A group of Kailua-Kona homeowners says a loophole in the county vacation rental law is allowing illegal short-term rentals to flourish in what once were quiet neighborhoods.

The final measure of a tax-trimming trifecta — a move to cut the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon — stalled Wednesday in the County Council.

With the specter of California’s Proposition 13 hanging over the room, the County Council Finance Committee on Tuesday postponed a measure that would have capped increases in property values for most commercial classes.

It’s going to be a taxing week for the Hawaii County Council.

Hawaii County continues to work the bugs out of its online building permit system, but some testifiers to the county Cost of Government Commission aren’t convinced it’s happening fast enough.

A long-anticipated project to improve water quality and protect the coral reef by replacing cesspools at Puako with a sewer system is finally moving forward with the announcement Friday that Gov. David Ige has released $1.5 million to get the design work started.

It takes money to make money, the maxim goes, and the county Department of Research and Development is taking that to heart.

It remains to be seen whether Mayor Mitch Roth’s administration will be able to provide property tax relief while still balancing its budget, officials told the County Council on Tuesday.

Former Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi, now a private practice attorney, went public last week with her case against the county as she tried to clear the name of retired police captain Chadwick Fukui, whose charges in a 2017 case were dismissed by a judge.

Hawaii Island business groups, facing steep increases in property values, are clamoring for relief from taxes set forth in a record high $689.9 million budget proposed by Mayor Mitch Roth.

The County Council is likely to stomp on the brakes on a resolution cutting the county gas tax 10 cents a gallon to help alleviate drivers’ pain at the pump.

Hawaii Island’s newly redefined and open District 6 seat in the state House of Representatives has so far attracted two Republican candidates seeking to represent the Kona district.

Increases in oil costs that raised the cost of electricity are in turn having a big impact on the county Department of Water Supply, which is proposing a 16% increase in the power cost adjustment on local water bills.

A County Council panel is poised to consider a resolution aimed at taking some of the sting out of rising gas prices.

More than two years after the public was barred from county government meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic, the County Council this week will be reopening the doors.

A bill paving the way to make producers of certain goods take greater responsibility for their packaging waste has cleared the state House and is making progress in the Senate.

A plan to replace nine holes of golf at Waikoloa Beach Resort with 900 timeshare units, a 140-unit workforce housing complex and 25 single-family home lots was advanced Wednesday by the County Council after a dispute between council members over whether asking for a list of community benefits amounts to “pay to play.”

The state’s largest private landowner is seeking public input on a plan to reconfigure commercial and cultural attractions at Keauhou Bay and build a 150-unit bungalow-style resort.

It was a trial by fire for Mayor Mitch Roth and his new administration in late 2020 when he took office during the midst of a global pandemic and uncertain economic times.