experience, with an emphasis on taxation and litigation, who is licensed to practice in all of the courts of this State; or
(2) A certified public accountant having ten years of public accounting experience in the State.
In addition,
the governor shall designate a member of the board to act as vice chairperson who
shall serve as the chairperson of the board during the temporary absence from the
State, temporary inability to act due to recusal, illness, or disqualification
of the chairperson. Any vacancy in the board
shall be filled for the unexpired term. [Each
member shall receive and be paid out of the treasury compensation for the member's
services at the rate of $10 per day for each day's actual attendance and the member's
actual traveling expenses. No officer or
employee of the State shall be eligible for appointment to the board.]
(c) Any vacancy in the board shall not impair the authority of the remaining members to exercise all the powers of the board. The governor may appoint, without regard to section 26-34, an acting member of the board during any regular member's temporary absence from the State, temporary inability to act due to recusal, disqualification, or illness. An acting member, during the acting member's term of service, shall have the same powers and duties as the regular member; provided that an acting member appointed due to a regular member's recusal or disqualification shall be appointed for the case in which the recusal or disqualification occurred, and the acting member's appointment shall terminate when the final decision is filed or the case is withdrawn.
(d) The members shall devote full time to their
duties as members of the board. The
chairperson of the board shall be paid a salary set at eighty-five per cent of
the salary of the director of taxation, and the salary of each other member
shall be ninety per cent of the chairperson's salary. No member, during the member's term, shall hold
any other public office or be in the employment of the State or a county, or
any department or agency thereof, or any employee organization.
(e) The board shall be within the department of
taxation for budgetary and administrative purposes. All members of the board shall be exempt from
chapters 76 and 89.
(f) At the close of each fiscal year, the board shall submit a written report to the governor and the director of taxation on its activities, including the cases heard and their dispositions, and the names, duties, and salaries of its officers and employees; provided that the report shall not contain any information that is not made public under section 232-7."
SECTION 2. Section 232-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (b) to (e) to read as follows:
"(b) At least [three] two board members
shall be present at any meeting or proceeding of the board to constitute a quorum.
Notwithstanding sections 91-11 and
92-15, the board shall validate its actions by a concurrence of a majority of
the members who heard the appeal. The
board shall [hold public meetings at some central location in each taxation district
at least once annually and shall] hear, as speedily as possible, all appeals
presented for each year. The hearings
shall be considered contested case hearings under section 91-9. Written notice of the hearing shall meet the
requirements of section 91‑9.5; provided that if the notice is sent to
the taxpayer's last known address, a return receipt shall not be required. In lieu of a return receipt, the department of
taxation shall post the notice on its website for a minimum of fifteen
consecutive days before the scheduled hearing date and provide confirmation
that the notice was mailed. Taxpayers
and others appearing before the board may also participate via teleconference or
any other cost‑efficient means of the board's choosing.
(c)
A taxpayer's identity and final documents submitted in support or opposition
of an appeal shall be public information; provided that an individual taxpayer shall
be authorized to redact all but the last four digits of the taxpayer's social security
number from any accompanying tax return.
The board may decide all questions of fact and all questions of law, excepting
questions involving the Constitution or laws of the United States, necessary to
the determination of the objections raised by the taxpayer in the notice of appeal;
provided that the board shall not have the power to determine or declare an assessment
illegal or void. Without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing, the board shall have the power to allow or disallow
exemptions pursuant to law, whether [or not] previously allowed or disallowed
by the assessor, and to increase or lower any assessment.
(d) The board shall base its decision solely
on the law and evidence [before] presented directly to it[,]
by the parties, and, as provided in section 231-20, the assessment made by
the assessor shall be deemed prima facie correct. All decisions of the board shall be reduced to
writing and shall state separately the board's findings of fact and conclusions
of law. The board shall file with the assessor
concerned its decision in writing on each appeal decided by it, and a certified
copy of the decision shall be furnished by the assessor to the taxpayer concerned
by delivery or by mailing the copy addressed to the taxpayer's last known place
of residence.
(e) The board and each member thereof, in addition
to all other powers, shall also have the power to subpoena witnesses, administer
oaths, examine books and records, and hear and take evidence in relation to any
subject [pending before the board.] raised by the parties. The tax appeal court shall have the power, upon
request of the board, to enforce by proper proceedings the attendance of witnesses,
giving of testimony by witnesses, and production of books, records, and papers at
the hearings of the board."
SECTION 3. The members of the taxation board of review serving on the day before the effective date of section 1 of this Act shall continue to serve until their successors are appointed and confirmed pursuant to section 1 of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 5. This Act shall not affect county real property tax appeals and the respective county boards of review to which they are appealed, nor shall it abrogate any county ordinance relating to a county's real property tax appeal procedures.
SECTION 6. The department of taxation shall establish three new full-time equivalent (3.0 FTE) taxation board of review member positions. The department of taxation may establish two new full-time equivalent (2.0 FTE) staff positions to serve as administrative support or legal staff to the taxation board of review.
SECTION 7. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 to carry out the purposes of this Act, including the payment of salaries of members, the hiring of staff, and other associated administrative costs.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of taxation for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050; provided that:
(1) Section 7 shall take effect on July 1, 2050; and
(2) Section 1 shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Taxation Board of Review; Membership; Composition; Appropriation
Description:
Amends the membership, composition, compensation, and duties of the taxation board of review. Amends quorum requirements. Authorizes members of the taxation board of review to validate the board's actions with a concurrence of the majority of members who heard the appeal. Specifies that board meetings are contested case hearings with certain notice requirements. Clarifies the legal and evidentiary framework for the board to use when making decisions. Appropriates funds to the department of taxation to establish staff positions. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD2)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
