Reid Ginoza at 19:00, 4 June 2006

2006-06-04T19:00:57Z

Reid Ginoza at 22:50, 10 March 2006

2006-03-10T22:50:30Z

New page

We agree that issues relative to
the responsibilities of the Department
of the Interior were not addressed in
the report and that such issues should
be included in the scope of the Task
Force study. We further believe that
the problems identified in this report
are matters that should also be
addressed by the Task Force.
The Secretary's Office commented
that the Federal/State Task Force will
be in existence for six months and
they will perform an indepth analysis
of each of the issues and recommendations
raised by the Inspector
General.
D. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Land Status
Although land is the essential
element of the Home lands program,
effective accountability for the land
has not been established. The
problems leading to the present
situation are many, beginning with an
absence of a definitive description of
"available lands" designated by the
Act; continuing with apparently
illegal land withdrawals or
diversions; and complicated by
inadequate maintenance of land
inventory records. As a result, DHHL
does not have a complete or accurate
inventory of the 203,500 acres
designated under the Act, nor of the
190,000 acres for which DHHL now
claims responsibility. Further, the
State of Hawaii has never developed
and maintained a current and
comprehensive inventory of State and
public lands, including Home lands,
for which the State of Hawaii is the
trustee. These problems, in part,
have given rise to allegations of
"missing" lands by riative Hawaiians
and organizations, and by other
interested parties.
We conclude that positive and
aggressive action is required to
establish complete and accurate
records of Home lands and to resolve
issues related to land withdrawals, and
exchanges.
Land Inventory
DHHL land inventory records consist
of a listing of parcels of land
corresponding to the State of Hawaii,
Department of Taxation, property tax
maps to which hand-written adjustments
have been made by DHHL personnel.
This listing, prepared in November
1979 by a commercial data processing
firm, shows parcel identification,
location, acreage, use, lease data,
and annual rental amounts. In
addition to this land listing, known
as the "blue book," DHHL also has
copies of the tax maps for the areas
where Home lands are located.
The DHHL blue book does not provide
acre totals or summarizations. DHHL
personnel manually prepare data to
summarize acreage, use of land,
homestead acreage, and other data for
the annual report. We found errors in
the blue book such as the inclusion of
easements as additional acreage,
omitted parcels of Home lands, and
differences between the blue book and
the tax maps.
The use of tax maps as a basis for
DHHL land records is also questionable
because the Legislative Auditor of the
State of Hawaii, in a January 1979
report, criticized the Department of
Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) for
relying on tax maps for determining
the status of State land ownership.
The Legislative Auditor stated that
the property tax records do not
constitute an inventory of public
lands nor all lands owned by the
State. The Legislative Auditor
reported that the records are intended
for real property tax purposes and are
concerned with who is to be billed for
the taxes and not necessarily the
true, ultimate, or reversionary owners
of the land. Instead, the records may
show the name of a lessee or other
persons having some interest in the
land.
An inventory of Home lands titled
"A Land Inventory and Land Use Study
380

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 are matters that should also be
 addressed by the Task Force.
 The Secretary's Office commented
 that the Federal/State Task Force will
@@ Line 15: / Line 16: @@
 raised by the Inspector
 General.
 D. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
-. Land Status
+===D. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS===
 Although land is the essential
 element of the Home lands program,
@@ Line 45: / Line 47: @@
 and organizations, and by other
 interested parties.
 We conclude that positive and
 aggressive action is required to
@@ Line 51: / Line 54: @@
 issues related to land withdrawals, and
 exchanges.
 Land Inventory
 DHHL land inventory records consist
 of a listing of parcels of land
@@ Line 67: / Line 71: @@
 copies of the tax maps for the areas
 where Home lands are located.
 The DHHL blue book does not provide
 acre totals or summarizations. DHHL
@@ Line 78: / Line 83: @@
 differences between the blue book and
 the tax maps.
 The use of tax maps as a basis for
 DHHL land records is also questionable
@@ Line 100: / Line 106: @@
 persons having some interest in the
 land.
 An inventory of Home lands titled
 "A Land Inventory and Land Use Study
+{{p|380}}

Template:Nhsc-v1-380 - Revision history

Reid Ginoza at 19:00, 4 June 2006

Reid Ginoza at 22:50, 10 March 2006