by Penn Henderson 
Hawaii real property taxes are based on the fiscal year, running from July 1 – June 30 of the following year and are paid in 2 even installments: 1) Installment 1 is due August 20 (payment for July 1 – Dec 31 taxes) and 2) installment 2 is due February 20 (payment for January 1 – June 30 taxes of the following year).
Assessed Value
Property taxes are based on assessed value, which is a value the tax office’s appraisal team determines a property is worth, which is different from market value (what a Buyer is willing to pay).
Existing Properties
An appraiser at the tax office will typically review and analyze 5 comparable properties that have sold prior to July 1 of a given year (without actually visiting the property) and ideally not too many months prior to July 1 to determine what the value may be of a given property. The appraised value is the value on October 1 and since the appraiser only looks at sold data prior to July 1, the appraiser will also assess how much the market may have moved up or down in the 3-month period from July 1 to October 1 and use that as well in determining the property’s value on October 1. The assessed value on October 1 is used to calculate property taxes due the following fiscal year. Example: October 1, 2017, assessed value is the value used to determine property taxes for the fiscal year 2018, which runs July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019. An owner can contest and appeal the assessed value in case an owner believes the assessed value is too high. *If you intend to appeal an assessment, make sure to have actual recent sold data to support your claim. Appeals can be filed online using this PDF form: RP Form 19-91 (Appeal Application)
New Construction
For new construction, not completed yet, the appraiser will typically look at the costs of the building permits the developer takes out at the County of Hawaii’s Department of Planning & Permitting, which is normally a fraction of actual market value and a major reason why new construction oftentimes have 1-year or longer with property taxes that are substantially below where property taxes should be, based on market value. Example: If a new home is completed in May 2019 the property taxes for the fiscal year 2019 (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020) will be based on assessed value on October 1, 2018, which is a date prior to the house being completed, and there is a good chance property taxes will be low, relative to market value, since the assessed value is determined in great part based on the costs of the builder’s building permits. Come October 1, 2019, there will be sales data (at the least May 2019 original sales prices) and it is likely the assessed value for fiscal 2020 (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021) will be much closer to the home’s market value.
Hawaii County (Big Island) Property Tax Rates
| Property Class | Taxable per/$1000 |
| Affordable Renting Housing | $6.15 |
| Agricultural/Native Forests | $9.35 |
| Apartment | $11.70 |
| Commercial | $10.70 |
| Conservation | $11.55 |
| Homeowner | $6.15 |
| Hotel/Resort | $11.55 |
| Industrial | $10.70 |
| Residential (less than $2M) | $11.10 |
| Residential (more than $2M) | $13.60 |
Review Property Assessed Values & Property Taxes
Click here to review the assessed value of any property in Hawaii County. Select “Yes, I accept the above statement” and then click “Search by Site Address” and you can enter Street Number, Street Name, and Unit Information.
