Property Taxes in Kailua
Kailua's property tax picture is genuinely, paradoxically framed as LOW-RATE by this record's primary cited figure (~0.28% blended effective rate, county-wide) -- but this record discloses a real, substantial resulting dollar bill and a real, disclosed, unresolved cross-source conflict on the exact owner-occupied rate structure rather than presenting a single clean number.
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Learn moreThe County-Wide Blended Effective Rate Is Genuinely Among the Nation's Lowest
This record's primary cited property-tax figure (~0.28% blended effective rate across owner-occupied homes, reused from this project's Honolulu record for cross-record consistency within the same City and County of Honolulu) sits well below the ~1.02% national comparison figure used across this project's records -- genuinely low by national standards.
A Real, Disclosed Conflict on the Exact Owner-Occupied Rate Structure
This record discloses a real, unresolved cross-source conflict directly rather than silently picking one figure: one citation described a flat $3.50-per-$1,000 (0.35%) owner-occupied ('home exemption') Residential-class rate, while a separate set of sources found during this record's own Kailua-specific research described a distinct, tiered 'Homeowner' class for FY2025-26 (Tier 1: $1.65/$1,000 up to $1,300,000; Tier 2: $1.80/$1,000 from $1,300,001-$4,500,000). This record's attempt to reconcile these directly against the City and County of Honolulu's own current rate table was blocked by a network-access issue this pass -- a real, disclosed gap.
A Real, Wide, Disclosed Illustrative Dollar-Bill Range
Applying the tiered Homeowner-class rates (after a $120,000 homeowner exemption) to Zillow's cited $1,459,167 typical Kailua home value yields an estimated ~$2,215/year bill; applying the flat $3.50-per-$1,000 rate to the same value yields a meaningfully higher estimated ~$4,686/year -- both this record's own calculations. This wide, disclosed range should be treated as illustrative only.
Confirm a Specific Address Directly With the City and County of Honolulu
Given the real, disclosed rate-structure conflict above, buyers and movers should confirm a specific target property's current tax class, assessed value, applicable homeowner exemption ($120,000 under 65; $160,000 for 65+), and exact levy directly with the City and County of Honolulu Real Property Assessment Division rather than relying on either citation alone.
Key takeaways
- This record's primary cited blended effective property-tax rate (~0.28%) is genuinely among the lowest in the nation.
- This record discloses a real, unresolved conflict between a flat $3.50-per-$1,000 citation and a tiered $1.65/$1.80-per-$1,000 citation for Kailua's owner-occupied rate structure.
- This record's own calculations produce a wide, disclosed illustrative dollar-bill range of roughly $2,200-$4,700/year on a typical Kailua home.
- Confirm a specific property's current tax class, assessed value, exemption, and levy directly with the City and County of Honolulu.
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