Question: We’re running into rubbish overload with the new tenants in our accessory dwelling unit. How does a resident with a legal ADU go about getting a gray, green and blue bin for the separate ADU dwelling? Does the city issue them?
Answer: No, Honolulu County doesn’t issue separate bins specifically for an accessory dwelling unit, but if you and your tenants are sorting household rubbish, green waste and mixed recyclables properly and still have an overflow, you might qualify for up to two more carts for the overall property.
“The Department of Environmental Services’ Refuse Division provides the three-cart automated collection service to each Tax Map Key (on an automated collection route). Each TMK receives three carts — one each of gray, green and blue. Those properties that built accessory dwelling units on their TMK must share their carts with the ADU occupants. All excess trash accumulated on the property may be brought to one of our convenience centers or transfer stations, which are operational seven days a week. A TMK may request up to two additional carts — five total — and must go through a monitoring process by our refuse inspectors to see if they qualify for the additional cart(s),” said Markus Owens, ENV spokesman, in an emailed response.
To be clear, five total means the three carts initially issued to the TMK, plus two additional. The gray cart is for general household trash, the green cart for green waste such as yard trimmings and the blue cart for mixed recyclables such as metal cans, glass jars and certain plastic containers (marked recyclable 1 or 2).
You may request to have your property’s trash monitored by calling 808-768-3200; that’s the first step to obtaining a second gray cart, and you may end up on a waitlist. If you are approved for monitoring, a refuse supervisor would check your gray cart for several weeks to assess the volume of garbage and make sure that recyclables or green waste are not being misplaced. This is the rule for any Oahu property on an automated collection route, not just those with an ADU.
Additional gray carts or additional or larger blue carts are issued based on an ongoing excess of trash or recyclables, respectively. Additional green carts are issued based on property size. For more information, see 808ne.ws/carts.
Q: I plan to start collecting Social Security next year. Will I have to pay federal income tax? I am getting conflicting information.
A: Whether or not you’ll pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits will depend on the amount of your “combined income,” which will include your adjusted gross income, tax-exempt interest income and half of your Social Security benefits, the Social Security Administration explains on its website.
“You must pay taxes on your benefits if you file a federal tax return as an ‘individual’ and your ‘combined income’ exceeds $25,000. If you file a joint return, you must pay taxes if you and your spouse have ‘combined income’ of more than $32,000. If you are married and file a separate return, you probably will have to pay taxes on your benefits,” it says.
No matter how high your combined income, you would not pay federal income taxes on more than 85% of your Social Security benefits, it says.
Mahalo
I want to say “thank you” to the kind gentleman who helped me up when I fell down in the parking lot of the Iwilei Costco on May 27. Thank you also to the two gracious ladies who came to my aid and called Costco employees and the ambulance, and to the two Costco employees (Johnny and Roy) and the ambulance attendants (Matt and Eugene). The assistance of all is greatly appreciated by this senior citizen. — Reader
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
