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| Runners of all ages are invited to enter the Volcano Ohia Lehua Runs, a 5K and Half-Marathon this Saturday as a kickoff to the Experience Volcano Hawai'i two day festival. Photo from Ohia Lehua Runs |
ENTERING THE 'OHIA LEHUA RUNS to kick off Experience Volcano Festival next Saturday, July 29 is still possible. While online registration ended on Friday, late registration can be done at packet pickup locations on Thursday, July 27 at Hilo Brewery from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday, July 28 at Volcano School of the Arts & Sciences from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The half-marathon begins Saturday at 7 a.m. with the 5K at 7:15 a.m. taking runners through the Volcano Village and out to the countryside and back. For runner safety partial road closures will be in effect in the Volcano Village area prior to festival hours.
EXPERIENCE VOLCANO FESTIVAL has announced its lineup for close to 60 events at six locations next Saturday and Sunday, July 29 and 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A statement from the organizers says "Experience Volcano Festival is a celebration of the culture, people and traditions that make the diversity of the Volcano Area so unique." It showcases music, Hawaiian culture, artists in action, tours, demonstrations, kids and 'ohana activities, happy hours, restaurant specials, food trucks and more.
Organizers are Jesse Tunison who is Festival Press & Membership Manager for the Volcano Experience Hawai'i organization. Its President is Chris Becker, Treasurer Jim Wilson and Steering Committee members Barbra Dunn and Janet
Coney.
Entertainers include: Keoki Kahumoku, Makana Kamahele, Boni Narito, Ola Loa, Mano Ali'i, Genesis Pi'ilani, Fred Hee & Steve Look, Kanaka Fyah, Thom Gagne, Adam Kay, Rocky D'amore, The Screaming Geckos and 'Ukulele for Everyone with Wes Awana.
Vendors include: Ola’s Creations, Tamisha Lee Glassworks, Ikehu Collective, Ultraviolet Alchemist, Periwinkle Moon, Kamano Woods, Hawaii Oasis: Growing Sustainable, Green Goat Farm, Tupperware, Maikui’s Creations, The Lemon Bar, Diane Hanzel, Monstera Gems Hawaii, TLC Oils, Nani Diaz, Raven & Dover Abrams, Volcano Community Foundation, Eclectic Virgo Creations, Big Island Luffa Farm, Hilo Baykery, Rainbow Repurpose, Kolea Kreations, Luti Fine Arts, Looking Glass, Fused Fragments, Papaya Direct, Aunty Pons Food Truck, Kumiko By Kyrie-Reign, Alchemy Farm Hawai'i, Pukana La Farms, Lakuna Links, Simply Mags Designs, He U’i Designs - Lani Creative, Namakua, Rotary Of Volcano Hawai'i, Scott Pincus, Hawai'i Pacific Parks Association, Eli Lynn Creations, Gnarwhal Artworks, Love Bali By Archer Kelly, Amalie Dorn, Island Hop Designs, Eternal Bonsai Creations, and Tuk Tuk Thai Food Truck.
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TAX FOUNDATION OF HAWAI'I has issued an opinion on the idea of helping to solve the housing shortage in Hawai'i by taxing people who leave their homes empty. Tom Yamachika, President and CEO
of the Tax Foundation, wrote Study the Empty Homes Tax Again? and advises that the idea, a hot topic on O'ahu, could be coming to Hawai'i and other Neighbor Islands. Here it is:
One concept that has popped up again, more often than the little animals in a Whack-a-Mole game, is the prospect of an “Empty Homes Tax.”
Simply put, if someone owns property here but doesn’t live in it for, say, six months out of the year, then we charge that someone a hefty real property tax surcharge. Why? Because that someone has removed a housing unit from circulation in a place where we really, really need housing units. Just last year, for example, the Honolulu City Council was considering a bill (Bill 9 of 2022) that would have set the tax at 3% of the property value, per year.
Last year, when we wrote about this development, we pointed out that there would be lots of devils in
the details. How does one hope to enforce such a tax without running roughshod over people’s privacy (which is constitutionally protected in this State)? Do we simply require everyone to file a form, every year, saying that “1234 Aloha Drive is my home, and I have lived in it for more than six months this year,” assume that the folks who haven’t sent the form in have vacant property, and then throw them to the wolves in the City’s tax collection agency? How would we deal with the resulting flood of people who (1) never heard about the new law, form, or tax, (2) figured out that there was a tax and a form, but for whatever reason filed the form too late, or (3) had good reasons for not living in the house, such as being hospitalized for a substantial part of the year?
This year, the City & County of Honolulu is trying again. They are on the path toward commissioning a study, projected to go out for bid in August, that seeks to determine “why so many homes are vacant, and how a vacant homes tax could benefit Honolulu’s many residents who lack suitable housing. Benefits to be explored should include contributions to a housing fund, discouraging the ‘hoarding’ of empty properties and encouraging owners to rent these properties to Hawai'i households.” The Star-Advertiser appears to be on board with this idea, as it stated in an editorial on July 14th. City officials say that the study will be paid for with federal pandemic relief money, so residents don’t have to worry about its cost.
First, am I the only one wondering what in the world a vacant homes tax has to do with the COVID-19 pandemic so as to justify funding this study with pandemic relief funds? Second, what about the study done by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs that the City had done in 2021? Is this new study going to cover the same ground, and if it does, why are we taxpayers getting hit for another one? So that two independent consultants, when the City asks, “Can we, pretty please, impose this tax?,” reply with, “Yeah, we suppose so”?
If we can’t get out of that second study, we should at least have it address new developments, such as a paper put out by the Grassroot Institute saying, in effect, “Vacant homes don’t cause obscene housing prices, but a screwed-up building permitting system sure does!”
Folks on the Neighbor Islands: Don’t laugh. You might be next!
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