Kaʻū News Briefs Saturday, September 15, 2018

THE PROPOSED HAWAIʻI STATE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO RAISE MONEY FOR SCHOOLS THROUGH TAXING INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE was questioned last week at the County Council meeting. The measure, which will be on the General Election ballot on November 6, is an initiative of the Hawaiʻi public schools teachers union, the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association. It points out that Hawaiʻi is the only state where property taxes fail to directly support public education. The measure faces opposition from the statewide Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce.

     The hesitation by the County Council involves wording of the constitutional amendment on the ballot. Council member Maile David said, "If you just read [the bill] – and this is exactly how they're promoting it – then you have to vote for this if you support educating your kids and giving teachers more money. This is almost a great 'this isn't what it seems like.'" David said Hawaiʻi County is striving to make sure the ballot question reflects what the bill will actually do.

Watch this public school teacher speak out in favor of the  constitutional amendment that proposes to raise investment  property taxes to fund education. Video from HSTA Facebook

     The question on the ballot will read: "Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real property to be used to support public education?" See the Hawaiʻi Senate Bill 2922 that approved it for the ballot at capitol.hawaii.gov/
measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2922&y
ear=2018.
     The CountyAdministration told the County Council that it does not support the bill. The county's Real Property Tax Accountant Lisa Miura gave an explanation to the council Finance Committee on Sept. 4. She said the bill isn't specific enough; there is no promise the funding will end up in the schools. She said the burden of more tax on Hawaiʻi County affordable housing and agricultural lands, especially, might be too heavy. Hawaiʻi County already has the highest residential property tax rate in the state.

     Deanna Sako, Hawaiʻi County Director of Finance, said that nowhere in the bill does it say education will receive the additional money.

Watch another public school teacher speak out in favor of the constitutional amendment that proposes to raise investment property taxes to fund education. Video from HSTA Facebook

     Council member Dru Kanuha said people rarely want to vote for a tax increase. "We want to see the money get directly to the classrooms," he said, but that there are issues with the Department of Education, and "we don't know where all the money is going." He says an audit would be something "a normal person would want." He also said it's important the voting public is informed "especially on this one."

     The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association says on its website that the measure will "let the people of Hawaiʻi vote, for the first time in our state's history, to finally fund our public schools properly." HSTA states Hawaiʻi's schools are "chronically underfunded, with our state ranking last in the nation in the percentage of state and local revenue spent on our public schools." This underfunding, says HSTA, "has led to a chronic teacher shortage, higher class sizes, cutbacks to arts, vocational and Native Hawaiian courses, unequal access to preschool programming and more."

     HSTA also says real estate speculators "have taken advantage of our low property tax rates to use Hawaiʻi as their own private Monopoly board, driving up our cost of living by purchasing investment homes at prices residents cannot afford to pay." HSTA says the cause of this is that Hawaiʻi is "the only state that doesn't use property taxes to help pay for public education, leaving us with the lowest property tax rates in the country."
     Teachers have taken to social media in support of the bill.

     Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara stated on Facebook the group "strongly" opposes the new tax and claimed it will raise the cost of living for everyone; increase the cost of doing business; impact affordable housing and increase rent; and increase taxes on all properties including residential, commercial, and agricultural. "Furthermore, the taxes do not guarantee the monies will go to public education and teachers, essentially allowing a blank check to the Legislature. Let me be clear. We wholeheartedly support public education. As a proud K-12 public school graduate, I know how much my teachers meant to me and how they’ve had a positive impact on my life. However, this amendment will have far-reaching implications that will impact everyone."

     The City and County of Honolulu are suing to block the bill from being on the ballot. In a lawsuit amendment filed Wednesday, Aug. 29, according to Hawaiʻi News Now, the city stated the bill "usurps its authority to set and collect real property taxes," and says, "the wording is so vague that it would allow state lawmakers to raise this tax as much as they want." Said Honolulu City Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, "There aren't any parameters on this constitutional amendment. So the taxation power that the Legislature hopes to give to itself, it knows no bounds. There's no dollar amount limitation. We're very concerned about the collateral affect on the county's real property taxation efforts."

Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce President  & CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara

     Learn more about the ballot question at two public forums: Thursday, Sept. 27, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., at ARC in Hilo; Wednesday, Oct. 3. from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at West Hawaiʻi Civil Center. Panelists will include Lisa Miura, Administrator, County of Hawai'i Real Property Tax Division; state Sen. Gil Riviere; Corey Rosenlee, President, Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association; and Deborah Zysman, Executive Director, Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network.
      Sherry Bracken, Public Affairs Director for Mahalo Broadcasting, will moderate. The event is sponsored by the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Island REALTORS®, Hawaiʻi Island Contractors' Association, Kanoelehua Industrial Area Association, Big Island Press Club, Hawaiʻi Island Economic Development Board, and Hawaiʻi Leeward Planning Conference.

     For more information, call Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce office at (808) 935-7178.

     See the presentation from Sept. 4 at bigislandvideonews.com/2018/09/14/video-county-on-investment-property-surcharge-to-fund-public-education.