By Liʻūla Christensen, NHLC Senior Staff Attorney

Real property taxes are burdensome and must be kept current to avoid tax liens and foreclosures. The counties offer a variety of exemptions that may apply to your property to reduce real property tax amounts.

The four counties offer a kuleana property tax exemption that reduces the real property tax on kuleana lands to at least the minimum real property tax. In order to qualify, the kuleana land must be owned in whole or in part by a lineal descendant of the person that received the original title to the kuleana. This lineal descent can be proven by court order or through the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ genealogy verification services.

For the exemption, “kuleana land” means those lands awarded to native tenants pursuant to the Kuleana Act of 1850. These Land Commission Awards allowed maka‘ainana to claim lands that they were actively cultivating plus an additional ¼ acre for a house lot, but required a survey and two witnesses to validate the claim. As a result, only 28,658 acres of kuleana lands were awarded to makaʻainana.

Only Maui County recognizes that many makaʻainana took advantage of a provision allowing them to purchase Government lands at a minimum of 50 cents per acre, resulting in 167,290 acres being purchased by makaʻainana. The County of Maui calls these lands “Kuleana Act government grant land” and offers the same tax exemption for these lands as well. Maui County is progressive in exempting the qualifying land from real property taxes, delinquent taxes, and penalties. The other counties require payment of the minimum tax and provide no retroactive relief.

Maui County also offers the ‘Āina Kūpuna exemption for land located in the special management area, that is owned in whole or in part by one or more descendants of the person who owned the property at least eighty years prior to the application, and assessed over $10,000 in taxes over the prior ten years. The owner may dedicate the property as ‘Āina Kūpuna for a period of ten years to qualify to pay the minimum tax. Similar to the kuleana exemption, descendancy can be proven by court order or through OHA verification. The dedicated property cannot be conveyed to a non-descendant or used for commercial purposes for the ten-year period, or it will be subject to retroactive taxes and penalties.

Finally, real property taxes are based on the assessed value, tax classification, and any applicable exemptions for the property, which may be appealed if you disagree with the County’s assessment. Deadlines to file appeals are short, with Mauiʻs and Hawaiʻiʻs assessment notices mailed by March 15 with appeals due by April 9; for Kauaʻi, appeals are due by December 31 preceding the tax year; and for Honolulu, notices are mailed by December 15, with appeals due by January 15. If successful, an appeal may result in lower real property taxes for your property.

This article was originally published in the November 1, 2025, edition of Ka Wai Ola. NHLC partners with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to publish an article in Ka Wai Ola each month that responds to community questions. You can access this article on the Ka Wai Ola website here.

Ask NHLC provides general information about the law. Ask NHLC is not legal advice. You can contact NHLC about your legal needs by calling NHLC’s offices at 808-521-2302.

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