2 counties not out of the question
2 counties not out of the question
Thank you so much WHT for the great page one article and chart showing the source of our island’s property taxes by district. Yes, we have known for some time that west Hawaii (Districts 7, 8 and 9) pay the bulk of the taxes for this island.
Now, the other side of the same coin is just what do we get for our taxes? The Queen Kaahumanu Highway between North Kohala and Kona is congested and backs up daily. We can’t even get a simple turning lane (much less a signal) at the choke point from the highway up Kawaihae Road to Waimea! Sure, they are state roads, but it’s the county that has the say on what projects are most needed and where.
The Daniel K. Inouye road is scheduled to be extended to the Queen K., while we in Waimea still have a country two-lane road and one very overloaded intersection! When we moved to Waimea 53 years ago there was just a four-way boulevard stop at the only intersection and we were told then that there was going to be a “ bypass road” around the center of town soon (Ha!).
No truck will climb up and over the Daniel K. Inouye road. It is safer and more economical to climb only the 2,700 feet through Waimea. The truck traffic alone hauling stuff through Waimea between Kawaihae harbor and the Hamakua coast is growing exponentially. The road surface is deteriorating and the roadway can’t be easily widened. If anything happens in the center of town — roadwork, parades, or accidents — everything comes to a halt.
So, WHT, please print a pie chart on where the property tax money is spent. That, too, will be a real eye opener, perhaps suggesting that we need two counties on the Big Island.
Pat Hall
Waimea