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These funds enable all the services counties provide for the community, including roads, parks, wastewater, police, fire and more.
As a parent of two Hawai‘i public school graduates and a product of public schools myself, I fully support the Hawai‘i Department of Education and understand the need to adequately fund public education in our state.
I applaud Representative Amy Perruso’s ongoing commitment to secure much needed resources for our schools, as mentioned in this Civil Beat article from Jan. 25.
Ideas showcases stories, opinion and analysis about Hawaiʻi, from the state’s sharpest thinkers, to stretch our collective thinking about a problem or an issue. Email news@civilbeat.org to submit an idea or an essay.
However, serving as a county council member in Hawaiʻi County, I have concerns about this bill, specifically the proposal for a constitutional amendment allowing the state to levy a property tax “surcharge” on residential properties.
Unlike the state, county governments in Hawai‘i are only entitled by the state to raise funds from a handful of revenue sources. These funds enable all the services counties provide for the community, including roads, parks, affordable housing, wastewater, police, fire and emergency services to name just a few.
If the state were to dip into the county’s ability to raise revenue from real property taxes, not only would it affect the ability of the counties to provide critical services, but it could also open the door for other state programs to look at property taxes as a funding source.
Similar to the state taking back the lion’s share of the transient accommodation tax, which was originally intended as a revenue source for the counties to offset the cost burden of visitors on our island, any incursion into local real property taxation authority would be a slippery slope that could end up reducing the already limited resources within the county.
Not only is our ability to tax real property our most critical source of funds, it is also the strongest tool the counties have to encourage or disincentivize land use policies. Another area that is entirely within the purview of the counties through general plans.
I agree with Rep. Perruso and other state legislators who have said the counties should be looking at high value second homes as a potential revenue source. However, that decision should be at the discretion of each county depending on their unique needs and go directly to their county budgets.
Our state and county governments serve the same constituencies, and we should come together to examine the overall tax burden of our community and identify revenue sources and people’s needs in a collaborative way.
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Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Column lengths should be no more than 800 words and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.org. The opinions and information expressed in Community Voices are solely those of the authors and not Civil Beat.
About the Author