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Carroll talks about taxes, the zoo, and how government tells stories that cover-up or hide real situations. What Mayor Caldwell's office told the media about the death of Rosey the Hippo on July 18, at the Honolulu Zoo, conflicts with what workers at the zoo told Carroll. Per zoo workers, Rosey died due to mishandling during the construction process. However,
the city told media inquiring about the death that construction work was stopped because Rosey's companion, Louise the Hippo, is grieving. Yes, Louise is grieving for Rosey, but per a stop work order letter to the contractor, from the city, the work was stopped due to dust and noise. Not only that, Carroll has been getting the runaround when trying to get answers to his questions
and obtain other documents through UIPA requests.
See attached Necropsy Report for Rosey we finally received on 8/26/14. Report was inconclusive but notes "The role of environmental stress should be speculative but certainly is one possibility to consider." It also notes that Rosey was "Recently exposed to construction noise adjacent to sleeping quarters and exhibit. Recently the animal had decreased food consumption and a change in behavior."
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The second hour Carroll discusses problems with property tax assessments and the appeal process. Carroll states he is not a tax expert, or giving legal advice. He is just seeking answers to actions by the city he believes amount to taxation without representation and are not constitutional. The mayor has not appointed enough
members to the Board of Appeals. Since the tax boards are not completely staffed, they do not always have a quorum. That is the reason District 3 has not heard any cases for several years. Members of the District 3 communities (central and west Oahu), are referred to the two other boards for hearings. Those boards are overloaded and do not have time for everyone. The Board of Review Annual Report from 2013 states, "Because of manpower shortage in assessor's office there has often
been a backlog of two, three and sometimes even four appeals from the same appellant on his/her property values for consecutive years." Carroll talks about the runaround he is getting for answers to his questions and requests for documents. Attached is a copy of Carroll's document request and the information he received regarding property evaluations.
See attached Board of Review Annual Reports:
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Callers talk about how the discussion relates to both the lack of, and misinformation, about the rail project.
Follow: Carroll Cox, Rosey the Hippo, Louise the Hippo, Honolulu Zoo, zoo construction, Mayor Caldwell, Tax Board of Review, tax assessment, tax appeal.
