Tax man cometh ADVERTISING Tax man cometh Current County Council deliberations about Bill 317 (new agriculture land taxes) are troublesome. It appears that the current efforts to close the loopholes are more like efforts to increase county revenue than making
Tax man cometh
Current County Council deliberations about Bill 317 (new agriculture land taxes) are troublesome. It appears that the current efforts to close the loopholes are more like efforts to increase county revenue than making the current law more equitable.
Since when did a person complying with current laws by “building their retirement home and raising two llamas and a sheep” on ag-zoned lands “abuse” the ag zoning? Where else is raising two llamas and a sheep permitted? Or, is it the determination of policymakers as to who builds, where they build, and what they do with their property, in accordance with current laws, within their purview?
Additionally, council members lament the purported loss of $28 million annually in nondedicated tax revenue. How can the county lose something it does not own? Are we to assume that there is a perceived “entitlement” to property tax revenue at any amount?
If anyone is losing revenue, it is the property owners, not government. Private property does not mean property held in safekeeping by someone until government wants it. Property owners are not the piggy banks of government policymakers.
When County Council members are instructed by administration staff that the duty of the council is to raise revenue to fund the “government they want,” red flags should be raised. Can we ever afford the government we want?
Yet, throughout this discussion, there has never been reported any discussion of REDUCING the cost of government. It has all been increasing the cost of government.
We are not a people of the government, by the government and for the government — yet.
Rick Toledo Jr.
Hilo
Let there be light
It was a pleasure to read about what young, creative minds at the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences have developed for vog, as well as ideas to handle the lava flow (Nov. 11, Tribune-Herald). We seem to have a certain amount of fatalist, anarchist and doomsday-preppers in Puna who either do not want to see a solution or are just too negative to envision one.
These young minds know and are being taught that for every problem there is a solution, and they are coming up with them. I strongly urge the students at the HAAS to attend the lava update meetings to inspire and, in some cases, embarrass those who would rather curse the darkness than light a candle.
Donald Thomas
Pahoa
