Economic Alternatives For Hawaii

[kalakoa]

I want to see new legislation that requires determination of economic impact -- both positive and negative -- for any new project of substantial size and/or which requires rezoning. Anyone notice how we're allowed to vote on rule changes (building codes, vacation rentals, etc) without understanding the real economic costs?

Tourism as an extreme example: $2B taxes collected / 1.4M residents = about $1429 per resident. If everyone agrees tourism should be shut down, and they're willing to pay their ("fair") share of the revenue loss, then we can go ahead and shut down tourism without any economic impact. (This oversimplified example doesn't account for the cost reductions that would naturally follow a reduced need for services, but you get the idea.)

Apply the same "market-driven" principle to utilities, too. People don't want PGV to start up? Fine, grid power gets more expensive and/or we will have rolling blackouts. Wealthy people ("the kind we want") will have solar panels and battery backup. Poor folks will have to throw away spoiled food. Already happening in NorCal due to the seasonal grid shutdowns there.

Those vacation homes everyone complains about? Figure out how much they contribute to the economy. Divide by the number of residents. Put it to a vote. Anti-STVR people might change their minds when they realize what their tax increase will be. Alternately, treat the problem as if it were a destructive lava flow: create a new VR-zoned subdivision and let existing STVRs "trade up" to a "correctly zoned" property, then sell/rent the existing homes to "legitimate local residents". Many people have said "STVRs belong in correct zoning" -- but there isn't any, maybe that's the problem we should be solving.

As I've said so many times: the problem isn't a "shortage of resources", it's that we have "unequal allocation" -- but the HGEA/HSTA employees all got their raises, and that's all that matters. HART got pushed back to 2026, but that's okay, the GET increase is just pennies on your $100 grocery bill.

[eightfingers2.0]

I think we need some leadership, not seat warmers that collect paychecks.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I want to see new legislation that requires determination of economic impact -- both positive and negative --

An excellent idea!
If I may add to your suggestions, I'd like a tally of what it costs each taxpayer to run state and county governments.  Then when they propose a raise for employees and the amount that would cost each of us, we could make an informed decision about whether we are already getting our money's worth, and if those requesting a raise provide us with a fair return on the dollar.
If the vote is no, maybe they'll all try a little harder before the next time they ask.  They could give us little slips of paper like at Home Depot so we can go online and provide feedback about our experience with them.

[eightfingers2.0]

So will that require more high-$ studies?

The path to h*** is paved with good intentions.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

So will that require more high-$ studies?

The Hawaiian Circle of Life.
We’d need a cost estimate on the study, which would provide the cost estimate for the vote on the budget expenditure... 

[hankie1]

Even if you could start new jobs  that gets you away from tourist you are looking at years to get it going are more. The way Hawaii let people kill kill anything  that brings new jobs it is going to be longer then that. Farming is good but does not supply many jobs and they pay wages that you can live here on Hawaii ' The feds have sunk 5 billion dollars  here in Hawaii in the last 3 months  when that is all gone you well see the new Hawaii and it is not going to be pretty.

[Hotzcatz]

The answer for an economic alternative for Hawaii, IMHO, is that we will find that it's a whole lot of little ones and not one big one or even several big ones.  There will be some ag, although it will be high end and not commodity farming. 
We could be growing koa and supplying really high end woodworkers.  That's a very Hawaii thing.
Online work is good since then folks are bringing in jobs from somewhere else.
Hawaii is seen as having a lot of mana, having healing workshops, spas, etc., might be something.
Not everyone needs a full living wage.  If there's a household of two or three wage earners, then each of them won't have to make a complete living wage to keep the household going.  Most folks have more than one income stream, too, so each doesn't require to e a full living wage.

[kalakoa]

A large resort might pay $2M/year in taxes through a single point of contact. Collecting that $2M from hundreds of individual small businesses (vacation rentals, etc) is just too much effort. Any "economic alternative" will first require a government that's willing to actually do work.

[hankie1]

A large resort might pay $2M/year in taxes through a single point of contact. Collecting that $2M from hundreds of individual small businesses (vacation rentals, etc) is just too much effort. Any "economic alternative" will first require a government that's willing to actually do work.

When you hire the people to collect that 2 million it will go to wages

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

When you hire the people to collect that 2 million it will go to wages


Here's an example of the workers hired to collect taxes from the little people (me).  I mailed in my first quarter excise taxes on time and in full.  A month later I receive a notice stating I owe a payment with interest for 2010.

I call their office and asked whether there was a problem with one of my 2010 returns, and that I'd just shredded my tax documents from more than 8 years ago, because I've always been told to keep the papers for at least 7 years.  So are you really asking for money from 10 years ago I asked?  In her most haughty, well practiced civil service voice she concurred "welllll... you just found out we do, now didn't you!"  I asked if she could look up the record and provide me with a few more details. She agreed. Then I hear some lowing and hmmming for a minute until finally she explains, "oh, oh I see what they did.  When we received your 1st quarter return we posted the payment to 2020, but your Excise tax return was entered as 2010 instead of 2020.  Without the payment."  But she would correct the error in their system.

I didn't bother to ask why my payment (which now should show up as a credit) from 2020 wasn't applied to 2010, I just asked her to please send a letter in writing stating the error had been corrected.  So I wouldn't have to go through this again. She did. 

I don't know how often it happens, but that's a lot of work for the few hundred bucks I sent in.  Both for the state who gets the few hundred bucks, and me who was already out the money, but now with unpaid wasted time on top of it.  Not to mention (but I will) the additional taxes also required to pay state workers for not entering data correctly, mailing letters, their time on the phone, correcting mistakes, and mailing another letter. Now multiply that times 'x' for an unknown number of little people, instead of one big $2 million dollar hotel payment.