Akaka Falls State Park

[KeaauRich]

quote:

---

Originally posted by macuu222

It is free for Hawaii residents....but only Big Island residents...not anyone living in the rest of the state. And the same thing will happen to us when we visit Oahu or Maui or Kauai!

---

That wasn't my understanding. Where did you read that the fee is Island-specific?

[DTisme]

Went into effect Dec. 16, 2010. We visited a couple months later and found same situation as KeaauRich - gal at the machine taking cash and running cards in the machine. That's the kind of machine you have for no attendant, so I thought that was odd. Still, a little disorganized. It was free for hubby and I, but our out-of-state guests were $1 each. We gladly paid. I'm betting the car you saw towed away was towed away for other reason--just disabled probably. When we went, there was no proof a car had paid or not paid as there were no receipts/cards to put in your windshield. Which makes sense bc so often you have locals' cars who aren't going to pay next to rentals who are going to pay.

[HawaiiTedd]

We took my mother-in-law there a few weeks ago, and also took a friend there 2 months ago. At that time it was $5 per car to park in the lot. If you parked on the street outside the lot, it was $1 per non-resident to walk in. Agree on the disorganized part...better signage would help.

---
Life is the only thing worth living for...

[KeaauRich]

So I guess I'm confused...if, as Kathy suggests, they can charge either a parking fee or an entrance fee, it seems as if someone didn't get the message. According to the state parks website, the fee is "Entrance Fee: $5.00 per car or $1 per person for pedestrians. No charge for Hawaii residents." So why are they charging tourists who drive in with locals? In other words, a local's minvan with 6 tourists and a local driver would pay $6 ($5 parking fee waived for the local, $1 per tourist), but if the minivan contains only 7 tourists, they'd pay $5 parking and no more?

Wouldn't it make more sense if the ticket machine was at the entrance to the parking lot? If you walk in, you pay $1 per head unless you're a local. If you drive past, you pay $5 per car unless the driver is a local, in which case you get in free. I have no problem with an entrance fee (even one that would charge everyone), but I do have a problem with fees that are collected in an inefficient or inconsistent manner.

[David M]

I'd be curious what the state gets after paying the attendant.

David

Ninole Resident

[robguz]

What would make sense to me would be raising whatever taxes so minutely enough to cover the costs so this didn't have to happen. Having been a tourist here long before I moved here one of the appeals of Hawaii was how easy it was to access nature without being nickle and dimed and inconvenienced all the time like you are in life on the mainland. I think this is an awful precedent. I remember reading about it and it seems like the department in charge had their budget slashed so much that they really had no choice. This is the reality of what happens when government's don't tax appropriately, they tax by other methods that are more inconvenient by raising or starting fees for every little thing. Personally, I'd rather just pay more taxes. $300 a year in property taxes for my home is just too low to provide an adequate amount of services without nickel and diming.

[KeaauRich]

Rob, While I agree in concept, I think collecting the fee helps keep the government honest <insert your own joke here..>. If they raised the property taxes enough to cover the parks, it would last a year or so until some legislator had a pet project that needed funding, and then the park allocation would be cut again. Under this plan, as I understand it, money collected at the park is supposed to stay in the park system.

[David M]

Not sure, but I don't think state parks get any money via property tax.

and looking at the sad shape of our county parks, they must not either!

David

Ninole Resident

[robguz]

You're correct, but my general point was that things need to be paid for one way or another. I guess a better example would be County parks as you mentioned, which I'd prefer to pay more property tax to improve. And I would gladly pay more taxes to be able to dump trash when I have it and not have to see tons more trash on the roads as has happened since they cut back the hours.

What I don't like is these fees tend to stay forever and I don't like the precedent it sets. Why not fees for Hapuna, Waipio lookout, Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots, etc.? You can always make a reasonable argument to start fees at any one of those places, but I think that would be awful, annoying, and inconvenient.

[EightFingers]

Maybe they can maintain the restrooms a little more. I'd like to see an annual pass for the state parks system.