Section 15-20-29 - Public land or land exempt from taxation(a) Whenever any public land, except lands owned by the board of water supply, or any land by law exempted from improvement assessments, or any land exempted by law from payment of property taxes which land is owned by an eleemosynary organization, is situated within any assessment area and would, if privately owned or not exempt from such assessment, be subject to assessment, the authority shall, nevertheless, without assessing such public or exempted land for any part of the cost of such improvements, pay toward such improvements the portion of the cost thereof which would otherwise be assessable against the same in a lump sum or in such equal installments and with such interest thereon as the authority shall determine. In the event, however, any part of such exempt lands as described in this section, except public lands, may be required for right-of-way or easement purposes within such assessment areas the value thereof shall be chargeable to the assessment area, and upon acquisition the owner shall be compensated therefor in the following manner: (1) Where the value of the part taken together with any severance damages exceeds the portion of the cost of the improvements which would otherwise be assessable against the exempt land, the authority shall pay the difference to the owner;(2) Where the value is less than the portion of the cost of improvements which would otherwise be assessable against such exempt lands, the value of the land shall be deducted therefrom and the authority shall pay the balance of the assessment as provided herein.(b) In the event all or a portion of the land exempted from assessments as herein provided, other than public land, is sold or leased after the establishment of an assessment area, the grantee or the lessor, as the case may be, shall assume the payment of assessments from the date of such sale or lease in the same manner as if the property had not been exempted from assessments and as if assessments proportionable against the property had been paid in installments to such date of sale or lease; and that all payments received from such grantee or lessor, as the case may be, shall be paid into the Hawaii community development revolving fund. Nothing in this section shall be taken to prejudice any rights of the State to reimbursement from the United States for assessments herein assumed by the State, but the latter shall be subrogated to the rights of the authority on such assessments so assumed.(c) Whenever lands utilized by the public for roadway purposes at the time an assessment area is established are thereafter sold or leased, such land area shall be assessed at the same rates and methods as set forth in the assessment report for properties within the assessment area, the grantee or lessor, as the case may be, shall assume the payment of the assessment from the date of such sale or lease as if the property had not been exempted from assessments and as if assessments proportionable against the property had been paid in installments to such date of sale or lease. The authority shall not be required to adjust assessments against other properties within the assessment area in the application of the provisions of this subsection (c), and all payments received from such grantee or lessor, as the case may be, shall be paid into the Hawaii community development revolving fund.[Eff 2/24/90] (Auth: HRS §§ 206E-4, 206E-6) (Imp: HRS §§ 206E-4, 206E-6)