Provide incentives, not tax increases

Our governor, legislators and mayors have an enormous task before them, created by the COVID pandemic and resulting recession. They need to find new sources of money just to keep the lights on and to pay the billions of dollars in state and county debt.

If the state and counties look at taxpayers as the source of new money, they will force taxpayers to spend less by reducing the size of their companies and payrolls, or just close their doors completely and eventually leave Hawaii.

If, on the other hand, the state and counties find ways to incentivize taxpayers to expand and invest in their businesses, increasing payrolls, thus paying more taxes from more earnings, this can become a win-win solution.

Bottom line: The taxpayer needs to see that it is easier to make more than to spend less. Our fate is in the hands of our governor, legislators and mayors.

Bob Hampton

Hawaii Kai

Tourism contributes to global warming

David Ige is correctly withholding funding from the Hawaii Tourism Authority (“Hawaii Tourism Authority readies for defunding,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 25).

Considering furloughs and curtailing public services, it’s inappropriate to continue subsidizing the visitor industry. The industry itself will promote Hawaii’s tourism if public funding is withdrawn. In 1990, before HTA’s public funding, the Hawaii Visitors Bureau reported 7 million visitors.

HTA promotes tourism to the most distant inhabited archipelago from continental land masses. Using representative airports from HTA’s eight regions of origin and visitor numbers, the average distance traveled round trip is 7,000 miles.

Each average visitor’s air travel is responsible for 1.8 tons of CO2(e). Some 18 million tons emissions from 2019’s 10 million visitors dwarfs the 7 million tons from the state’s electricity generation and 4 million tons from ground transportation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s yearly “carbon budget” for each world citizen is 2.3 tons to stay below 2 degrees Celsius warming. Through government’s promotion of tourism, each of Hawaii’s 1.4 million citizens “appropriates” the yearly carbon budget of six world citizens.

Tourism to Hawaii is incompatible with climate justice.

Tawn Keeney, M.D.

Honokaa, Hawaii island

Hospitality industry cares for its workers

A local resident called for a re-examination of the local tourism industry, asking the question: “Why should Hawaii’s taxpayers prop up a multibillion- dollar industry that at best only offers perpetually low-paying jobs?” (“Stop funding HTA, find better opportunities,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 2).

While tourism’s role in our local community and economy should be consistently examined, he missed the mark.

First, hospitality professionals in Hawaii earn among the highest industry pay across the country. To imply that the industry doesn’t take care of its people is disingenuous at best. More importantly, in 2019, travelers spent $17.75 billion here and generated $2.07 billion in state tax revenue.

While there exists the notion that tourism is a purely exploitative industry, that could not be further from the truth, and to represent it as such ignores the nuance of the situation.

Jared Ellis

Mililani

Condo pool lifts for the disabled

Why is it that in Hawaii, hotels are mandated to have a lift for the disabled to access the pool, but private condominium buildings are not? We value kupuna and know that aquatic therapy is good for treating many conditions.

Depending on the size of the building (number of units), condo pools should be required to have some type of accessibility to the water via a lift or ramp, at the expense of the homeowners’ association. You never know if you will need it one day. Think ahead.

Ben Robinson

Waikiki

Affordable rentals, but no amenities

A 240 x 375 square-foot studio apartment in an upscale condo tower rents for an affordable $1,362 (“Affordable rentals available in upscale condo tower at Ala Moana,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 2). Unfortunately you can’t use the dog park, the pool, the movies — for that matter, any of the amenities that the big-bucks owners will enjoy.

Luckily, you do get a door.

I’m wondering how many tax breaks, extra-height variances and financial breaks have we given away to make Honolulu a gated community?

Pat Meyers

Kailua

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