§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 manager 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 irrigation water development special 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]