FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                               March 20, 2007

Release No. M-24-07

CITY COLLECTS NEARLY $700,000 FROM ONE TAX DELINQUENT

            The Delinquent Collections Section of the Treasury Division of the City Department of Budget and Fiscal Services has collected $667,857.84 in delinquent property taxes from Halekua Development Corp.

            The sum includes back taxes, penalties and interest on 161.36 acres in Waipahu from 2001 through March 31, 2007. The land was scheduled for development as Royal Kunia II when Halekua Development, owned by Herbert Horita, filed for bankruptcy in April 2003.

            Delinquent Collections personnel filed a proof of claim with the bankruptcy court soon afterwards and then constantly monitored the Halekua Development bankruptcy proceedings. When it was learned a few months ago that Halekua Development’s bankruptcy trustee was going to sell the property to Halekua-Kunia LLC, another Horita company, City personnel contacted First American Title Co., which made the payment last week.

            “This is an example of the vital work that City employees perform with little fanfare, although it makes a huge difference to taxpayers,” said Mayor Mufi Hannemann. “This is also another demonstration that our administration is watching your money carefully.”

            The $677,857.84 is one of the City’s largest delinquent collections in recent years.

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Contact:

            Edlyn Taniguchi, Chief of Treasury, 527-5673

            Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767