Lahaina fire rebuild will be complete in 2038 at current pace
Bills, Backers, and Blocs: A Data-Driven Look at Lobbying in Hawai‘i
Hawaii 2nd-Healthiest State
Amended fuel contract expected to save Oahu households nearly $3 a month on electric bills
Study: 60,000 Oahu property tax bills artificially inflated, due out in July
SA: … Madden, a 37-year Honolulu real estate agent, contends that around 60,000 homeowners will receive city property tax bills in July that are significantly higher than they should be based on fair market value.
The broker at Hawai‘i Life compared purchase prices for 200 randomly selected Oahu homes sold last year — 100 in July and 100 in September — and compared the prices with values determined on Oct. 1 by the city Real Property Assessment Division for bills being sent out by July 20 for the upcoming fiscal year.
Madden’s analysis showed that about 20% of his sample properties had assessed values exceeding sale prices by at least 10%, suggesting that 20% of the roughly 300,000 homes on Oahu, or 60,000 residences, were overvalued for property tax purposes….
Property owners may contest annual assessed values, but under city ordinance must compellingly demonstrate that the amount is more than 10% above fair market value to have the assessment adjusted. On the neighbor islands, the threshold is 20%.
Over the last decade, 1,152 Oahu property owners annually on average appealed, according to city records. Scheuring said appellants prevailed in roughly one-third of cases.
Appeals are accepted from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15 after assessments are made Oct. 1 and sent to property owners on or before Dec. 15….
Read … Oahu property tax bills, due out in July, criticized over accuracy | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Vote on Maui vacation rentals could come July 2
SA: … A key Maui County Council committee plans on two more days of hearings before a possible vote on July 2 after considering testimony for and against a proposal to reclassify 6,100 short-term vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Council member Tasha Kama, chair of the Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee, began the hearings on June 9, resumed them on Wednesday and following a full day of testimony Monday scheduled a third hearing from 5-8 tonight, followed by a half day of hearings beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday because dozens of people who signed up to speak still have been unable to testify.
Kama also scheduled a full day of committee deliberations on Mayor Richard Bissen’s Bill 9 proposal for July 2, including questions for Bissen and his staff following all of the public testimony…
If approved, Bill 9 would take effect in West Maui by July 1, 2028….
Read … Vote on Maui vacation rentals could come July 2 | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The Lesson of the Maui Fires: Prioritize Recovery Before the Disaster
G: … The incinerated town of Lahaina has barely begun to recover. Policymakers have scrambled to ease inflexible laws and regulations but rebuilding would be happening much more quickly if that had happened before the fires….
Read … The Lesson of the Maui Fires: Prioritize Recovery Before the Disaster
Mayor expected to file revised $5B city budget today
SA: … Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi today is expected to file a revised version of the city’s more than $5-billion budget package for fiscal year 2026 with the Office of the City Clerk.
The same version of the budget will also be transmitted to the City Council, which approved the spending plan June 4.
In doing so, Blangiardi may take formal action to adopt the budget, before the new fiscal year begins July 1….
Read … Mayor expected to file revised $5B city budget today | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Daily Violence At State Hospital Triggers Workplace Safety Complaint
CB: … The complaint was filed with HIOSH on June 6 alleging three employees at the hospital for the mentally ill were assaulted by a patient May 6 and May 7. Another staffer was punched in the jaw May 29 while giving a patient an injection, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Civil Beat. The document does not identify who filed the complaint.
It alleges the hospital administration has “failed to implement or maintain adequate workplace violence prevention protocols.” Meanwhile, two hospital members said in interviews the monthly count of patient-on-staff assaults has been rising.
A staffer who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media cited internal hospital data showing the facility logged more than three dozen incidents where patients assaulted staff in each of the first three months of this year.
(TRANSLATION: Lunatic criminals are assaulting staff more than once a day, on average.)
By comparison, the hospital documented 222 assaults in all of 2024, the staffer said. Representatives from HIOSH visited the hospital and spoke to employees June 10 in response to the complaint, the staffer said….
The HIOSH complaint alleges the management team at the hospital has discouraged the use of restraints when moving violent patients “despite the known risk of injury.”
