Property tax calculation misleading
In Nancy Cook Lauer’s article on real property tax increases (West Hawaii source of almost 70 percent of property tax revenue) May 14, the property tax calculation as stated in the article is a little misleading.
While the example of the tax increase on a $300,000 property is accurate, it doesn’t include the 6.1 percent rate of appreciation for next year.
In West Hawaii, the median home price is $550,000, so the 6.75 percent tax increase plus 6.1 percent appreciation will increase the property tax by $436 for a total tax of $3,818.
No wonder Hilo residents like their property taxes.
Fred Housel
Kailua-Kona
Biased cartoons pick on Democrats
While I realize that political cartoons are a form of satire and important to show both sides of the political spectrum, I am concerned that the main side is the being show lately is the right wing Republican conservative side.
Some of the recent cartoons, like the one showing Pelosi, Hillary, and Schumer doing a séance, are frankly insulting and demeaning. The cartoon from May 20 shows Democrats — dressed like country hicks supposedly preventing action on major Republican platform promises that have not been presented to Congress in the form of a bill that could be debated — as somehow being obstructionists. How is it possible to obstruct something that is not even being debated, that is not even before Congress?
Perhaps you need to be a little more selective in the political cartoons that you select and try for fair and unbiased. The question raised is about obstruction of justice and the news sources are showing that there are serious concerns that we have not seen since the administration of Richard Nixon.
We have had eight years of Republican obstruction of the Obama administration that have gone without challenge and now that the Republicans are in power any attempt by the Democrats to stop abuse of power and removal of regulations that provide for safe drinking water and clean air to breathe does not deserve to be called obstructive. Since the Republicans now control the executive branch and both houses of Congress I would think that they are the ones that deserve close attention to their actions and motives.
John Pierce
Waikoloa