STAND. COM. REP. NO. 562
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 1204
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 1204 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TAX APPEALS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Replace
the four taxation district boards of review with a single statewide Taxation
Board of Review appointed by the Governor, consisting of ten members with three
required for quorum;
(2) Clarify
that any vacancy in the Taxation Board of Review would not impair the authority
of the remaining member to exercise their powers, provided that there is quorum;
(3) Authorize
the Governor to appoint acting members to the Taxation Board of Review to temporarily fill vacancies
created by a current member's illness, recusal from a case, or temporary absence
from the State;
(4) Require
at least one board member to be physically present at each meeting;
(5) Authorize
board members and taxpayers to appear and conduct official business using
cost—saving measures;
(6) Require
all decisions of the Taxation Board of Review to be in writing and state the Board's findings of fact and conclusions
of law;
(7) Clarify
the conditions of a timely notice of appeal to the Taxation Board of
Review; and
(8) Remove
the requirement for an assessor to prepare a notice of appeal upon request of
the taxpayer and the assumption that the notice prepared is sufficient.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Taxation. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Information Practices.
Your Committee finds that the laws regarding the boards of review for each taxation district have inadvertently rendered the taxation appeal process practically inoperable. Your Committee further finds that replacing the four district boards of review with a single, statewide Taxation Board of Review will address and solve the existing boards' current inability to achieve regular and consistent quorum and increase the limited pool of candidates who are qualified and willing to serve. According to testimony received by your Committee, the provisions proposed in this measure requiring at least one board member to be physically present at each meeting and authorizing board members to appear and conduct official business using cost—saving measures, such as teleconferencing, are in conflict with the state Sunshine Laws.
Your Committee has
amended this measure by:
(1) Removing language that would have:
(A) Required at least one member of the Taxation
Board of Review to be physically present at each meeting; and
(B) Authorized
Board members to appear and conduct official business using cost—saving
measures, such as teleconferencing;
and
(2) 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 Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1204, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1204, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Government Operations,
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________________________________ SHARON MORIWAKI, Chair |
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