It also alleges management has limited the use of one-on one supervision of high-risk or aggressive patients as a cost-cutting measure “despite staff concerns that reduced monitoring increases the likelihood of assaults.”…
Read … Violence At State Hospital Triggers Workplace Safety Complaint - Honolulu Civil Beat
Governor calls for HTA board resignations while lawmakers grill its leaders
HNN: … On Monday, lawmakers grilled the HTA’s new, interim leadership in a hearing that lasted most of the workday.
Lawmakers have already stripped the tourism authority of most of its power, they lost their automatic funding, freedom from purchasing and civil service rules and the board’s decision-making role.
State Sen. Donna Kim told new HTA Chair Todd Apo that many of the issues were the responsibility of long-time HTA managers and executives, whose failures had led to the downfall of the agency.
“Yet we see recycling of the same people that are responsible for all this happening,” Kim said.
“One of the lowest points as to where we are and we need to start building out of that,” Apo said.
The issue of who was taking responsibility for taxpayer money led to a tense discussion of Isaac Choy.
The former state representative and HTAs chief financial officer was forced into unpaid leave after making alleged racial and sexist remarks, allegations that became public after he helped resolve $14 million in overdue bills.
State Business and Tourism Director James Tokioka said he got calls from the contractors and called on Choy, who had been a friend since the two served in the legislature together.
“I was very upset and I told Isaac Choy you need to resolve this now,” he said.
He said Choy did solve the issues in two or three weekend sessions, checking that the contractors had done their jobs and approving the payments, but the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, claimed it was owed $780,000 interest….
Some senators believe Choy was targeted with hostile workplace allegations because he spoke up about financial issues, which Choy has also asserted in a lawsuit against the agency and the state.
Sen. Kim called Choy a whistleblower.
“And yet you guys fired the guy that did the whistleblowing how is that fair?” she asked, which interim CEO Caroline Anderson didn’t have a chance to respond, because Sen. Kurt Favella, who had called for Choy and Tokioka to be fired spoke up….
SA: Tourism briefing reveals unexpected L.A. Rams expense | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
CB: Mismanagement Claims: State Tourism Officials Grilled By Lawmakers - Honolulu Civil Beat
KHON: Hawaii Tourism Authority leadership questioned by state lawmakers | KHON2
Read … Governor calls for HTA board resignations while lawmakers grill its leaders
A Roadmap to Revive Hawai‘i’s Economy and Future
HB: … Two local leaders argue that an effective combination of human capital, infrastructure and policy can create a growth economy that benefits everyone….
Read … A Roadmap to Revive Hawai‘i’s Economy and Future - Hawaii Business Magazine
House and Senate Allowances: Travel to LA for Movie Premier
CB: … The reports are as of June 2 and show how each member is spending their $16,350 allowance. A couple reports stand out in terms of amount and novelty.
Rep. Shirley Ann Templo spent $991 for travel and lodging in order to attend the world premiere of the live-action “Lilo & Stitch” in Los Angeles in mid-May. Templo, who is vice chair of the House Tourism Committee, was a guest of the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Rep. Della Au Belatti was in Washington, D.C., last month for meetings with the Military Affairs Council and the Department of Defense. Airfare, meals, lodging and ground transportation totaled $2,170.
Other expenses that caught The Blog’s roving eye: $15 for bags of little fire ant kits for Rep. Mike Lee‘s District 50 constituents, and $15 for parking for the Aloha Hawaii Prayer Breakfast for Rep. Julie Reyes Oda….
Senators using their allowance to help pay for airfare, hotels, ground transportation over the past five months included Mike Gabbard ($2,800 to attend the USDA Policy Summit in Washington), Tim Richards ($2,550 for the same summit — he and Gabbard lead the Senate Agriculture and Environment Committee) and Lorraine Inouye ($1,445 to attend the National Conference of State Legislatures New and Emerging Fiscal Risks meeting in Denver, $1,236 for a Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Convention in Las Vegas and $1,917 for an NCSL Legislative Summit in Boston).
