Cut before increasing taxes
Cut before increasing taxes
Government spending is especially hard hitting at this point, as usually these decisions did not affect me directly before, I know they always did indirectly, but I just sigh and go with the flow.
So, now with these proposed tax increases on property and gas, I feel our elected representatives are not looking for wise spending decisions. These decisions will trickle down to hurt all local businesses, as regular working people will not have that little extra money they may have enjoyed to eat out occasionally, buy a new dress, or even afford food. Right off the bat, for our state, we are having a hard time sponsoring the rail project. This is partially the reason for less of the TAT for Hawaii County.
I wonder whose idea it is to spend $21 million to change the signs for the Honolulu Airport to the Daniel Inoye Airport. This is a beautiful tribute as we have renamed Saddle Road in his honor. However, maybe we could wait a year or two, when the rail is complete. This is not emergent.
Other thoughts are to tweak some of these things, why go straight to 23 cents a gallon, when we all know that gas will never go down on its own, only up. Why not consider 2 or 5 cents a gallon, why so much? Additionally, the president has said he is putting new money forward for infrastructure, highways and bridges, which may change the need to over tax the middle class. Can we wait a minute and not overreact, many people can offer other suggestions, I have read quite a few, elected officials please listen to us.
Maybe a good idea is to raise the excise tax 1/2 cent or from .0416 to .05. I like the idea of raising the weight tax, as these vehicles make more wear and tear on the roads. Home property taxes from $100 to $200 is reasonable, as that is a fraction of what the middle class is paying. What is a very great idea would be a lottery, no casinos, but many states do well with these extra funds. Or maybe have a vote on all these consultants we hire all year long, sometimes re-consulted at a half a million dollar price tag.
There is so much wasteful spending, perhaps some of the unnecessary spending can wait for a better year.
Debra Crumby
Kailua-Kona