Recycle rip-off
I need to recycle all of the containers that I have paid a deposit on. Atlas Recycling in Waimea has reduced their hours and days of operation. They are only open three days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., which leaves out everyone who works 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
I can conveniently purchase products that have the deposit tax, 18 hours per day, seven days a week, at hundreds of locations, but can only return them at a small limited number of recycle centers, and only at times that are inconvenient for me.
Why does the county force these programs on us and then allow them to be so poorly implemented that the public gets ripped off? I’ll tell you why: For any and all containers that have been discarded into the landfill or were litter or were not recycled, the county keeps the money.
The difficulty of recycling with Atlas has proven to be very profitable for the county because of the deposit monies that will never be returned. Do you think they would spend one penny of these ill-gotten gains on improving the recycle program for the public?
R.E. Douglas
It’s all about taxes
So, the Planning Commission has come up with rules for short-term vacation rentals (Tribune-Herald, April 3).
They’re assessing a one-time fee of $500 for conforming and a $250 annual fee for nonconforming rentals, with threats of abolishing the conforming designation in the future.
My 425-square-foot short-term rental collects an average of $4,200 per year in transient accommodation taxes and general excise taxes.
Taxes: Like all small businesses, it’s my responsibility to keep track of collections, fill out forms, and pay either quarterly or semi-annually the amount due on time or be assessed penalties and interest charges. Five years equals $21,000 on a 75 percent occupancy (one bedroom).
It is estimated there are 7,000 short-term vacation rentals on Hawaii Island and as many as 25,000 in the state. Short-term vacation rentals fill the state coffers with many millions of dollars in taxes and millions more of vacationers’ spending. Nowhere in the hearings the last three years did I hear any figure as to what short-term rentals collect for the state and county in GET and TAT taxes.
Seems to me, when legislators are making rules and assessing fees and taxes, they should at least be transparent. Short-term rentals are a boon for the state — funds legislators could only dream of getting their hands on just a few years ago. I strongly suggest that the public be made aware of the millions of dollars short-term vacation rentals are dropping in the laps of the legislators.
What I heard during the hearings was all about who’s allowed to have a short-term vacation rentals, and how much to charge these small businesses for the privilege. We get that. The little guy is always easy pickings for fees, taxes, assessments, etc. Throw in threats of abolishing short-term vacation rentals completely, and wham-bang let’s nail ’em for even more fees.
Taxes: the ever-present drumbeat throughout the state.
As stated many times in this column: Vote.
Bob Smith
Pepeekeo