WAILUKU - Maui County Council members will hold a series of public hearings and a special meeting next week to take up their proposed $549.9 million budget for fiscal 2013.
The first will be a public hearing on vehicle weight taxes at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the eighth-floor Council Chambers. There are no proposed changes in the vehicle weight tax. That tax is 2 cents per pound of net weight for passenger vehicles, trucks and noncommercial vehicles; and 4 cents per pound for all other vehicles.
The vehicle weight tax hearing will be followed at 11 a.m. with a public hearing on proposed property tax rate increases. Those include increases in all property classifications, including homeowners paying 10 percent more, with their rate per $1,000 of assessed value rising from $2.50 to $2.75.
The residential rate would go from $5.55 to $5.75; time share from $15 to $15.50; apartment from $5.50 to $6.20; commercial from $6.25 to $6.90; industrial from $7 to $7.10; agricultural from $5.80 to $6; conservation from $5.60 to $6.20; hotel/resort from $9 to $9.15; and commercial residential from $4.20 to $4.50. (All amounts are per $1,000 of assessed property value.)
The council will hold a public hearing on the overall budget at 9 a.m. Thursday in Council Chambers, followed by a special council meeting for first reading of the budget at 10 a.m.
The overall budget includes a proposed water rate increase of approximately 4 percent across the board, and the spending plan calls for eliminating a $1-per-ride fee and a $2 daily pass for the Maui Bus public transit service. Monthly passes would continue to be offered for adults, seniors and students.
The second and final reading of the budget has been scheduled for 9 a.m. June 6, also in the Council Chambers.
The council has until June 10 to pass a revenue and spending plan for the county for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
