GET BACK TO REALITY

NEW PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT IS GOUGING

I was under the impression that the recent sewer rate increases were to pay for needed sewer upgrades, and the vehicle registration increases were to pay for needed road improvements and police raises. We have a half a percentage point increase in the GET on the way to pay for mass transit.

So what is the city's justification for my family's 38.9 percent (one year) increase in property taxes (26 percent islandwide)?

The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines "gouging" as: an excessive or improper exaction.

This new property tax assessment is nothing less than government price-gouging. You have to pay. You need a home. A yearly increase is to be expected, but 38.9 percent is definitely excessive.

It is hard for my family to build a rainy-day fund as the mayor suggests if the city gouges us on our property taxes. The mayor and City Council must return property tax assessments back to reality.

TAX REVOLT

IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK ON HOME ASSESSMENT

Just like your property tax assessment, mine is up also, 167.96 percent in just three years. At 71 years old, I have reached the max on exemptions. I am retired and no longer have any expectation of working.

But I can still object, appeal, coerce, scold and harass my tormentors. So can you!

First, fill out the appeal form that came with your assessment notice, form BFS-RP-P-51. Do not include the $25 deposit; use that as part of a class-action suit for being deprived, as a citizen, the right to petition your government for redress of grievances.

Second, demand the board provide you with examples of similar sales on your street, to substantiate its assessment conclusions.

Third, demand a similarity of age, condition and size comparison of your property to justify its conclusions.

Fourth, put the onus on the board to justify its position, not you being required to disprove its conclusions.

Fifth, request the appeal forms from the state of Hawai'i appeal court (small-claims division), 539-4777 or fax 539-4713. This also requests a $25 filing fee, which I feel is an infringement on our right to petition our government to seek redress of grievances.

Sixth, and most importantly, make your objections known in no uncertain terms to your council member. Do this repeatedly and use all venues — phone, fax, e-mail, in person and any other way you can think of.

All alone, we have little effect. As a vocal group, we will get results through our strength in numbers.

Each of us must defend our family in the face of this unholy alliance to deprive us of our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

ASTUTE POLITICIAN

LEAD THE CHARGE FOR PROPERTY TAX REFORM

Just like everyone else on this island, I was shocked to see how much the city thought my 50-plus-year-old house is worth. But I wasn't surprised by the cavalier comments of the mayor or my City Council member, Donovan DeLa Cruz.

This seems like the perfect opportunity for an astute politician to lead the charge for property tax reform. If someone rose to the challenge, he would undoubtedly be our next mayor. And there would be plenty of opportunity for would-be City Council members as well.

PROPERTY TAXES

PROP. 13 WON'T WORK; THERE'S A BETTER WAY

I consider Proposition 13 in California a failure because down the road, you wind up with a situation in which new homeowners are stuck carrying the burden for established homeowners.

In California, well-to-do middle-age empty-nesters, who have owned their home 20 years, pay one-tenth the property tax of a young, first-time homeowner trying to raise a family. A simple solution to the property tax problem is to adjust the percentage of tax each year based on the overall Hawai'i-wide reappraisal values.

If property appraisals in a given year went up on average by X percent, then the tax rate should go down X percent, resulting in the exact same dollar amount of property tax being collected by the government.

For example, if the tax rate is 3.75 percent and the appraised property values overall go up 30 percent, then the new tax rate should be 2.625 percent.

This way, in real dollars, there may be minor variations, with neighborhoods that are going up in value faster paying a little bit more, and neighborhoods that do not appreciate as fast going down. But property taxes in real dollars will remain more or less the same.

Government expenses do rise each year, so a modification would be to allow an adjustment to the modified tax rate based on the consumer price index, or some other objective measure of inflation. So in the example above, the tax rate would rise 3 percent for inflation to 2.70 percent.

I suggest that this should be made law and apply to the July 2006 tax year.

FOOD SOURCE

STATE SHOULD RESTORE ALL FISHPONDS AND LO'I

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources should restore all the fishponds on all islands if it proposes a ban on gill-netting.

Restore the fishponds so Hawaiian people can eat the cultural food they enjoy best. When the fishponds are restored, the ancient lo'i must be restored because the fishponds and lo'i complement each other.

If another attack on the continental U.S.A. shuts down the airports and the shipping to Hawai'i, where do you think Hawaiians will obtain their food? Hawaiians can still survive and will survive even if the U.S.A. is long gone.

The U.S.A. will ultimately become just another chapter in Hawaiian mythology.

Restore the ancient fishpond and lo'i now!

