Just got out of a separate meeting, but wanted to share some of Budget Committee Chair Ann Kobayashi‘s comments after the discussion on property taxes this morning.

“If you remove an exemption, it is like a tax increase,” she said. “And, you know, everyone’s having a really hard time right now. I know the sewer fees are going to go up, water rates are going to go up, electricity rates have gone up. So that’s why we’re looking at the tax system as a whole, to see how we can make the city government run more efficiently.”

About a dozen members of the public testified at the meeting. Most opposed suggestions from the Real Property Tax Advisory Commission that exemptions for nonprofits, historic homes and kuleana lands be eliminated or reduced.

Kobayashi said the election shouldn’t impact the conversation, and that the Council “should just do what’s right.” She said that her colleagues aren’t interested in eliminating the homeowners’ exemption.

“It’s so important to not only the disabled and the seniors but to young families who are trying to buy a new home, bring up their children, and they have a lot of expenses too,” she said. “So I don’t think that we’d ever look at that, removing (that) exemption, whether it’s an election year or not.”

She said the Council will continue the discussions and will “probably” float a bill at some point soon. The Council will begin deliberations on the budget in March, though the changes to the real property tax system wouldn’t take place until Fiscal Year 2014, Budget Director Mike Hansen told members.