No tax increase claim misleading
In his letter to West Hawaii Today published on May 23, Howard Conant is absolutely correct: All Hawaii County property owners will be paying a lot more in real property taxes next year, despite the mayor stating in his 2014-15 budget that “This proposed balanced budget does not require any increase in property taxes.”
The increased property taxes are because of two reasons: First, last year, the mayor conned the council into passing a “temporary” 10 percent increase in property tax rates for all property classes. Hawaii County already has the highest real property tax rates in the state, see: realpropertyhonolulu.com/content/rpadcms/documents/2013/13_rates.pdf.
Second, the Finance Director’s Real Property Tax Report showed an average of 5.9 percent increase in real property valuations from last year. The mayor’s budget keeps the “temporary” 10 percent tax rate increase for next year. Adding the 10 percent rate increase and the nearly 6 percent property value increase this year, our property tax bills will increase by at least 16 percent, if not more, as compared to two years ago.
The mayor’s statement “This proposed balanced budget does not require any increase in property taxes” is not only disingenuous, but downright dishonest.
The big question is will your council representative have the courage to stand up to the mayor and vote against continuing the 10 percent property tax rate increase for next year?
Contact your elected council representative and let him know how you would like him to vote.
Fred Housel
Kailua-Kona
School ohana appreciates help
The entire ohana at Honaunau Elementary School would like to thank the many businesses and individuals for supporting its annual May Day fundraiser. Without these individuals our success would not be possible. All funds raised will be used for educational activities and off-campus learning opportunities, including College and Career Readiness experiences.
Noreen Kunitomo
Principal
Honaunau Elementary School