Candidate Eligibility

[Obie]

RJ and Sativa,I saw a picture of the house that was your residence in Seaview.

I saw numerous code violations.Got a building permit ???

[missydog1]

This is the same Obie who rallied support FOR the Pahoa rezoning to Commercial for Tiffany's neighbor to the JH Surf Shop, right? The rezoning that Tiffany fought where she ultimately defeated the application for the time being?

Do you want her elected now? Would you vote for her to represent you if she were District 4 where you live?

[Obie]

I don't know what this has to do with my last statement.We all know you hate Tiffany.
You got your point across !!

[missydog1]

quote:

---

I don't know what this has to do with my last statement.We all know you hate Tiffany.
You got your point across !!

---

Obie, I feel sorry for you that "hate" is the only emotion or cause you can understand for why I or anyone would stand up to oppose the election of what is to me an unworthy candidate.

Did you "hate" Tiffany when you rallied people to oppose her move to squelch the zoning? Or was it something you believed in.

I believe she is in no way suitable for or prepared for public office, going by her past actions and her conduct that is on display for all to see. I do not hate her. Life is too short for hating people because we disagree with them.

I lack respect for her choices and her mode of operating, and the way she treats people, but lack of respect is not at all the same as hatred in my book.

ed to replace missing quote format

[lo-ka-hi]

Tiffany Hunt must be one of the few people who never looks at her property tax assessments or she might have noticed that her house in Hilo had a homeowner's exemption - for years - while the house she lives in - her "home", has none. Pretty unusual for someone who runs a business.
No wonder she told the Tribune Herald that she wasn't aware of the tax break still in effect and that she might be receiving a discount while not meeting the qualifications.
Not cognizant of the rules? That's reassuring for a future Council member, isn't it?

[Guest]

Obie quote "RJ and Sativa,I saw a picture of the house that was your residence in Seaview.

I saw numerous code violations.Got a building permit ???"

Obie, I'm glad you brought up this topic. I know when you tell the truth you open yourself up to this kind of scrutiny.

You might be interested to know that not only did we have a permit, but wrap your mind around this, IT'S FINAL-ED! It is the smallest legal house you can build in Hawai'i county and it is a model of sustainability with single wall construction and screens. This island style domicile is what RJ worked hard to put back into the code when they tried to take this kind of construction out by passing an "energy" code (BILL 234) that would have required double wall construction and insulation. This is a piece of legislation that RJ was able to stop six days from implementation.

P.S.When you saw the picture of our house did you happen to notice all of the trees in the yard and the lot next store? Breadfruit, avocado, mango, jackfriut, starfruit, sour sops...fruit dropping on the ground and RJ planted every last one of those trees.

If see us out in the community why don't you just oink at us.

[lo-ka-hi]

After claiming to not be aware that the tax break was still in effect, TEH went on telling the Tribune Herald that: "It's all been part of my mortgage".
???

(edited for clarity)

[Guest]

Today was a busy day and I am not done yet. Yesterday I went to the elections office and signed an affidavit for the information I am sharing with you now.

According to the election office documentation the facts appear to be that Tiffany has been voting in a district that she does not reside in for 5 years. On November 24, 2008, Tiffany put in a change of address from Hawaiian Acres(the old district 3) to her husbands surf shop in Pahoa village(the old District 5). At the forum, Tiffany claimed on camera that she lived in Hawaiian acres with her husband for many years. If this is true the she voted in the wrong district for at least two elections. As of 10 months ago, September 26, 2013, Tiffany changed her voter registration change of address to Hawaiian Acres. Let's see her get out of this.

Also, I was at the tribune this evening on the off hours and I spoke to Tom Callis face to face. When I confronted him about the headline to the article he replied that he and the editor, David Bock, were upset about the words "case dismissed" in the headline. They know it is not dismissed and they blamed it on a night editor. The tribune is considering a retraction but you know it won't be on the front page.

To the contrary the case has not been dismissed. The clerk is unable to open the investigation because we missed the deadline of June 10th. So our only recourse is to wait and see if she gets elected and the case will be active, investigated and decided upon.

[TomK]

"After claiming to not be aware that the tax break was still in effect, TEH went on telling the Tribune Herald that: "It's all been part of my mortgage".???"

