Recently I received the 2022 real property assessment on my primary (only) residence and was astounded by the 33.9% increase in the property value over 2021.
I realize that real estate prices have increased and that Honolulu has more bills to pay than ever, but an increase of that magnitude without any property renovation or addition to justify the higher value seems excessive by any measure.
When you factor in my age (well over 70) and that I have been retired for 19 years (with a fairly dramatic reduction in income) it appears that the city is so desperate for income that it is targeting those taxpayers who can least afford the additional burden — the very kupuna it professes to value.
Isn’t it well past time to revise our property assessment and tax program to meet the needs of the people who pay those taxes instead of helping politicians out of financial binds they created by overtaxing their constituents to pay for projects that are often both poorly conceived and abysmally managed?
Paul Scheftel
Kailua
Stop rail downtown, add buses, light rail line
Surely rail’s arrival at Downtown Honolulu and its Civic Center qualifies for a new Federal Transit Administration full funding grant agreement (“Blangiardi has a rail plan; can he sell it to public and feds?,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Dec. 19).
Connect passengers bound for destinations beyond the end of elevated rail at Aala Park and Iwilei. Provide express buses fanning out from Iwilei along Ala Moana Boulevard to Ala Moana Regional Park and shopping center, and Waikiki. Add express buses to Waikiki, Moiliili, University of Hawaii and Kaimuki on King Street.
West Oahu citizens need access to the city’s government, business, medical, educational and cultural resources. Future plans should envision an at-grade light rail line on Hotel Street from Aala Park to Thomas Square. This line would place most of our treasured urban resources within reach of a two-block walk. Think about how many places you could easily access with that street-level light rail link.
Jack and Janet Gillmar
Palolo Valley
How can we handle a bigger fuel leak?
If there are fuel leaks that affect the people in Honolulu the way the people in the military were affected, will the Navy/government/our taxes pay for the hotels, buses for students, cleaning of pipes and more for possibly hundreds of thousands of people? Will keeping the tanks above our aquifer be worth the money, the inconvenience, the mental and physical anguish of adults and children, the anger of the people of Honolulu?
In Honolulu, our hospitals, schools, universities, large senior-care facilities, businesses, government buildings, individual homes, condominiums, zoo, aquarium and farms could be affected. Does the Navy want to take that chance? Will the Navy be responsible?
As an old senior citizen, I may not live to see that day, but the generations following me might. The cost will be even greater, with possibly more people affected, as condominiums continue to rise. Just something to think about.
Joyce Asato
Chinatown
Navy wastes millions of gallons of water
Now the Navy wants to flush its system with 25 million gallons of water. What a joke. Is this contaminated water going into our sewer system or polluting our ocean via gutters?
The Navy thinks this will make everything right. Wrong.
Every resident on Oahu has a right to the 25 million gallons the Navy is wasting. Is it paying for water usage and sewage fees associated with its use of the water?
I live in Manoa and have a catchment system of nine 55-gallon drums just to water my yard. I could use some of that water for my yard but don’t want to pay for the sewage fee that is connected to our water consumption.
The Navy needs to man up and shut down Red Hill. Which is more important: jet fuel for training pilots for the next war or clean water for cleaning, drinking and personal hygiene?
Bruce Kouch
Manoa
Draining aquifer instead of leaky fuel tanks
It breaks my heart to see how much water is being wasted in the military’s effort to “flush the pipes” for jet-fuel- contaminated water. Apparently the military has decided to drain our aquifer instead of its leaky fuel tanks.
Regina Gregory
Makiki
Promote home-based COVID-19 treatments
With infections on the rise again, support Hawaii’s physicians and encourage them to use their clinical skills to treat the COVID-19 infected at home as soon as they’re diagnosed. After nearly two years of this, the medical associations surely have robust early treatment suggestions for our primary care physicians (PCPs). Early intervention will keep the pressure off our hospitals with their hard-pressed nurses, doctors and staff.
We don’t want this to be a pandemic of the undertreated. It is my impression that treatment begins when you’re so sick you must go to the hospital. That seems like fighting a beast with one hand tied behind your back.
Untie our PCPs to do what they do best: Intervene early with every skill and tool they have. It also will reduce fear and anxiety that can cause a host of public health issues.
Let’s fight this with everything we have.
Kenneth Ordenstein
Kailua
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