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Puna is where TPTB have decided to put the Hilo overflow so you'd think a rail system there would be easy to get approval for if there was some way to fund it. Railroad Avenue would be the likely route since it already was a heavy railway at one point so the foundation should still be there. Land prices are down and it would be less expensive to build it now than to wait until it got super crowded.
When those substandard subdivisions were created from the late 1950s until the mid-1970s, the "powers-that-be" didn't expect people to actually move to them and build houses, so it wasn't exactly viewed as "Hilo overflow." The "conventional wisdom" was that few folks would be stupid or crazy enough to live on "agricultural land" that has almost no productive value located in the rift zone of an active volcano. Unfortunately, approximately 50 years later, over a quarter of the Big Island's population live in those "substandard subdivisions."
I read those articles and the best option stated IMO is the special tax districts. Tax those who need or want the improvements. The rest of the county should not have to kick in tax dollars to people who moved there for cheap housing. There is no easy or painless way to fix such a huge problem.
So, basically, a quarter of the population is paying taxes and getting no services in return.
No, that isn't so at all!
The full article details what the county has recently provided, like enhanced fire and police coverage, and the following infrastructure improvements:
Quote:
$5.14 million: New playgrounds and other improvements at Isaac Hale Beach Park, and major improvements to the county park in Hawaiian Beaches
$488,000: Mountain View gym accessibility and parking improvements
$85,000: Shipman Park, Mountain View backstop replacements
$5.5 million: Cost of a major new park complex in Pahoa; planning is now underway
$23,000: Cost for coating the roof of the old Pahoa Fire Station, which was converted to a senior center mostly with donated labor
$5.1 million: New Pahoa police station
$5.3 million: New Pahoa fire station
$3.9 million: Major improvements to the Pahoa solid-waste transfer station
$578,000: Keaau Recycling and Transfer Station repairs
$1.52 million: Pahoa Aquatic Center improvements
Source: Hawaii County
And the flip side of the situation is that many residents of Puna are tax outlaws. The County estimates that there are 1,000 residences in Puna that were built without permits, which means they don't show up on the tax rolls. And there are probably as many more which started out legal, then added rooms without permits, which also don't show up on tax rolls.
IOW, a whole lot of folks in Puna are underpaying their fair share of property taxes. So there is some real push-pull in the situation.
When those substandard subdivisions were created from the late 1950s until the mid-1970s, the "powers-that-be" didn't expect people to actually move to them and build houses, so it wasn't exactly viewed as "Hilo overflow." The "conventional wisdom" was that few folks would be stupid or crazy enough to live on "agricultural land" that has almost no productive value located in the rift zone of an active volcano. Unfortunately, approximately 50 years later, over a quarter of the Big Island's population live in those "substandard subdivisions."
You have to hand it to old PT Barnum!!!!
Last edited by Robin Rossi; 05-03-2013 at 05:14 PM..
The full article details what the county has recently provided, like enhanced fire and police coverage, and the following infrastructure improvements:
And the flip side of the situation is that many residents of Puna are tax outlaws. The County estimates that there are 1,000 residences in Puna that were built without permits, which means they don't show up on the tax rolls. And there are probably as many more which started out legal, then added rooms without permits, which also don't show up on tax rolls.
IOW, a whole lot of folks in Puna are underpaying their fair share of property taxes. So there is some real push-pull in the situation.
In my county they fly aerial photography every two years. So you can't add a pool or house addition without it being noticed, as the compare with previous imagery. I understand the big island is piggybacking on google or bings birds eye view and getting the imagery for free.
Depending on how the imagery is flown you can do meansuration on structures so even if you only bumbed out your house a foot, it could be noticed. I don't know what kind of overlap they fly for birds eye view so I can't say how precise (or how interested) Hawaii county is in measuring your house.
In any case, blatant changes to a structure can be noticed by the tax department. So the tax base in Puna may be yanked into a more accurate state.
In my county they fly aerial photography every two years. So you can't add a pool or house addition without it being noticed, as the compare with previous imagery. I understand the big island is piggybacking on google or bings birds eye view and getting the imagery for free.
Depending on how the imagery is flown you can do meansuration on structures so even if you only bumbed out your house a foot, it could be noticed. I don't know what kind of overlap they fly for birds eye view so I can't say how precise (or how interested) Hawaii county is in measuring your house.
In any case, blatant changes to a structure can be noticed by the tax department. So the tax base in Puna may be yanked into a more accurate state.
Yeah, I just started a new thread on this topic, because it's already happening. Owners in Puna have been shocked to receive highly revised property tax bills recently, based on aerial views leading to tax assessor visits. It turns out the county started using an aerial photography app called Pictometry a year ago for the purpose, because "Google Earth isn't that good." Best of all, it isn't costing them anything to obtain the photos, because HPD bought the system and employed it for law enforcement purposes, apparently using Homeland Security funding.
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