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Supposedly the Fuel Tax increase starts tomorrow, 8/1. It's "only" a couple of dollars more "for the average fill-up", might as well put that off if you can.
Related: the Panaeva Farm "safety improvements" are roughly
3400000 / (1200+1200+560+560) = a bargain at $965/foot.
By this measure, I'm expecting little or no improvements for the $millions in Fuel Tax increase...
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There will be no improvements ..all the increase does is help pay the administration costs of the county...gotta pay for those payraises/cost of living increases somehow..
The only real improvements come when the state doles out its welfare check from the federal government.
... County says, thanks suckers..
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The county council members are counting on two things. First, the average voter's attention span will have run out by the next election. And second, the bloc voting county employees will come to their rescue even in case some of us do remember.
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I sent this message to Ruggles. I'll post here if I get a response:
"Aloha Jen,
I understand that the gas tax goes up tomorrow. My question is regarding travel on non-public roads. Every day during my commute I travel 5 miles in a private subdivision where I pay road fees. Is there a way I can track the miles traveled in private subdivisions and claim a deduction for those miles from my income taxes? I've googled this the question to no avail. I estimate that including weekend travel, I am traveling a minimum of 1500 miles per year on private roads and my car gets 24 miles per gallon. I don't know what all the fed/local gas taxes are but assuming 80 cents per gallon (best internet guestimate), I'm getting robbed of $50/year for gas taxes that supposedly go towards road maintenance, but don't get applied to the roads I drive on. $50 might not seem like a lot of money, but if you add up every resident getting screwed in this manner it is a substantial amount of money.
Thanks for any help you can provide. Generally I'm okay living out here where the state/county supplies no infrastructure (roads, water, sewage, etc) but I'm actually paying road infrastructure taxes where no service is provided. It seems that there should be some kind of remedy for this."
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track the miles traveled in private subdivisions and claim a deduction
Yes; it's called a "per-mile gas tax" (instead of "per gallon"), typically with GPS tracking odometers that give the government a record of all vehicular travel so that the correct taxes can be levied per type and jurisdiction of roads traveled.
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Who pays for the GPS tracking odometers?
(terracore - nice letter BTW).
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Who pays for the GPS tracking odometers?
We do, directly or otherwise.
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When Kalakoa runs for office, we can start a smear campaign on how he wants to track everyone's cars with GPS to make sure they're paying enough taxes.
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"Aloha Terracore,
First of all, thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. We absolutely agree that it is unfair to impose taxes on Puna residents that are not being returned to you in infrastructure and road improvements. This is the biggest concern that we hear voiced from the community.
You may be aware of the politics surrounding this issue, but essentially we are facing a very large opposition when it comes to funding projects in the Puna subdivisions, whose roads are considered “private.” This has been a problem since the 1950’s when these subdivisions were first approved. They were approved under a different set of regulations than subdivisions that are approved today.
As of now, I am not aware of a wat to claim those miles of road that you are driving on your income taxes. We agree that this is not equitable. We are actively researching and exploring options that may not have been explored by previous representatives, in hopes that we may be able to bring in funding for Puna roads.
I am archiving your concerns, which will be helpful when there is active legislation being introduced on this matter.
Are you on our e-newsletter list? If not, I could add your email address so that you receive updates regarding future legislation and what we are doing in the office. That way, when there is something coming before the council related to this matter you might be informed and could possibly testify regarding your experience.
Regards,
Amber Shouse
Council Aide, Office of Jen Ruggles
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni st. Hilo, HI 96720
808-961-8026