Sens. Brenton Awa and Samantha DeCorte spent $2,373 and $1,481, respectively, to go to D.C. to meet with congressional leaders on federal issues. The two also chipped in for a floral wreath for Rep. Gene Ward’s memorial service.
And two senators barely touched their legislative allowances, reporting having spent only a few hundred bucks: Kurt Fevella and Angus McKelvey. Sharon Moriwaki was not far behind in her frugalness with taxpayer kala….
Read … The Sunshine Blog: Influence Peddling By The Numbers - Honolulu Civil Beat
End of an era: Alexander & Baldwin transfers full ownership of East Maui Irrigation to Mahi Pono
MN: … Farming company Mahi Pono has reached an agreement with Alexander & Baldwin to take over full ownership and operations of East Maui Irrigation, the extensive system of ditches and tunnels that diverted water from East Maui streams to sugar plantations for nearly 150 years.
On June 17, the companies struck a deal to transfer A&B’s 50% ownership to Mahi Pono and forego the $2.7 million Mahi Pono was originally set to pay for the remaining half of the system. …
In December 2018, A&B sold more than 41,000 acres of former sugarcane land to Mahi Pono for $262 million, with the two companies jointly owning East Maui Irrigation.
Since then, A&B has shifted its focus to commercial real estate, investing the proceeds from the sale to Mahi Pono into new acquisitions of commercial properties across the state.
A&B spokesperson Andrea Galvin confirmed in a statement to the Hawaiʻi Journalism Initiative on Monday that the agreement “is a continuation of A&B’s simplification strategy and allows us to focus on growing our core business as a commercial real estate company in Hawai‘i.” …
Mahi Pono said the latest transition would not change East Maui Irrigation’s operations, staffing or service to water users. While EMI’s system was ordered by the state water commission to return some water to streams in recent years, it continues to divert water for irrigation of Mahi Pono’s 12,000-plus acres of crops as well as to service more than 35,000 Upcountry residents on the Maui County Department of Water Supply system….
HNN: A&B to pay Mahi Pono $55 Mil to take over East Maui water system
CB: Maui Water Wars: A&B Drops Out Of Battle For Long-Term Water Control - Honolulu Civil Beat
Read … End of an era: Alexander & Baldwin transfers full ownership of East Maui Irrigation to Mahi Pono : Maui Now
PUC to Consider: Should deadbeats get more free Electricity?
IM: … The Commission contracted with Rocky Mountain Institute to write a report examining electricity disconnections in the State. The “Pathways to Disconnection Reform in Hawaii Report tracks electricity disconnections in the State since 2013.
The Report shows approximately 5,900 disconnections annually from 2015 through 2019, then a significant increase to approximately 12,800 in 2023.
The Commission opened this new docket to
- Consider whether new disconnection policies should be adopted that could significantly reduce disconnections,
- Help disconnected customers manage their debt,
- Make it easy for customers to re-connect their electricity, and
- Increase access to energy efficiency measures that can lower bills and prevent disconnections.
Individuals, incorporated or unincorporated groups, associations, or entities, with or without legal representation, can intervene or participate at no cost by filing a document online by July 10, 2025….
Read … Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission Opens Disconnection Proceeding | Ililani Media
Trial begins over proposed Kauai hotel project on alleged anthrax site
KITV: … Longtime residents say the property is rumored to be a burial ground for cattle that died in a deadly anthrax outbreak in 1917, a story passed down through generations.
“I had been told it. My husband knew it. It was not a common conversation,” said Barbara Makaʻala Kaaumoana. “But if somebody mentioned the cattle, the ranching in the old days, the anthrax outbreak would come up.”
Anthrax is a bacterial disease that can infect animals and humans.
Historical accounts document hundreds of cattle dying in the Princeville and Hanalei area in the early 1900s.
According to studies from the National Library of Medicine, anthrax spores can survive in soil and bones for decades.
While no physical evidence has yet confirmed the presence of anthrax on the site, plaintiffs in the case say the risk, combined with zoning concerns, should be enough to block the development….
Read … Trial begins over proposed Kauai hotel project on controversial site | News | kitv.com
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