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http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/news/loca...nds-county
Kenoi estimates Hawaii County spent about $31 million on visitor-related expenses during the 2013-14 budget year. ... Last year, the counties split $103 million, with Hawaii County getting $19.2 million of that.
If these numbers are accurate, it
costs money to have tourists visit our island.
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Jill Tokuda, also an Oahu Democrat, said the state performs 81 percent of overall public services
Really?
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Of course, revenues come in from more than just the TAT, as tourists also do things like spending on meals, vehicles, and much more, for which GET is collected. Additionally, revenue is indirectly created through property tax of transient accommodations, income and payroll taxes for those employed directly or indirectly through tourism and more, so it would be difficult to say that it costs money to have tourists visit. I'm sure the situation is much more complex than this simple article would lead us to believe. Of course, we could just tax the crap out of tourists until they no longer wish to come here, because that would solve your problem with the $31 million expense.
Just call me Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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spending on meals, vehicles, and much more, for which GET is collected
...and that GET is remit to State, who "shares" the revenue back to the place where it was collected.
property tax of transient accommodations
Let's not forget the "unlicensed" accomodations which both don't pay TAT and are under-assessed...
your problem with the $31 million expense
I wouldn't say it's "my" problem, necessarily; there are many problems, and they belong to us all. Starting with: where did the $31M figure come from?
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Yet again, it's "play" time with "semantics". Main "thing" is we get our daily fix of obsessive griping out there one way or another.
Edit: speeling.
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Main "thing" is we get our daily fix of obsessive gripping out there one way or another.
Right.
County asked State for more money. State said "no". Our taxes will therefore have to go up, and clearly the problem is that people are complaining about it.
