Bankoh is new drop-off site for water bills
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply said Monday it will switch to Bank of Hawaii from First Hawaiian Bank as a location where customers can drop off bill payments.
Starting April 1, customers can pay their water bills at all Bank of Hawaii traditional branches but not in-store branches.
About 1,300 customers use the bank drop-off method to pay their water bills each month. The Board of Water Supply has about 170,000 commercial and residential customers.
BWS customers don’t need to have a bank account with BOH to drop off payments at the bank. First Hawaiian Bank worked with BWS for two years.
The agency by law had to file a request for proposals, and Bank of Hawaii was the best vendor offering a more competitive price, said Shawn Nakamoto, information officer at BWS.
Hawaiian Air second again in punctuality
Hawaiian Airlines, which has consistently ranked high in on-time performance, finished second in punctuality to Delta Air Lines for the second straight month, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The state’s largest carrier had 85.5 percent of its flights arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. Delta was first at 86.1 percent among the 13 reporting domestic carriers.
In other categories, Hawaiian ranked first in fewest flight cancellations with 0.4 percent, representing 26 cancellations out of 6,440 flights; sixth in fewest mishandled-baggage reports with 2.72 reports per 1,000 passengers; and sixth in fewest consumer complaints with 0.72 per 100,000 passengers.
Hawaiian has led all U.S. carriers in on-time perform- ance for the past 11 years. The carrier provides nonstop service to Hawaii from 11 cities in North America and operates about 160 daily flights between the Hawaiian Islands.
New biomass plant to sell electricity to KIUC
A biomass power plant near Koloa on Kauai announced Monday it expects to begin selling electricity to the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative by May.
Green Energy Team LLC, a Hawaii company, is constructing the plant. The facility will burn wood chips from several places on Kauai, including trees grown on about 2,000 acres of land and several locations on Kauai that have been cleared of invasive species.
The plant will have the capacity to generate 7.5 megawatts of energy, or about 11 percent of Kauai’s annual electrical needs.
Construction began in January 2013. Financing for the $90 million project is being provided by Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas. Once completed and operational, Green Energy Team’s plant will create 39 permanent operating jobs and many indirect jobs for local service providers and agricultural operations.
Hawaii’s federal tax burden is fifth lowest
Only Mississippi, South Carolina, Idaho and Arkansas have lower federal tax burdens than Hawaii, according to new research.
Arkansas residents have the lowest federal tax burden in the U.S., a new study by personal finance site MoneyRates.com found.
The analysis measured the amount a state pays in federal income taxes per capita and the effective federal income tax rates across income brackets.
The study did not take state or local taxes into account.
Honolulu is No. 14 in termite-infested cities
Despite the prevalence of disembodied wings and droppings in many local homes, Honolulu is ranked as only the 14th most termite-infested city in the U.S.
National pest control company Terminix released its annual ranking Monday, compiled using data from its more than 300 branches around the country.
Cities in California and Texas top the list, led by Los Angeles and San Francisco in the top two spots, and the Dallas-Fort Worth market in third place.
San Diego and Houston round out the top five, followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale; Phoenix; Atlanta; Sacramento, Calif.; and Oklahoma City.
At No. 14, Honolulu follows Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. (11); Boston (12); and No. 13 Washington, D.C.
Auto show crowd up 8%
The First Hawaiian International Auto Show last weekend was attended by 8 percent more people than last year’s event. Motor Trend Auto Shows Inc. produces the auto show each year for the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association and releases only the percentage of change, not total attendance.
ON THE MOVE
RevoluSun has hired the following employees:
» Kimberly Bastatas-Fukuda as a project coordinator. She has an active real estate license and is a Realtor associate for Pacific Realty Ventures as well as chief operating officer for Jen’s Caregiver.
» Cheyenne Asahina as the company’s receptionist. Prior to working for RevoluSun, she was a personal assistant.
Allied Builders System has hired Jeanine Okubo as a senior project manager. She has 23 years of project management experience, including serving as a marketing project manager at Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. and as a project manager at J. Kadowaki.
Trusta, an Accountancy Corp., has promoted Jill Hatakenaka Ishimitsu to director from senior manager, audit and accounting. She has 12 years of experience in assurance, audits and accounting services in Oregon and Hawaii, and has worked for the company since 2009.
