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Great Topic. And a very serious issue. As a newbie to the island I can tell you my neighbors pay a quarter of what I'm paying in taxes because of there old assessment. I'm not complaining, my taxes are lower than I was paying on the mainland..but, I think assessments are definitely off.
I'm all for reducing some of the barking dogs in our neighborhood's low flying helicopters and replacing it for a cop on the beat that gets to embrace and help it's community.
Crime is a serious issue in this beautiful part of the world and it's something we can change if we really want to. I'm willing.
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Jerry raised an interesting point. What is the per capita distribution of officers in Puna? I'll just make up some numbers for illustration. What if the population of BI is 200,000, and there are 100 total officers? That would mean that if Puna has a population of 40,000, then shouldn't there be 20 officers assigned to Puna? Who is making decisions on where to assign officers and by what criteria?
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With limited resources I bet cops are assigned where needed most, not by tax receipts...
Texan Moving to Puna on July 3rd 2008.
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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
The Wilder Side Of Hawaii
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quote:
Originally posted by Johnnycake
neighbors pay a quarter of what I'm paying in taxes because of there old assessment...
As the price you paid for your home is used to assess the 'market value' of the other houses around yours, then your neighbors will pay more taxes too -- until next year when there is something nearby sold for lower than you paid and then the assessment of yours and theirs all go the other way and so does the County treasure.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
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quote:
Originally posted by Jon
With limited resources I bet cops are assigned where needed most, not by tax receipts...
No, 'cops' now are 'assigned' to do commando raids on gardens;
even though life and property are left unprotected by doing so.
As long as law enforcement resources are being used for anything other than protecting life and property, then those resources are NOT being used where needed most.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
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Very interesting. I checked the property across the street, just to see, and guess what?
It's listed as a vacant lot with no improvements. Yet, there stands a two story home that's over ten years old.
I wonder how many more of those are out there? Do they have a friend in the Assesors Office? Or is the data base just incomplete?
Hmmm.
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James, We have checked, and our ROH neighbors have not had a tax increase since we bought... The neighbors that rent their property & out of state residents have seen an increase... It seems to take more than a couple of years for a reassessment to show (at least in this neighborhood) this may be done to avoid tax swings & upset neighbors...
Bill, probably there was no permit pulled for the contruction &/or it is REALLY old.... although they should update the records, unless you are in a town or the neighbors mention it...
The tax RATE is higher for vacant land, but of course the assessment is probably less...
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I seem to remember there being a limit to a few percent on owner-occcupied tax increases to protect us from getting slammed in speculative market run-ups. That could account for newbies paying more than longer-term owners. Also, I think this rule can actually result in taxes not coming down in a falling market since they never got up to full value during the run-up. I could be wrong about all this, but I'm sure some of our Punaweb real estate professionals can clarify it.
Getting back on topic, all of the above about taxes still doesn't justify the lack of police resources in Puna IMHO.
Cheers,
Jerry
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quote:
Originally posted by Jon
With limited resources I bet cops are assigned where needed most, not by tax receipts...
Texan Moving to Puna on July 3rd 2008.
No offense, but you sure have a lot to learn about the local political power structure and resource allocation here on Hawaii Island. (Unless, that is, you were using that hallowed Texan tradition of sarcasm.) If only you were right, there wouldn't be a problem.
On another note, as a born and raised Texan myself, I welcome you (a bit in advance) to Puna. It's really, really different here, and I love it, despite my complaining.
Hook 'em Horns and Cheers. Oh wait, "Hook 'em Horns" IS a cheer,
Jerry
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OK... I contacted the police dept... becuase I knew I have SEEN more than 4 police cars in Puna at any one time....
The report at HPP SHOULD have said that there were 4 COMMUNITY police officers assigned to Puna (out of 26 total in the department....)
If this was not the information given at the meeting, then the person giving it erred...
If you look at the distribution of the COMMUNITY police officers, it is fairly thin, but much more equitable than this thread had made it seem.... They are distributed in all 8 districts on island
I am surprised that NO ONE else checked this out... so many were on this thread.... am I the only one here that has seen more than 4 police cars while driving on 130????
I should also add, I have been to many meetings that have had newcoverage that was NOT exactly accurate... (to the extent of reporting on events that happened AFTER the reporter left the meeting ...) Love it or not, the Trib - Herald has a couple of reporters that consistantly make errors in their reporting, they will print little retractions if you have recorded evidence of the error.... but the reporters will still error.... fact checking here isn't City Desk caliper ...
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