My mortgage payments include my property taxes. I wouldn't read anything more into this than that. I do, of course, receive a separate letter each year from the local tax folk saying what my property taxes are, what exemptions I have and which address they apply to. It might actually be every 6 months, I forget, I generally just glance at it to make sure nothing is horribly wrong.

[missydog1]

Ed to add link to the article, and quotes I'm referencing. Should have had those in the post to start.
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...-dismissed
Read the whole article for story on the residency complaint. This post is re the homeowner's exemption comments.

quote:

---

She said she didnÕt believe she was violating elections or tax laws.

The homeownerÕs exemption provides a tax break for owner-occupied properties by reducing their tax assessment.

To qualify, a homeowner must live in the residence for at least 200 days a year.

The Hawaiian Acres resident said she has owned the home on Kaikuono Street in Hilo since 2004 and moved to her current house around 2006, which her husband owns. He does not claim an exemption.

County tax records show Edwards Hunt has claimed the homeownerÕs tax exemption since she bought the home.

Edwards Hunt said she believes she has met the requirement Òat timesÓ over the years as she has occasionally stayed there.

ItÕs also been used as a rental when not used by her or her family, she said.

Edwards Hunt said she wasnÕt aware the tax break was still in effect and that she might be receiving a discount while not meeting the qualifications.

ÒItÕs all been part of my mortgage,Ó she said. ÒIÕve never really been fully cognizant of the rules related to it.Ó

The tax exemption renews itself automatically unless changed by the owner. Edwards Hunt was one of numerous property owners who received letters from the county this year asking for their exemption status to be clarified.

She said she removed the exemption after receiving the letter, which the countyÕs Real Property Tax Division confirmed. The change goes into effect next year.

ÒIÕm just trying to be as honest and karmatically correctÓ as possible, Edwards Hunt said.

The home is tenant occupied and listed for sale.

Stan Sitko, Real Property Tax Division administrator, said the countyÕs goal is to get homeowners to update their status and a penalty wonÕt be issued for those who come into compliance.

---

I think the claim she had no idea the exemption was on there is real hard to believe, and if it's true, that shows she is no businesswoman as she claims to be, and pays no attention to details -- but her business is all about picking up details.

My taxes are paid through an impound account too, but I still check my property assessment each year and whether my taxes have changed. The exemption is right there and it's hard to miss.

Beyond that, her husband owning a home but not putting an exemption on it would be strange, unless he likes paying unnecessary property tax. The only reason not to claim it is if he cannot because his spouse is already claiming the one exemption between them. If hers had ever been taken off, his would get claimed. Simple. So if they genuinely believe it's "expired" or something on the Hilo house, they would want to file it for the HA house, no? That didn't happen.

Then there is the business of running a rental property. One should know the rules and the pros and cons. A negative she should know is the tax goes up, no HO exemption, higher rate per square foot, and potential capital gains to pay when selling. All stuff you think of when you move out and decide whether to sell it or to keep it and rent it.

She became a landlord and apparently made no effort to find out the rules of property tax on investment property and neither did her husband? On top of the GET, she has to pay income tax on the rental income, and has to prepare federal and state taxes.

She says she lived there intermittently but doesn't know how much, and there may have been times when she qualified for the exemption (living there more than 200 days in a calendar year).

On income tax, you can of course deduct your mortgage interest and property tax from your primary residence, so one would track this. The rental periods you don't get the itemized deductions, but you must amortize and depreciate and expense it.

Her response indicated no real attention paid to when she took it in and out of investment property status, even though you have to come up with percentages of the year for each type of use when you prepare income tax.

Either she knew what was going on with her rental property and was filing proper returns and excise tax, or she was renting it under the table and treating it the whole time as a primary residence. This is over a period of EIGHT years.

So either it was tax fraud or she is completely oblivious to the basics of business. If she is that unaware then she is not fit to be on the Council.

We don't know which it is yet, but the person I've seen run the BIC is always attentive to details and talking about ads and hustling for any kind of expense she can save. So on one hand there is a person who is always focused on income generation and details, and writing detailed exposŽs, but on the other a person who couldn't even say if she lived in a property enough of the year to exempt it and never looks at her tax assessment to see how they come up with the tax due.

Oh, and was claiming to live in Pahoa Village for voter registration since 2008 ... which involves an affidavit she intends to make that her permanent residence, although some of that time she MAY have lived in Hilo enough of the year to make the exemption legit, but she swears on video she really only lives with her family in Hawaiian Acres.

My head hurts thinking about it.