WMTA Call to Action

​Aloha West Maui Property Owner:                                                                                 August 15, 2019
 
Last month, we asked you, “What can I do or say to get your attention and desire to support our Call to Action for the West Maui Taxpayer’s Association Inc.”; (WMTA)? We are following up with another call to action to update you and respectfully request a response, if you have not already responded.
 
Please join us as we engage in a dedicated effort to restore prudent financial responsibility from our County governmental representatives. We have been diligently seeking answers to where all this excess tax money is going and are not surprised that it does not seem to have been sufficiently applied towards resolving our many existing “crisis,” situations.  
 
The WMTA has always advocated for fairness in taxation and efficiency in government.   Instead, recently, there has been an explosive growth of government, with the added costs associated with more governmental benefits of retirement, etc., that could be avoided with outsourcing public/private for services instead.

• Why aren't more public-private partnerships being used to build affordable workforce housing projects and homeless shelters, etc.?  When WMTA and our partner West Maui Improvement Foundation Inc. (WMIF) built the Napili Fire and Ambulance Station with private funds of our own and then dedicated it to the County to add staffing operationally later, we saved millions of taxpayer dollars!  

 

• The County of Maui recently raised property taxes – where is the $40 million additional funds being applied to?  When we look at the largest tax increase in Maui history and compare it to the existing crises we have in affordable housing, homelessness, and rising oceans ready to wipe out many West Maui roadways, we don't see where the application of $40 Million extra property tax dollars is to be applied. This extraordinary tax against short term renters and the hotel/time share industry was clearly an attack against the visitor industry in our opinion. The tourists are not to blame for our government’s inability to manage our infrastructure.

 

• How has the County Council addressed housing issues in West Maui?  Despite the support of the Chair of their Housing Committee, the County Council has just recently denied affordable housing projects in West Maui for what seems to be personal issues problems with the developer(s) and NIMBY issues, which have nothing to do with the projects themselves, denying needed housing for our residents. The County should be using the extra $$ millions in property tax revenues to subsidize impact fee costs for new Affordable Rental housing in perpetuity for our Workforce, and to double the housing resources for our homeless population, addressing necessary fire breaks and roadways to Save Residential areas from fires/floods, etc. They have added very little to address these crisis areas with this extra money.  It seems that the “tone” of some members on the existing council is anti-tourism.  Penalizing the Tourism Industry is wrong and taking money away from MVB is unwise. The Maui Visitors Bureau (MVB) is the only recipient providing a Return on Investment far in excess of what we grant to them. We are all in the same canoe, we need to work together!

This letter is being sent to you to join with us in our Campaign to restore prudent Fiscal Responsibility to Maui County immediately and if necessary, at the next election for the Maui County Council in 2020. Your donations will be used for:

• A dedicated Political Action Committee campaign
• Expenses for targeted media communications to our members and the general public
• Dedicated administrative staff support

 
You can be a part of the solution or part of the problem. The choice is up to you. Please choose wisely and send us a generous donation today. Mahalo!
 
 Warmest Regards and Aloha,

Joseph D Pluta, President, WMTA

Click here for PDF Version

Click here for the Donation Form to Send with Your Donation

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 ​2019-2020 WMTA PARTNER                          
 [   ] Yes! We want to restore prudent fiscal responsibility in Maui Government. 
 
Enclosed is my Partner Gift of:
(  ) $45       (  ) $65       (  ) $85       (  ) $125       (  ) Other $_____
 
(  ) ALL-STAR SPONSOR ($1,000+++): $__________
 
Please make check payable to “WMTA," and memo WMTA Partner/WMTA is a 501-c-4 Non-Profit Organization. Contribu­tions to civic leagues or other section 501(c)(4) organizations generally are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. They may be deductible as trade or business expenses, if ordinary and necessary in the conduct of the taxpayer’s business."  (Source: IRS.Gov). Please check with your tax adviser.  Thank you. Please return this with your contribution.