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

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

(2)  Have the engineering program manager prepare amap setting forth in detail the exterior boundaries of the lands to be includedwithin the project and an acreage assessment roll listing all known landoccupiers whose lands are to be included within the project.  The proportion ofacreage assessments to be borne by pasture land, at the discretion of theboard, may be less than but not more than the proportion to be borne byagricultural land, in which event the agricultural land shall be first servedwith water in times of drought or shortage of supply.  The proportions to beborne by agricultural and pasture lands shall be certified by the board andshall not be changed after final determination to establish the project, exceptin conjunction with a redefinition of the boundaries of or consolidation orseparation of the project, and then only in the manner and within thelimitations specified in conjunction therewith.

The board shall determine and certify on or beforeJune 30 of each year the amount of acreage assessments necessary in that fiscalyear for the acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance ofirrigation facilities for each project, and the acreage of agricultural andpasture land of each land occupier within the project.  The department shallimmediately notify the land occupiers of the amounts assessed on the respectiveproperties and the payment due date.

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

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

(2)  By dividing the amount of acreage assessment tobe borne by the agricultural land by the number of cultivatable acres,excluding streams, dry gulches, and uncultivatable or unusable lands, withinthe project and multiplying the quotient by the number of  cultivatable acresof agricultural land, except the board may by rules adopted pursuant to chapter91 set a minimum acreage assessment for uncultivatable or unusable lands, ofthe occupier within the project; and

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

The acreage assessments shall be in addition to anyreal property taxes, and shall be collected by the board together with themonthly water tolls.  Except in the case of public lands and lands designatedas "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 agriculturalor pasture land, or both, of the land occupier included within the projectforms a part.  Acreage assessments levied pursuant to this chapter shall be alien against each lot or parcel of land assessed from the date of board certificationdeclaring the assessment, and these liens shall have priority over all otherliens except real property tax liens and prior recorded state tax liens on realproperty.  The lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as liens for taxes inaccordance with sections 231-61 to 231-70.  In case of the foreclosure of anyhomestead land pursuant to sections 231-61 to 231-70, the foreclosure saleshall be subject to chapter 171.  In the case of public lands and landsdesignated as "available lands" under the Hawaiian Homes CommissionAct, 1920, acreage assessments shall not constitute a lien on the propertyinvolved and notice of any delinquent acreage assessment shall be served uponeither the board of land and natural resources or the Hawaiian homes commission,as applicable, for payment.

(c)  All or any portion of the acreageassessments collected under this chapter, as determined by the board, exclusiveof acreage assessments imposed on lands within an irrigation project financedthrough the issuance of revenue bonds, shall be deposited into the irrigationsystem revolving fund.  Acreage assessments imposed on lands within anirrigation project financed through the issuance of revenue bonds shall bedeposited into the irrigation water development special fund.

(d)  Water tolls fixed by the board for eachproject under this chapter shall be collected by the board under suchreasonable rules and procedures as it may establish and may modify from time totime.

(e)  All water tolls, acreage assessments, andreceipts from properties sold by way of foreclosure for failure to pay acreageassessments shall be realizations of the board. [L 1987, c 306, pt of §1; am L1992, c 97, §2; am L 1995, c 139, §4; am L 1999, c 225, §1; am L 2001, c 140,§1]