The value of Oahu’s real property last dipped a decade ago. Since then, assessments have climbed. In 2018, they soared to a highest-on-record total, $275 billion. The bulk of that is in residential real property, which increased by 5 percent for the latest tax year.

Contributing to the increase is a growing taxable inventory, which includes fledgling subdivisions and condo projects, according to city’s Real Property Assessment Division. Other real estate observers note the proliferation of illegal vacation rental units as a likely contributor, too.

Some residents in North Shore neighborhoods in rookie Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi’s District 2 (Mililani Mauka to Kahaluu), are reeling from the highest spike on Oahu — a 10 percent jump, Earlier this month, Tsuneyoshi introduced Bill 3, which would raise the standard exemption that goes to homeowners using their property as a principal residence.

Such a move — though it adds up to more of a gesture than tax burden relief for most homeowners — is welcome as this basic exemption has not budged in more than a decade. If the bill is supported by City Council — and assuming the tax rate stays put at $3.50 per $1,000 of valuation — the owner of an $880,000 house, for example, would pay $70 less annually.

Last month, when some 295,000 tax notices were mailed out, the city estimated that 2018’s real property tax bills — including those for residential, hotel and resort, and commercial properties — will deliver $1.27 billion to city coffers.