Rescue costs
I find it interesting that the Kaua‘i County Council, especially its chair, is seeking a means to recoup expenses for search and rescue of visitors in trouble on our Garden Island.
The state and Kaua‘i tourism bureaus promote our wilderness trails, hiking and ocean adventures. Our council chair says that visitors are “doing stupid things” when they pursue these activities, and should be punished if they should get into trouble.
Despite his admission that he didn’t know how often visitors needed to be rescued, etc., Councilman Bulosan co-sponsored Bill 2910 along with Councilman DeCosta. The reality is that the state Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) was implemented to cover these and other infrastructure expenses involving our visitor industry.
Kaua‘i County now has its own TAT levied on visitors as well. Is that not enough?
Steve Hansen, Kekaha
