§167-19 Administration of irrigation project; acreage assessments; liens. (a) All irrigation projects established pursuant to this chapter shall be administered by the board of agriculture. In making the final determination to establish a project, the board shall:

(1) Determine the proportion of acreage assessments to be borne by the agricultural land and pasture land within the project; and

(2) Have the engineering program administrator prepare a map setting forth in detail the exterior boundaries of the lands to be included within the project and an acreage assessment roll listing all known land occupiers whose lands are to be included within the project. The proportion of acreage assessments to be borne by pasture land, at the discretion of the board, may be less than but not more than the proportion to be borne by agricultural land, in which event the agricultural land shall be first served with water in times of drought or shortage of supply. The proportions to be borne by agricultural and pasture lands shall be certified by the board and shall not be changed after final determination to establish the project, except in conjunction with a redefinition of the boundaries of or consolidation or separation of the project, and then only in the manner and within the limitations specified in conjunction therewith.

The board shall determine and certify on or before June 30 of each year the amount of acreage assessments necessary in that fiscal year for the acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation facilities for each project, and the acreage of agricultural and pasture land of each land occupier within the project. The department shall immediately notify the land occupiers of the amounts assessed on the respective properties and the payment due date.

(b) Upon the board's certification, the chairperson or the chairperson's designee shall determine the acreage assessment to be levied against the property of each land occupier in the following manner:

(1) By determining the amount of acreage assessments to be borne by the agricultural land and the pasture land within the project according to the proportion previously certified by the board;

(2) By dividing the amount of acreage assessment to be borne by the agricultural land by the number of cultivatable acres, excluding streams, dry gulches, and uncultivatable or unusable lands, within the project and multiplying the quotient by the number of cultivatable acres of agricultural land, except the board may by rules adopted pursuant to chapter 91 set a minimum acreage assessment for uncultivatable or unusable lands, of the occupier within the project; and

(3) By dividing the amount of acreage assessment to be borne by the pasture land by the number of acres of pasture land within the project and multiplying the quotient by the number of acres of pasture land of the land occupier within the project.

The acreage assessments shall be in addition to any real property taxes, and shall be collected by the board together with the monthly water tolls. Except in the case of public lands and lands designated as "available lands" under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, acreage assessments shall be a paramount lien against the entire tract, including improvements, of the land occupier of which the assessed agricultural or pasture land, or both, of the land occupier included within the project forms a part. Acreage assessments levied pursuant to this chapter shall be a lien against each lot or parcel of land assessed from the date of board certification declaring the assessment, and these liens shall have priority over all other liens except real property tax liens and prior recorded state tax liens on real property. The lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as liens for taxes in accordance with sections 231-61 to 231-70. In case of the foreclosure of any homestead land pursuant to sections 231-61 to 231-70, the foreclosure sale shall be subject to chapter 171. In the case of public lands and lands designated as "available lands" under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, acreage assessments shall not constitute a lien on the property involved and notice of any delinquent acreage assessment shall be served upon either the board of land and natural resources or the Hawaiian homes commission, as applicable, for payment.

(c) All or any portion of the acreage assessments collected under this chapter, as determined by the board, exclusive of acreage assessments imposed on lands within an irrigation project financed through the issuance of revenue bonds, shall be deposited into the irrigation system revolving fund. Acreage assessments imposed on lands within an irrigation project financed through the issuance of revenue bonds shall be deposited into the general fund.

(d) Water tolls fixed by the board for each project under this chapter shall be collected by the board under such reasonable rules and procedures as it may establish and may modify from time to time.

(e) All water tolls, acreage assessments, and receipts from properties sold by way of foreclosure for failure to pay acreage assessments shall be realizations of the board. [L 1987, c 306, pt of §1; am L 1992, c 97, §2; am L 1995, c 139, §4; am L 1999, c 225, §1; am L 2001, c 140, §1; am L 2011, c 124, §40; am L 2013, c 107, §3]