Your Views for August 7

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Tax and spend

Tax and spend

Can you tell me what is the rationale with the County of Hawaii as to sending our property tax billing payments to Seattle for processing?

Why is this not processed right here in our state?

I can see so many concerns on several different levels.

How is this even justified? Do we the taxpayers really own our properties? Is it really fee simple?

Year after year,we continue to pay for our land; can you tell me when we will ever really own it? Or are we being taxed out of our properties?

And for the most part, our land has been passed on from generation to generation.

When will we have paid enough, or just maybe too much!?

Please help me understand the logic, or justification, for this greed.

We pay taxes for land, highways, retail sales, state and fuel taxes, as well as commodities and income tax, so what does the land tax cover?

If I want to make improvements on my land, I need to get permits, survey, engineers and lord knows what else I need to do, all costing me more money, and down the road I am than billed for the improvements on my property — all at my expense.

But, again, it benefits the county in higher taxes.

Why better ourselves if the county also thinks it needs to be sure it gets its share of money?

I do wonder just how much land on the Big Island does the county own, which sits idle and not being used, and how do the Hawaii taxpayers benefit from that?

Does the county report to the taxpayers as to what it has spent versus the budget?

In this complicated world we live in, I think it’s a good idea to stop and redefine what we all are attempting to achieve for the good of the state of Hawaii and its people.

La Verne Paulos

Honokaa

A safe bet?

Mark my words, but this storm/hurricane that is on the way will be used by more than a few politicians to challenge the results of Saturday’s primary election, regardless of the results.

Anyone not willing to take that bet?

A. Yamamoto

Hilo