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Council to vote on GET hike
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
EUGENE NG, M.D. HARVEY YANG, O.D.
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Index
Big Isle History C3
Classified C7
Commentary A8
Crossword C6
Issue No. 168
26 Pages in
3 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Dear Abby C6
Horoscope C6
Letters A8
Nation A5
Spending Well C4
Sports B1
Stocks A2
Surf Report A2
Travel C1
Tropical
Gardening C3
World A11
Internet
Visit us on the Web at:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
KILAUEA ERUPTION
The public will have two
opportunities to weigh in on
a proposed quarter-percent
increase to the general excise
tax before the County Council
takes its final vote Tuesday.
Administration officials
say there’s a twofold reason
for instituting the tax: to patch
an estimated $5 million hole
in the current budget and to
diversify county
revenues, to spare
property owners
future tax hikes.
About 30 percent
to 40 percent
of the GET is
paid by tourists,
they say, while property
taxes currently account for
more than 70 percent of the
county’s operating revenues.
“Putting all your eggs in
one basket, which is real
property tax, isn’t really
smart,” Deputy Finance
Director Nancy Crawford
told the Cost of Government
Commission on Thursday,
adding the GET means
“visitors will have an opportunity
to contribute to our
infrastructure as they certainly
reap the benefits of it.”
A divided council, by a
5-4 vote last week, barely
passed Bill 159, a downsized
version of the mayor’s GET
surcharge attempt. The new
bill trims the tax from onehalf
percent to one-quarter,
Public hearing for general excise
tax increase scheduled for Monday
Courtesy photo
Teams led by the Hawaii Island Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
removed more than a dozen animals out of the Kapoho Beach Lots subdivision in lower Puna on Thursday.
No pet left behind
More than a month after volcanic activity
began disrupting life in lower Puna,
teams are still striving to rescue animals
that remain in the lava zones.
On Thursday, an animal search-and-rescue
team led by the Hawaii Island Humane Society
and American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals removed — sometimes
CRAWFORD
Groups rescue animals
stranded in lava zones
Bridget Allen, who
evacuated from
Cindland
EcoVillage near
Four Corners,
kisses her cat,
Jimi Hendrix,
on June 1 in the
animal area of the
shelter at Keaau
Armory. Read
more about
evacuees and
their pets on
Page A7.
HOLLYN JOHNSON/
Tribune-Herald
By STEPHANIE SALMONS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
See ANIMALS Page A6
TMT
back in
court
Oral arguments
to be presented
The saga of the
Thirty Meter Telescope
will return to the state
Supreme Court this
week as oral arguments
are held for the project’s
land use permit.
The appeal of the
permit for building on
Maunakea, a mountain
some Native Hawaiians
consider sacred, follows
the state Board of Land
and Natural Resources
approving the document
last September after a
lengthy second contested
case hearing.
But it’s not new territory
for the justices.
In December 2015, the
high court overturned
the permit because the
Land Board previously
voted to approve
it before holding the
first contested case, a
quasi-judicial hearing,
thereby depriving opponents
of due process.
The ruling led to a redo
of the contested case.
It’s not known when
the court will rule on
the issue, or a separate
appeal regarding
the project’s sublease
with the University of
Hawaii. Oral arguments
for that case occurred
in March. No ruling
has been issued.
Both sides have a
lot at stake after years
of legal wrangling
See TMT Page A10
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
See GET Page A10
Some things change,
others remain
the same
SPORTS, B1
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