•It all boils down to water • Mahalo, postal workers • Property tax spin •Stop serving special interests It all boils down to water In these hard economic times there doesn’t seem to be anyone who is not affected by
•It all boils down to water
• Mahalo, postal workers
• Property tax spin
•Stop serving special interests
It all boils down to water
In these hard economic times there doesn’t seem to be anyone who is not affected by the enormous state budget deficit and the trickle-down result of it.
I present to you another aspect of what these state budget cuts would mean: loss of a healthy watershed.
What does the state budget have to do with watersheds? First, it is important to understand how critical a healthy watershed is to an island ecosystem and the people who populate it. For most people there is no connection, comprehension, or caring about the water that magically appears out of the faucet in one’s home. A source of fresh water in these island ecosystems is paramount to our existing in them.
Keeping a watershed healthy and intact cannot be done without effort. Invasive plants, insects, and vertebrates are a constant threat to the fragile balance of this resource; they quickly out-compete native species and take their place as a non-functioning addition to the watershed.
Identifying, controlling, and eradicating invasive species is a concerted effort carried out by both the state and state-funded groups. Cuts in funding these efforts will have a devastating effect on the ongoing battle against these alien pests resulting in a degraded and non-functioning system.
No funding? No water. It may not be immediate, but it should be everyone’s concern. What we protect today we will have for tomorrow.
Keren Gundersen, Project manager, Kaua‘ Invasive Species Committee
Mahalo, postal workers
Just a sincere thank you to the postal workers who deliver our mail in Princeville.
They are always on time, and if boxes come in the mail, our postal workers drive down the driveway and place them by our door. Sometimes the boxes are very heavy, but I never hear a complaint. They are always friendly and very efficient.
Thank you for a job well done.
Richard Turner, Princeville
Property tax spin
In a recent front-page article, The Garden Island reported property values on the island were continuing to decline.
Finance Director Wally Rezentes was quoted as saying that property taxes comprised 80 percent of the county’s general fund revenues and he expressed concern that a decline in property tax assessments would adversely affect tax revenues.
Our finance director should know better. The process is when county expenses are budgeted the amount of property tax required is set. If assessments are up then the tax rates can be reduced, and if assessments are down then tax rates can be raised. The change in assessments does not affect tax revenues.
Our citizens should be given the truth not some spin.
Glenn Mickens. Kapa‘a
Stop serving special interests
On Wednesday, the Planning Committee of the County Council will hear Bill 2298. This bill would allow vacation rentals on ag lands located on Kaua‘i.
As many of you know, I am totally against this for one reason. It is prohibited by state law. Why the council continues to entertain this bill is beyond me. Please contact your council members and ask them to kill this bill. We are at crossroads right now, and this bill could really destroy the Kaua‘i as we know it. This bill cannot pass.
Take a look around. The Planning Department is trying to allow unregistered vacation rentals outside of the VDA. Unlawful structures are being permitted. Shoreline certifications being waived in the interest of rich landowners.
The council is considering legalizing an illegal activity (TVRs on ag land are illegal). Why are we doing these things? Why are we not fighting for the people of Kaua‘i?
Let’s try to help the local people for once. You know, the guy who wants to build an extension to his home but gets hammered along the way? The guy who wants to build an extra room for a homeless family member but gets denied right out of the chute. The guy who gets fined because his fence is too close to the property line.
What about the local residents who have been told, for decades, that vacation rentals were illegal on ag land so they never rented out their homes as vacation rentals? They followed the law and now are being punished because they were law-abiding citizens. The transplants who disregarded the laws are now allowed to continue the illegal operations. Come on county, wake up!
I’m sorry for the tone but this issue drives me crazy. If Kaua‘i wants vacation rentals on ag land, then we need to lobby our state legislators to change the state law. We are entering very dangerous waters when the county is trying to undermine state law (like they are trying to do with the shoreline protection waiver bill as well) to satisfy special interests. This is just wrong! Let’s stop this now.
Mel Rapozo, Lihu‘e
