Question: I am a renter. I mail my rent check to a local property management company. I think the property owner lives out of state, although I am not certain. I went to public schools and support public education, but I do have questions about the constitutional amendment. When we vote, will we know what level of investment property they’re taxing, and how much that tax will be? My landlord is an “investor,” technically. I honestly can’t afford for my rent to go up.
Answer: No. The ballot question that will be put to Hawaii voters Nov. 6 is, “Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real property to be used to support public education?”
As you can see, the proposed constitutional amendment does not define investment real property, the size of the surcharge or exactly how the money will be spent, other than generally in support of public education. We mention that last point because another reader asked whether it mandates school-level spending; the answer to that also is no.
If approved, the proposal would amend Hawaii’s constitution to expand property-taxing authority to the state government, albeit in a limited manner; currently, only the counties are authorized to tax real property.
The state Legislature would later determine the size of the surcharge and to which investment properties it would apply, uncertainties that critics cite as reasons to vote against the proposed amendment. Some tenants, like you, also have expressed concern that higher rent for local people could be an unintended consequence — landlords are real-estate investors, as you point out.
Supporters counter that the surcharge should target offshore investors buying multimillion-dollar Hawaii apartments as second or third homes. They insist that approval would relieve chronic underfunding of Hawaii’s public schools, tapping into a resource that every other state uses. Hawaii, with its unique single, statewide public school district, now relies on the state’s general fund for about $1.6 billion of its roughly $2 billion budget (federal funding and other sources make up the difference).
You can read the proposed amendment’s enabling legislation (Senate Bill 2922), committee reports and testimony for and against it at 808ne.ws/sb2922 Opens in a new tab. Ballotpedia, an online political and electoral encyclopedia that strives for neutrality, has a useful guide to the pros and cons which you can read at 808ne.ws/bpsum Opens in a new tab.
Kokua Line has received several questions on this topic, which is sure to generate more news coverage before Election Day.
Q: Can you be exposed to rat lungworm and not suffer any ill effects? Is that possible?
A: Yes. Some people infected with angiostrongyliasis, also known as rat lungworm disease, don’t show any symptoms or develop only mild ones, usually within three weeks of ingesting the roundworm parasite that causes the disease, according to Hawaii’s Department of Health. The parasites cannot mature or reproduce in humans and die eventually.
Other people are severely afflicted and develop a rare type of meningitis, which affects the brain and spinal cord, causing painful and debilitating symptoms.
The disease is not spread from person to person, and you can get it more than once, according to the DOH.
Mahalo
Mahalo to the elderly gentleman citizen who painted over ugly graffiti on the traffic control panel boxes at the Monsarrat- Leahi and Monsarrat-Paki intersections, eliminating the visual blight to motorists and pedestrians alike, including tourists. — Ed from Kapahulu
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
