• ‘Ice’ bust • Property taxes ‘Ice’ bust Action speaks louder than words, especially when it comes to attacking Kaua‘i’s serious drug abuse problem. Early Thursday morning Koloa town residents were rudely awakened by the whirring of a large DEA
• ‘Ice’ bust
• Property taxes
‘Ice’ bust
Action speaks louder than words, especially when it comes to attacking Kaua‘i’s serious drug abuse problem.
Early Thursday morning Koloa town residents were rudely awakened by the whirring of a large DEA helicopter. The loud noise turned out to be a blessing for residents of a low-income apartment project when they discovered that police were serving search warrants on residents of what’s alleged to be “ice” houses.
The Kaua‘i Police Department was joined by federal agents and law enforcement officials from other islands. They were ready for action with guns drawn in the well-executed plan that resulted in no injuries, except to the pride of suspected “ice” dealers and users.
Reports of “ice” houses being located in and around Koloa town have come into The Garden Island, it is good to see law enforcement officials under the urging of Mayor Bryan Baptiste taking some concrete action on the issue.
We hope the photographs on our front page today will send out a message that “ice” use and dealing won’t be tolerated on Kaua‘i.
The appearance of federal law officers and a helicopter from the Drug Enforcement Agency is a good sign that federal involvement in solving Kaua‘i’s drug problem is stepping up. Federal prosecutor Ed Kubo has found great success in Waipahu and other areas of O‘ahu with reported drug abuse and dealing problems. We can expect to see more such busts in other areas of Kaua‘i, with Sen. Daniel Inouye and Rep. Ed Case seeking federal funds for Kaua‘i to turn the heat up on the illegal acts of drug dealers and suppliers.
The fight also needs to be taken to those who transport “ice” and other illegal drugs to Kaua‘i; they are the ones making the fortunes and spreading the poison known as “ice” to our local residents, young and old.
Property taxes
The Kaua‘i County Council is tackling the problem of high property taxes being paid by local homeowners who live in the homes they pay county property taxes on.
On the North Shore and South Shore, as well as other areas of the island, homeowners are seeing their property tax assessments sky rocket due to the high prices other homes in their neighborhoods are fetching in today’s red-hot island real estate market.
Some homeowners inherited homes that their fathers and grandfathers owned. Others bought their homes years prior to the current Kaua‘i real estate gold rush. Their incomes usually in no way match that of the new wave of home buyers who can afford prices hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than the cost of homes a decade or two back.
The council is looking at a short-term tax relief plan that will help home owners from facing hard times in keeping up with ballooning county property tax payments.
The plan is commendable, but a long-term view is needed if this problem is to be solved. If high property taxes are charged to local homeowners living on fixed incomes, or who earn wages way below the household incomes of wealthy newcomers we may see the property taxes as key reasons for future foreclosures and bankruptcies and the loss of homes long held by local residents. An equitable formula for assessing property taxes is needed. The Council is on the right track, let’s hope their final plan works well for all.
