Farmers Markets, Fire Ants, and Taxes (Ruggles)

[terracore]

Latest Ruggles newsletter (she is against GET increase)

Special Announcements from the Office of Jen Ruggles

I. Got Little Fire Ants?
Join us for this free and public talk story on Fire Ant control methods with experts in the field. Bring your questions and something to take notes. If you are unsure if you have Fire Ants, bring in an ant, and we'll be happy to identify it for you.

Topics of discussion will include effective treatment methods, community programs, the status of fire ants at the County green waste facilities, and fire ant issues specific to attendees. A presentation will be provided by Hawaii Ant Lab, Big Island Invasive Species Council, and Little Fire Ant Hui followed by a questions and answer session. Light refreshments will be provided. Join our Facebook Event here.

Date: February 13th
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Location: Kea'au Community Center (16-186 Pili Mua St., Kea'au 96749)

II. Farmers Markets- Bill 100
Farmers markets are critical in supporting Hawaii's local farmers, health, local economy, and sustainability. Next week I will introduce a bill that will give the community the option of having a farmers market at the new Pahoa District Park. The market must be run by an interested non-profit via an agreement with our Parks and Recreations Department, where all the details, (days, times, number of vendors, etc.) will be negotiated. I am more then happy to help facilitate in this process for any interested non-profits. In the meanwhile, if you support this effort, please come and testify to help convince other the council members to vote in our favor:

When: Tuesday, February 6th.
Time: 9am
Where: Pahoa or Hilo Council Chambers. (Pahoa: 15-2879 Pahoa. Village Road, Hilo: 25 Aupuni St.)

III. Proposed General Excise Tax Increase
Mayor Harry Kim has proposed yet another tax increase - to increase the General Excise Tax (GET) by one-half percent. The current GET is 4%, and Mayor Kim's proposal will increase it to 4.5%. The GET is a tax on all businesses for services, goods, and rents, (including food and medicine) and are passed to the consumer. Considering that the GET is one of the most regressive taxes that hurts those who can least afford it the most, and that our district of Puna is the poorest in the State as your representative I will advocate and vote AGAINST the increase.

It is my position that we have a should tax those who can afford it the most, hotels and resorts, billion dollar corporations, and high valued 2nd homes, and leave the working class alone. Being the only council member to vote against the fuel tax and minimum tax increases, you can count on me to vote against the GET tax increase. Please come and share your position on the increase at Bill 102's first hearing:

When: Tuesday, February 6th
Time: 10am
Where: Pahoa or Hilo Council Chambers. (Pahoa: 15-2879 Pahoa. Village Road, Hilo: 25 Aupuni St.)

https://mailchi.mp/hawaiicounty/farmers-...62a5fc2d6d

[leilanidude]

It is my position that we have a should tax those who can afford it the most, hotels and resorts, billion dollar corporations, and high valued 2nd homes, and leave the working class alone.
==========

I have a real problem with that statement.

These groups/companies are already highly taxed and if you raise taxes on them more, the costs of their goods/services will have to go up, making it even less affordable for that working class.

If you tax those second homes, etc. too much, people will stop building them. If they stop building them, who is it that suffers? The working class! Make Hawaiian vacations unafordable due to the high taxes and you will end up hurting the very people you are trying to help.

The best way to help the average working class person in Hawaii is to reduce the size/cost of the county government.

Start with a hiring freeze, then force 3-5% a year reductions in every department. No exceptions.

[glinda]

quote:

---

Originally posted by leilanidude

If you tax those second homes, etc. too much, people will stop building them...

---

That's ridiculous. Hawaii has the cheapest property taxes in the nation.

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-th...xes/11585/

Doubling, even tripling out of state home owner's taxes would not stop one house from being built.

[Carey]

Wouldn`t hurt for the county to review their tax records for tax savings!...
Looking for things like may make more dollars & sense...:
Rental properties taxed at the homeowner & senior exemption rate
State or county licensed business (esp. run out of home-looking office) taxed at exemption/ senior rate
Trust accounts (esp. off island trusts) taxed at exemption.senior discount

I know that each of these exists in our neighborhood, at a tax loss of hundreds to thousands of $$ per property
(2 houses within a stones throw have licensed businesses, one has a state vehicle safety garage on the property with a senior tax rate of under $200!)

[Durian Fiend]

quote:

---

Originally posted by glinda

Doubling, even tripling out of state home owner's taxes would not stop one house from being built.

---

That's a bold statement. Not one?

I don't believe it's legal to strictly discriminate against out of state owners though.

[terracore]

"I have a real problem with that statement."

It is disconcerting that elected officials' (in Hawaii anyway) only "tax solution" is to play a shell game with the taxes rather than to make government more efficient.

[glinda]

Do you have recommendations on how that would be?

[Carey]

I have one recommendation:

If an employee does not show the ability to do the job they are hired for, DO NOT LEAVE THEM IN THAT JOB! (Yah, OK still a little steamed about 1/13!)
& for the elected officials & dept. heads, ON 1/13, to deny what they knew (or SHOULD have known...)
& to only admit what they knew & take responsibility, AFTER 2 WEEKS LONG INVESTIGATION AT TAXPAYERS EXPENSE???? NOT AN EFFICIENT USE OF TAXPAYER MONIES!

Efficient would be to have elected officials & taxpayer funded department heads that took responsibility for their departments!
& taxpayer funded employees to actually care about the work they do, & take responsibility for their actions AT WORK!
Granted, some do.... but the EMA employee was not an isolated instance... I have seen many at the county & state level that do not!

[punaticbychoice]

Harry Kim is the County and State employees dream, open public pocketbook for them.
They got behind him and were were essential in electing the useless clapped out old man.
A repeat of 2000-2008 is ongoing.
The federal "tax reform" will, due to its SALT provisions drive the tax burden for many in Hawaii
still further upin 2018.
Nice to know Harry is doing his part to help the taxpayers. (sarcasm!)

[MarkD]

"I don't believe it's legal to strictly discriminate against out of state owners though."

I don't have a comment about out-of-state owners, but foreign investors? Japanese and now some of the Chinese? We should quadruple the taxes on these folks.

Japanese investment in Hawaii real estate, while it has indeed brought trickle-down benefits, has had a key role in raising our cost of living. These deep-pocket folks could pay way more taxes.

I bet these investors have preemptively dealt with this by bribing key legislators who control tax policy (in an up and up manner by hiring Hawaii attorneys as "consultants" for real estate or other transactions. Most Hawaii legislators are attorneys or have links to law firms.)