Entries for 'Lowell L Kalapa'

...repeal of the lesser half percent rate was made as a parry to the recommendation of their consultant that the overall rate imposed on all retail activities be increased to generate more revenues for the state....

As another legislative session is about to be convened, let’s look back at some of their follies over the past few years ....

As a result of being the beneficiary of such generous bounty from the federal government, Hawaii really has not had to face head on the fact that it is a poor place to do business....

...this year the tax scramble is not so much for shifting income and deductions from one tax year to the next as much as it is about getting one’s solar energy device installed....

... lawmakers will make a bid to increase taxes yet again ....

With less than a week left for the White House and Congressional negotiators to come to some sort of compromise, it is time to put all of this debate into perspective.

...some taxes are already scheduled to rise as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)....

Now that everyone is talking about the fiscal cliff that looms as the new year approaches, some are asking what sort of changes will occur on the tax landscape.

Ever since the administration put forth the idea of taxing pension income a couple of years ago, the issue has drawn increased discussion especially as other taxes have been increased to make up for the shortfall in the state budget

...lawmakers figured that the general public would not notice that the exemptions were temporarily suspended....

No doubt many voters have already cast their votes in this election, but it is never too late to stop a bad idea ....

Lawmakers seem to have a simplistic reaction to solving problems the solution to which plagues their constituents - tax it.

As they appeal to the elderly, the candidates adroitly fail to point out that any reforms of either the Social Security or Medicare systems will affect the benefits of those who are many years away from retirement....

Lawmakers and special interest groups believe that if they could secure a guaranteed source of funding for their pet project or program from state government, they won’t have to worry about their funding needs in the future....

...it is not always quite clear just how much money is being spent on state programs and services....

No matter the political rhetoric you will hear in these final weeks before the general election, there is no doubt that there will be an increase in taxes at the federal level.

Apparently there are some, including some of the commissioners on the Tax Review Commission, who believe that those unfunded liabilities that combined is estimated to be more than $20 billion must be addressed with increases in taxes....

One of the recommendations made by consultants to the current Tax Review Commission is almost an after thought, you know like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped....

As reported earlier, the current Tax Review Commission seems bent on finding ways to raise new tax revenues as it has directed its consultants to come up with ways to find more money.

There will be a national summit on affordable housing that will be held in Honolulu next week...

Well, the Primary Election is over and all eyes are focused on the BIG PRIZE come November, but will voters be salved with the political rhetoric or will they ask the hard questions?

The problem is that governments at all level are spending a lot more than they are collecting in revenue....

Criticism aimed at the highly touted high-technology tax credits has now been confirmed by the state’s Auditor....

This is only the beginning of the downward spiral of our community....

...former elected officials want to get back into the policymaking arena at a time when all of the chickens that they created in the past are coming home to roost....

...county officials in the City & County of Honolulu are squirming over what do to with a recommendation made by a commission it appointed to bring fairness and equity into the real property tax system....

... special funds became rampant in the late 1980’s when the state saw a huge growth in the state general fund surplus ....

... it is not only the Tax Review Commission that is eyeing ways to raise additional revenues, but also various special interest groups ....

Taxpayers are being set up for a tax increase, make that several tax increases as a result of the work of the latest Tax Review Commission.

...an advocate for a program that state government has been trying to implement for nearly two decades asked why couldn’t taxpayers support a hike in the general excise tax rate....

Whenever some policymaker comes up with a proposal to grant a tax preference to a certain group of taxpayers, one has to take that proposal with a grain of salt ....

...the Department of Taxation interpretation of the alternate energy tax credit created a huge hole in the revenue picture as its definition of “system” allowed taxpayers to claim more than one credit per installation....

those customers are us....

HB 2328, CD-1: One legislator decided to add a special provision to take care of some unspecified constituent.

Although there were numerous proposals to either adopt new tax incentives or tax credits during the 2012 legislative session, none passed.

 ...the electorate is growing more and more sensitive to the rising burden of taxes and fees of the past few years as lawmakers attempted to balance the state’s budget on the back of taxpayers....

A highly compensated Bishop Street executive recently complained that his effective state tax rate was something on the order of 16% even though the nominal maximum state income tax rate is 11% for those folks making big incomes....

...the tax incentive did nothing more than skew the economic cycle and created the feast and famine of construction activity....

While some of the slowness of government action is certainly attributable to the laws and regulations that have been layered upon year after year, a good part of the blame lies with the reality that many in the public sector do not want to make decisions purely out of the fear that the decision might be wrong....

One of the reasons why there is growing taxpayer cynicism about the work of lawmakers is the earmarking of revenues for specific programs which in many respects has little relationship to the source of the funding....

Despite the campaign rhetoric lawmakers chant over and over during the campaign season that Hawaii voters can trust them as representatives of their constituents, it seems that there is a growing cynicism that lawmakers cannot be trusted.... 

For more than a dozen years now, lawmakers have been touting the tax credit bandwagon....

A funny thing happened on the way to doing state income taxes this year....

In some cases, constituents have come to believe that they are entitled to many of these programs and services, that is until they realized how much they are paying for these services.  Such is the case in public housing ....

... Hawaii has created the financial crisis it faces today over the last 25 years as a result of elected officials attempting to pander to their voting constituents ....

...the project would require legislation at the federal level to be approved by Congress to address the issue of the infringement of the “Interstate Commerce Clause.”  

...there is a way to collect more revenues without raising a single tax rate or adopting an increase in user fees. It merely involves collecting the taxes that are already due under current law....

...one of the biggest fears of government observers in Hawaii is the looming elephant in the room which is the unfunded liabilities of the state and county retirement system and the related health benefits for current and future public employee retirees.... 

the Schools Repairs check-off garnered $66,406 during fiscal year 2011 which was down from the $72,200 it picked up in the previous fiscal year 2010. Designated check-offs for Domestic Violence and Child Abuse dropped from $134,445 in fiscal 2010 to $129,045 for 2011.... 

One would think that in an election year lawmakers would shy away from raising taxes and imposing new fees, but that is just not the case down at the state capitol building in Honolulu....