Two Town Hall Meetings April 18th

[Ino]

Our voices were heard Thursday, March 30th! Several HICoP board members and over 50 residents attended a meeting with representatives from Hawaii Congressional delegation, Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator, representatives from the National Park Service, and Federal Aviation Administration.

The meeting was poorly publicized, and we weren't sure what we were walking into- but with 50 people in attendance and many more calling in by phone it was loud and clear: Hawaii residents want relief from helicopter tour noise!

Hawaii Tribune-Herald featured an article about the meeting which can be seen through this link- 'Messy and Complicated'
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...tour-noise

It's happening! County Council members have heard our cries and now our Congressional delegates are listening. The reality that at any moment a tour helicopter will fly overhead, low and loud, is gaining traction with those that represent us. But, there's more work to be done.

You are invited to join us at US Senator Brian Schatz's Townhall Meeting on Tuesday, April 18 at 1:00 - 2:30pm GYM, University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Please RSVP through this link-
https://www.schatz.senate.gov/townhall

April 18th
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
7:30-9:00 pm
Waiakea High School
RSVP online;
https://gabbard.house.gov/townhall

Hawaii Island Coalition Malama Pono (HICoP) advocates for an off-shore route, taking tours a mile off shore and out of our backyards. We believe that tourists would much prefer to see the gorgeous coast- and not our carports, laundry, and rooftops.
YOU can make a difference!

www.hicop.org

'Like' and Follow us on Facebook

Here’s a story written in 1993 about the damage the helicopters are doing in our National Park;
http://www.environment-hawaii.org/?p=3817

Sierra Club article written in 1995;
http://vault.sierraclub.org/planet/19941...copter.asp

Here’s a link to Congresswoman Mink’s attempt to help us-Hawaii testimony near the front and letters near 450. This is not a new problem and unfortunately her bill HR 1696 never made it out of committee;
https://archive.org/stream/legislationre...t_djvu.txt

Just to let you know- Air Tour Companies $100+ million industry (Congress Estimate in 1994) here in Hawaii Do not pay General Excise Tax (GET) on passengers in Hawaii- they are tax exempt- you know that tax we all pay for food, services etc- We even had to pay this tax on a fundraiser for the Pahoa Boys and Girls Club;
http://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/tir/19...r89-10.pdf

HICoP.org will be there in force at both meetings. They had to move the meeting to the gym because so many helicopter noise people are coming.
Hope you can join us.

[kalakoa]

there's more work to be done

Understatement. Per the article, no agency has jurisdiction over the noise.

Air Tour Companies ... are tax exempt

Funny, I've long said they should just pay their "fair share" of the environmental impact.

[kalakoa]

Apparently TIR89-10 is derived from an interpretation of 49 USC 1513(a):

"no State shall levy any direct or indirect tax on persons traveling in air commerce..."

As "air commerce" includes "sightseeing tours", there is basically no way to tax the helicopters; the "indirect" language means there's also no way to cleverly tax things (eg, a "tourism use tax" on the building, or an "impact surcharge" on the fuel) that include helicopter tours.

Perhaps "those of us under the flight path" should attack from a different angle: County property tax valuation is obviously too high, since we are precluded from "quiet enjoyment" of our homes.