HIGHWAY DEATH

PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE WOULD BE BAD IDEA

On Kamehameha Highway between Ha'iku Road and Kahuhipa Street, less than a quarter-mile stretch, there are three traffic signals with crosswalks. One signal with a crosswalk is about 50 yards from the only unsignaled crosswalk, where the pedestrian was killed last week.

Suggestions to build a pedestrian bridge are ludicrous. The solution may be to eliminate that crosswalk and require pedestrians to walk the short distance to the light.

Another problem with this stretch is that there are four non-signaled driveways exiting to Kamehameha from the Kane'ohe Bay Shopping Center. Drivers exiting these to the left hazardly inch on to Kam Highway, forcing drivers to frequently slow down or stop to let them enter, while drivers in other lanes may not see.

The problem on Kam is not speed, but the crazy quilt of entrances and exits from Kam. Traffic engineers should determine the need for the unsignaled crosswalk, and whether left turns should be allowed at all driveways.

HUI MALAMA

EDDIE (AYAU) WOULD GO

A new definition of "Eddie would go" was coined Tuesday in Judge Ezra's courtroom.

ACADEMIC PROBLEMS OF BOYS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED

Your Dec. 20 article "Most UH teams not making the grade" reveals a deeper problem of how males continue to struggle in school, but this crisis is not limited to athletes, nor is it limited to college.

From preschool through college, boys have been struggling with academics for decades, but nothing has impacted the American school systems more than the study commissioned by the American Association of University Women titled: "How Schools Shortchange Girls," which found that girls are slightly behind boys in math and science. But a balanced study found that boys are far behind girls in reading, writing, social studies, biology and every other subject.

Without incorporating boys into these studies, how can anyone fairly conclude that schools "shortchange" girls? Hearing only of girls' struggles — without hearing that of boys — makes it seem as if only girls are struggling, and in a school system slanted against them. But it's entirely the opposite.

Student surveys reveal that both boys and girls perceive that girls get more encouragement and attention; thus, girls dominate almost all academic committees, from student government to advanced placement programs, while boys make up two-thirds of learning disability students, earn 70 percent of the Ds and Fs, are more likely to be held back a grade or drop out of school, and are less likely to go to college. So why wouldn't this trend be reflected at the college level?

Boys are more prone to developmental problems due to neglect, which is compounded in homes where both parents work and in single-parent homes where there's an absence of a strong male presence. There is significantly less adult male presence throughout our school system.

To address this problem, the government should provide special programs to recruit young men in becoming teachers, similar to current programs to encourage women to enter the fire and police departments. Financial support should be given to help these young men through college, which could set a new trend where more boys would go to college, and these new male role models would become the influence that boys need.

PRESSURE TO MOVE

WE NEED PROPERTY TAX HELP NOW

I find myself livid over the real property tax increase on my 50-year-old property — 36 percent!

My husband and I, both retired and residents of Kailua for more than 50 years, find ourselves, children and grandchildren being priced out of Kailua and perhaps Hawai'i, due to the very high cost of living and tax increases from the state and city (bottle cap law — pay up front and struggle to get your refund back, which they counted on; increased property values, but don't increase homeowner exemptions — all of this spells highway robbery).

What are our lawmakers thinking? Why are we standing by and taking it? Is our state of Hawai'i up for sale? The locals can't afford it; the buyers are investors, vacationers, well-supplemented retirees and speculators; and we who continue to try to live here are paying dearly for it.

We elect people to represent our best interests and to keep Hawai'i affordable for our future generations; where is their leadership? Mayor Hannemann, Gov. Lingle, legislators: We need help, now!

The homelessness here is shameful, and it is only going to get worse with the cost of rent, food and basic needs (water, electricity, etc.) growing. This may be adding to the desperate acts committed by once-ordinary citizens.

Is the answer to move to West Virginia or elsewhere meeting your income level? Is the intent to get rid of the long-time homeowners and replace them with the rich and famous or those whose earning powers are above $200,000 per year?

We've already pushed most of the young local families west-side to the "affordable" side of the island. What a laugh — even that's not affordable any more, and it's a mess.

Why not try something bold for a change? Roll back values for homeowners living in their homes for a to-be-decided number of years to values relative to their mortgage or set a flat-rate minimum amount; when the property is sold, then the city would receive a to-be-decided property tax assessment (how about some of the money real estate brokers and mortgage lenders receive during sales — they've never decreased their fees either?), and then apply a new value to the new homeowners?

There just has to be a better and fairer solution. With all the multimillion-dollar homes, condos, etc. on the horizon, the city and state should be looking forward to a very bright future, but who's going to benefit from it — not the common local people. Leave politics out of it and put your heads together to find a way so we and future generations can continue living in Hawai'i beyond the year 2006.