More Honolulu taxpayers — reeling from another year of soaring property assessments — are calling for the city to roll back tax rates.

Homeowner David Takushi, 69, retired and living on a pension, said people like him are angry about seeing their taxes double and triple over the past five years and aren't going to sit back silently this time.

"People are going to stay mad," he said.

Takushi, who lives in Pearl City, said he wants to find a way to get through to Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who said he's reluctant to reduce tax rates.

"What can we do?" Takushi asked. "I bought this home in 1964. I'm not about to sell. I'm going to be here till I die."

So many people called Windward Councilwoman Barbara Marshall that she introduced a resolution yesterday urging Hannemann to lower the residential tax rates and review how O'ahu properties are assessed.

Marshall said she's had double the number of complaints from residents so far this year, many telling her that their taxes have soared by 400 percent in five years. "It's just out of hand," she said. "That's really too much, too soon." Councilman Todd Apo also signed the resolution.

City officials indicate — if the tax rates remain the same — that the increased values from a record-breaking real estate market will bring the city between $120 million and $125 million more this year than last year.

Still, the mayor said he's cautious because of big bills looming for the city including high debt service, salary and benefit costs, and the scheduled purchase of the city's H-POWER garbage-to-energy plant. And the mayor wants to boost a "rainy day fund" from $5 million to $50 million.

Takushi said pumping money into such a fund now looks a lot to him like using taxpayer dollars to put into a city savings account. "He's going to put the money in a rainy day fund, taking it from us?" he asked.

Hannemann said he's got about eight weeks to come up with a financial plan and welcomes specific suggestions. He is scheduled to deliver his State of the City address Feb. 24 and his budget the following week.

"I'm firm about having some kind of surplus fund that goes beyond $5 million, and I also want to give property tax relief," he said.

Hannemann said he came up with a $200 tax credit for those age 62 and older based on what he thinks the city can afford. "It would be very difficult, to do more than we're suggesting, not impossible," he said.

But Hannemann said he wants to see Marshall, Apo and others who are pushing for lower rates tell him how they would make up for the lost revenue. "I'm not just interested in hearing cheap rhetoric that says reduce the rates," Hannemann said.

After hearing Marshall's proposal, the mayor asked: "Should we cut in her district? Which parks does she want us to cut? Which services does she want us to reduce?"

He said the city has talked about giving Apo's Wai'anae community some kind of incentive to continue operating the city's only municipal landfill and fulfilling other city needs. If Apo wants to lower rates, Hannemann said, "Should we do without the community benefits package? Should we also eliminate parks and other services?"

"The city has huge financial obligations," Hannemann said.

Although the council sets the tax rates, Marshall said they base their decision on a budget provided by the administration.

"The mayor is in a far better position to suggest where cuts are going to be," Marshall said.

She said she's hearing a big change in tone this year from residents, from frustrated to motivated. "It's not just 'How come I'm going to pay more?' " she said. "It's, 'I'm going to get my neighbors and I'm going to get my friends and I'm going to go for it.' "

Kailua resident Bob Grantham proposed a grassroots effort to get the city to operate this year based on the same amount of money generated in 2004.

He also suggested forming a citizens committee to explore the possibility of paying the increased taxes for 2005 under protest into an escrow fund.

Grantham said not taking action will force fixed-income seniors out of their lifetime homes and "the runaway rental market will do nothing but increase our homeless problem."

Hawai'i Kai resident Kristine Westmoreland, who works for a credit union trade association, said she thinks people are frustrated and will call for a proposal like Proposition 13, which California voters adopted to limit tax increases. "We're pricing people out of our homes and I don't think that's right," she said.

"I think people will speak up," Westmoreland said. She's 59 and planning to retire next year. She and her husband had planned to live in their Hawai'i Kai condominium for the rest of their lives.

But now she's worried about the soaring costs. "I'm not poor but I'll be living on 65 percent of my income."

Westmoreland looks around at all the new construction in Hono-lulu and wonders why the city can't make the budget work based on the existing budget plus the boost from the new construction. "They should be raking in money from new buildings," she said.

Many taxpayers say some increase would be acceptable but increase upon increase just isn't. "We could tolerate a 10 percent increase, but 35 percent is just too much," Westmoreland said.

She proposed that the city consider raising the basic household exemptions given to homeowners and those who reach age 55 and older, which range from $40,000 to $120,000.

"It needs to be changed, possibly doubled," she said. "I'm sure 20 years ago, a $120,000 exemption was meaningful but it's not so much anymore." The median sale price of a condominium in Honolulu rose to $280,000 this year, with a single-family home pushing up to $615,000.

Property taxes are based on the assessed value of the homes as set by the city. Assessments mailed last week alerted taxpayers that they are likely to see tax increases in the summer of more than 26 percent islandwide if tax rates remain unchanged.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.