City undecided on rubbish, recycling bins for ADUs

Question: We are in the process of getting our permit to build an ADU on our property. It will be a separate dwelling. Will the city issue additional gray, green and blue bins for this dwelling? If so, what is the process?

Answer: No, not at this time. The city has not yet decided whether accessory dwelling units will receive their own rubbish and recycling carts, so there is no process to acquire them.

The Honolulu Land Use Ordinance defines an ADU as a second dwelling unit, including separate kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilities, attached or detached from the primary dwelling unit on the zoning lot. The city has encouraged their construction as a way to ease Oahu’s shortage of affordable rental housing.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting’s website has an expansive FAQ about ADUs at 808ne.ws/ADUchecklist, but it doesn’t address the question about garbage generated by an ADU tenant. Neither does the city Department of Environmental Services’ informative website, opala.org; this department has direct authority over municipal garbage pickup and recycling routes.

So Kokua Line contacted those departments for more information. Markus Owens, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Services, confirmed that this question is unresolved.

“A policy for distributing carts to new ADU units has not been established yet, but the administration will be looking at options and finalizing it in the near future,” he said.

Back-to-school scam

Although the IRS impersonation scam occurs year-round, the criminals who pull off this con step up their efforts at certain times of year. We’ve entered such a prime period as college students head back to campus, in many cases thousands of miles away from home.

The distance and separation might make parents and young adults more susceptible to the “Federal Student Tax” scam, which the Internal Revenue Service warns is spiking now.

“With students soon heading back to school, scammers are calling parents and students and demanding they pay a federal student tax,” said David Tucker II, an IRS spokesman based in Washington state. “There is no such tax. Don’t fall for this scam.”

The thieves try to persuade people to wire money immediately and become aggressive and threaten to report the student to the police if the mark does not comply.

Apart from potentially being robbed, there also is the annoyance factor. Kokua Line frequently hears from readers receiving harassing phone calls at all hours of the day and night.

Scammers continuously refine their tactics to fool people into paying money or divulging personal information. Besides this latest iteration, the IRS said other ongoing schemes with a fraudulent tax angle include:

>> Altering the caller ID on incoming phone calls in a “spoofing” attempt to make it seem like the IRS, local police or another agency is calling.

>> Imitating tax-preparation software providers to trick tax professionals.

>> Demanding fake tax payments using iTunes gift cards.

>> Soliciting W-2 information from payroll and human resources professionals.

>> Seeking to “verify” tax return information over the phone.

Anyone who receives an unexpected call from someone claiming to be from the IRS should be aware that the IRS never:

>> Calls to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer.

>> Threatens to have you immediately arrested.

>> Demands that you pay up with no chance to question or appeal the bill.

>> Asks for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

If you get a suspicious call, the IRS says you should:

>> Hang up immediately, and do not give the caller any information.

>> Report the call to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, using the “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” webpage (808ne.ws/tigtaform) or by calling 800-366-4484.

>> Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.

You may also report it to the Better Business Bureau of Hawaii, at bbb.org/scamtracker/hawaii.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.