WAILUA — “You don’t have a revenue problem here on Kaua‘i; you have a spending problem.” That’s the verdict from Lowell Kalapa, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, who spoke before a crowd of 50 local business people, citizen
WAILUA — “You don’t have a revenue problem here on Kaua‘i; you have a spending problem.”
That’s the verdict from Lowell Kalapa, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, who spoke before a crowd of 50 local business people, citizen groups and the members of the County Council Friday during a tax forum at the Aloha Beach Resort here.
The forum, sponsored by the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce, sought to point out differences between tax-relief proposals offered by the county-sponsored Real Property Tax Task Force and Ohana Kauai.
Ohana Kaua‘i is an ad hoc committee of citizens who on May 5 submitted a petition for a charter amendment to roll back and cap county property taxes.
Essentially, both proposals would “shift the burden” away from long-term property owners and resident owners to businesses, Kalapa said.
“I don’t like either proposal,” he said.
“Any shift in burden would wind up being paid for in higher costs passed to the consumer, or in fees,” he said. “It’ll show up in the price of bread, gas, etcetera.”
The task force’s proposal would lead to “nickel and diming” the public in fees — something that happened in California under Proposition 13, which capped tax collections, Kalapa said.
Kalapa said that the development of infrastructure, particularly county parks, roads and utilities, should be the primary purpose of government, not finding ways to pass on to the public excessive expenditures.
“The public must hold their politicians accountable,” Kalapa said.
But pressure from unions has kept expenditures higher than anticipated, said Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura.
“That’s where you can control spending,” Yukimura said. “You have to reform that process. Maybe it’s time to see what’s good for the public, not just the unions.”
The Tax Foundation of Hawaii is a private, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to informing the public, more specifically the taxpayer, about finances of state and local governments in Hawai‘i, according to the foundation Web site, www.tf.org.
Business Editor Phil Hayworth may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or phayworth@pulitzer.net.
