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quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
The US Senate is fast-tracking a bill that would allow (or perhaps "require") States to levy sales tax on out-of-state purchases (eg, an "Amazon Tax").
Rest assured, our governor will not leave that money "on the table", so we'll get a matching State bill as soon as the Feds have cleared up the "interstate commerce" issue.
I wonder where this "extra" money will go, considering that we'll have additional local tax increases in the meanwhile?
Well, not quite. The bill would require internet retailers to collect the same amount of sales taxes that customers would currently pay if they bought their item at a "brick and morter" location in their state. The E-tailer must then pass those funds on to the buyer's state government. It aims to eliminate one advantage online sellers have over local merchants and allow states to collect revenues due them under existing laws. In theory, we're all supposed to directly pay our state sales taxes for any online purchases, but hardly anyone does, so this is how the states hope to ensure compliance.
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Sometimes I really miss the old New England style town meeting where the budget was voted on by the taxpayers.
David
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The Mayor's revised budget also increases the county's share of the car registration renewals another 25.00 a year, according to West Hawaii Today. I read the Mayor's budget message and don't think this increase is needed or justified. The council should look for cost savings elsewhere
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quote:
My first thought to that "upgrade" was that facebook and twitter must be getting slow! 
I know on Maui they have supercomputers (or at least they did) and had at the time a fast network. I wonder how fast the network is in Hilo? What is the big islands network capacity? I assume that we have fiber connecting to maui or oahu.
The Big Island's Internet connection to the outside world goes through Spencer Beach Park in Kawaihae for the most part (Paniolo Cable Company has a fiber optic cable that lands north of Kawaihae). There is four fiber-optic cables that land at Spencer Beach Park.
1. Hawaiian Telcom
2. Wavecom Solutions (Hawaiian Telcom)/ TW Telecom
3. Southern Cross Cables (to US Mainland, New Zealand and Honolulu)
4. Honotua Cable (To Tahiti)
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The tax increase passed yesterday, with only Greggor Ilagan and Brenda Ford voting against. I give Ilagan high marks for bucking the rest of the council to vote against this. Many of us do not believe this was necessary for critical services to be maintained, and with property values rising, it will be a much bigger increase over time than just 10%.
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What does the bus cost now, or is it still free? When I left Chicago the buses were about $1.50 but they came every 10 minutes, ran all night AND weekends. Any plans for more bus routes/weekend bus routes if they get more money?
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quote:
Originally posted by Chunkster
The tax increase passed yesterday, with only Greggor Ilagan and Brenda Ford voting against. I give Ilagan high marks for bucking the rest of the council to vote against this. Many of us do not believe this was necessary for critical services to be maintained, and with property values rising, it will be a much bigger increase over time than just 10%.
Now I'm glad that I almost voted for Ilagan (I tried, but traffic made me late to the polls. Maybe he can fix the traffic problem)
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Wow, we get screwed again
David
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quote:
Originally posted by David M
Wow, we get screwed again
No, "again" implies that the screw ever stops, I think you meant "still".
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quote:
Originally posted by JungleWahine
What does the bus cost now, or is it still free?
$1.00 fare for adult riders...free for seniors, students and handicapped.
quote:
When I left Chicago the buses were about $1.50 but they came every 10 minutes, ran all night AND weekends. Any plans for more bus routes/weekend bus routes if they get more money?
The existing bus service "loses" a lot of money. Increasing the fares will simply reduce the amount it loses.
There is no way to compare public transit in a huge metropolis with the low ridership of a small population on a mostly rural island.
