Question: Can pandemic relief be used to pay property taxes?
Answer: You are referring to the Oahu Homeowner Assistance Fund, which provides up to $30,000 in relief for eligible Honolulu County residents who have suffered financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic and are delinquent on their mortgage or other housing expenses. Yes, the funding can be used to pay property taxes, as well as mortgage payments, utility bills (electric, gas, water/sewer, trash), homeowners insurance, homeowners association fees, housing counseling services and legal services, according to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which administers the program. Funding is still available, CNHA said in an email Monday. You don’t have to be Native Hawaiian to apply, but there are income and other eligibility rules. See hawaiiancouncil.org/oahuhome for more information.
Q: Are the monkeypox cases mostly tourists or residents?
A: Residents. Of 23 known cases, three are nonresidents, according to the Department of Health. Vaccination is available for Hawaii adults considered at higher risk of contracting the disease. See health.hawaii.gov/docd/mpxvax for more information.
Q: Regarding the student loan cancellation, what about Hawaii taxes?
A: “Forgiven student debt provided by the Student Loan Debt Relief Plan will not be taxed as income for Hawaii income tax purposes,” according to Hawaii’s Department of Taxation. See Announcement No. 2022-06 at tax.hawaii.gov for details. As we said Tuesday, federal student loans canceled or reduced under the Biden administration’s program won’t be counted as income for federal income tax purposes either.
Q: The IRS says to call 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. Which local time? Am I calling the East Coast, Midwest, Mountain, or Pacific time? Those time frames do not refer to Hawaii time.
A: Pacific time, according to the IRS website.
Mahalo and Auwe
A little after 7 a.m. Aug. 24, three apparent hunting dogs somehow got onto my property and cornered a pig. The screaming/squealing persisted seemingly forever. Knowing better than to go outside and try to break it up, I called 911. The connection was poor, and the conversation broke up a lot, but I understood the dispatcher asking, “Is that someone screaming in pain?” I replied, “No, it’s a feral pig — nonemergency please.” I opened the gate hoping the hunter(s) would appear. I was on hold with 911, but lost the connection. By then the dogs were leaving. 911 called me back and I explained the situation. The dispatcher connected me to a very courteous and well-informed woman who patiently asked me to recount the situation, worried about the surrounding persons due to loose dogs, advised me regarding my options to handle the feral pig, and repeatedly asked if I needed the police to respond, truly concerned for public safety and my own safety. Despite my declining help by that time, an officer did respond to “look around to see if he saw the loose dogs, anyone that may be in danger, or an injured pig.” So, a big mahalo for their quick response and genuine caring — just sorry that I did not get their names, I was too shook up! Auwe to the hunter(s) who did not follow their collarless dogs! The dogs did their “job” correctly, but the hunter(s) lack of response resulted in prolonged suffering for that adolescent pig. As a former hunter, that is unacceptable — not only for the pig that suffered and ended up being wasted, but also for the dogs that could have been injured or killed by a sow or humans defending themselves and their property. Don’t hunt if you cannot control your dogs! — Tantalus resident
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.
