HRS § 249-10 - Delinquent penalties; seizure and sale for tax

(a) Any tax imposed by sections 249-1 to 249-13 for any year and not paid when due, shall become delinquent and a penalty shall be added to, and become part of, the delinquent tax. The amount of the delinquency penalty shall be established by the county's legislative body. If the date that the tax is due is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the tax shall become delinquent at the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. The director of finance may require the payment of any delinquent tax and penalty as a condition precedent to the registration, renewal, or transfer of ownership of such vehicle. Any vehicle not having the number plates required by sections 249-1 to 249-13, or any vehicle upon which taxes are delinquent as provided in this section, may be seized, wherever found, by the director of finance or by any police officer, and held for a period of ten days, during which time the vehicle shall be subject to redemption by its owner by payment of the taxes due, together with the delinquent penalties and the cost of storage and other charges incident to the seizure of the vehicle. The director of finance, chief of police, or any police officer shall be deemed to have seized and taken possession of any vehicle, after having securely sealed it where located and posted a notice upon the vehicle, setting forth the fact that it has been seized for taxes and warning all other persons from molesting it under penalty provided by section 249-11. (b) All vehicles seized and sealed shall remain at the place of seizure or at any other place that the director of finance may direct, at the expense and risk of the owner. If the owner of the vehicle fails to redeem it within ten days after seizure, the vehicle may be sold by the director of finance at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, after giving ten days public notice in the county and by posting notices in at least three public places in the district where the vehicle was seized; provided that the requirements of public auction may be waived when the appraised value of any vehicle is less than $250 as determined by the director of finance or authorized representative, in which case the vehicle may be disposed of in the same manner as when a vehicle is put up for public auction and for which no bid is received. The amount realized at the sale, less the amount of the tax and penalty due, together with all costs incurred in giving public notice, storing, and selling the vehicle and all other charges incident to the seizure and sale, shall be paid to the owner of the vehicle. If no claim for the surplus is filed with the director of finance within sixty days from the date of the sale, the surplus shall be paid into the county treasury as a government realization and all claim to that sum shall thereafter be forever barred. (c) The owner of any antique motor vehicle shall be exempt from the tax and delinquent penalty imposed under this chapter for the entire period of nonuse; provided that the owner of the antique motor vehicle shall first present to the director of finance a signed and sworn certificate attesting to the antique motor vehicle's period of nonuse. [RL 1935, pt of §2157; am L 1937, c 214, §1, subs 7; RL 1945, §5711; am L 1951, c 162, §5; RL 1955, §130-10; HRS ; am L 1982, c 295, §1; am L 1989, c 158, §2; am L 1993, c 151, §1; am L 1995, c 164, §1; am L 1998, c 2, §71] Case Notes As this section does not create the offense of expired weight tax or delinquent motor vehicle tax, motorist was improperly found "guilty" of violating this section and part of judgment that found motorist "guilty" of delinquent motor vehicle tax reversed. 107 H. 519 (App.), 115 P.3d 698 (2005).