The Budget Committee‘s discussion about the city’s real property system is only a day away, and Lowell Kalapa has set the table for the conversation.

As chair of the Real Property Tax Advisory Commission created by the Honolulu City Council to explore the issue, he’s advocating for eliminating or reducing many exemptions that have nothing to do with a property owner’s ability to pay.

His weekly op-ed, authored in his role as president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, explains that the current system shifts the burden from classes of citizens likely to vote to others. Here’s an excerpt:

While this strategy is not new, it is certainly not apparent to most taxpayers, especially to those who are afforded an exemption and someone else is paying for the services they enjoy.

Read the full piece here: Using The Tax System To Hide Spending And Shift Burden