Land's assessed valuation increase

[JerryCarr]

Aloha Kapohocat. I agree with you that the taxes on the BI are among the lowest around (as long as you live in your house,) and strongly agree that the speculative run-up in real estate values is the real culprit. Being an owner occupant, I have taken all the exemptions and will have no problem paying the bill. There are some people, however, mainly working families, who either will be hard pressed to pay the new assessments on their homes, or will be pushed out of the rental market when landlords pass along the hefty increases on non-exempt properties. Also there are retirees whose budgets will be busted by all this. I guess I would feel better about this issue if we had some clear idea about what the County will do with the money. There are a lot of infrastructure improvements needed in Puna and other areas that might make it all worth it, if they do it right. BTW I don't think you are a curmudgeon.

Jerry