In a just-released study titled “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States,” Hawaii was ranked by a nonpartisan think tank as the 15th most unfair state and local tax system in the country. According to the findings, the poorest residents in the islands pay 68 percent more in taxes as a portion of their income compared with the wealthiest.

It seems there’s room for upper-income earners, who can afford to pitch in more in taxes, to do so. Or the state could better balance the tax burden by exempting low-income residents. Hawaii is one of only 15 states that tax the income of residents living at or below the poverty level.

Vacation rentals bedevil San Diego’s City Council

It’s more than a little disheartening to see the San Diego City Council repeal its own regulation of vacation rentals this week, rather than let it go out to a ballot vote at a future election.

The disinterested onlooker can only wonder what kind of pressure was brought to bear on the council — probably from homeowners who are anything but disinterested, with hopes of using their own property for short-term rentals.

This doesn’t fill Oahu residents with hope that their own Council members might finally grapple with this issue. All the same, it makes sense for them to do so.