Solid-waste update, new hires approved $225,000-plus going to land access fund Solid-waste update, new hires approved By PAUL C. CURTIS – TGI Business Editor LIHUE — The County Council yesterday unanimously approved a county operating budget of nearly $98 million,
Solid-waste update, new hires approved $225,000-plus going to land access fund
Solid-waste update, new hires approved
By PAUL C. CURTIS – TGI Business Editor
LIHUE — The County Council yesterday unanimously approved a county operating budget of nearly $98 million, and a capital improvement project (CIP) budget of nearly $19 million.
The budget goes into force on July 1.
In the budget, real-property tax rates remain unchanged.
But, escalating property assessments mean residential property owners and other land owners will pay more when bills are mailed out in August.
A homeowner with house and land valued at $275,000 will pay around $1,100 if in the homestead class, and around $1,500 in the single-family residential class. Combined, the two residential classes are expected to generate over $15.8 million in revenue for the county.
Ray Chuan of Hanalei said Kauai taxpayers have seen their assessments surge ahead of those in any of the other counties in Hawaii, including an increase of 12 percent from the current fiscal year to the upcoming fiscal year.
That fact was not lost on councilmembers.
A tax-relief bill passed by the council caps real property taxes at 3 percent of low-income residents’ incomes, and the council and Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste created a real property tax task force to look at the problem of accelerating assessments, said Councilmember JoAnn A. Yukimura.
The council’s priorities regarding real property taxes were to keep rates reasonable, and make sure all who qualify know about the new tax relief available to them, Yukimura added.
“The tax issue has been a big problem,” said Councilmember Joe Munechika, adding that he hopes the task force can help address the problem.
Councilmembers Jimmy Tokioka and Daryl Kaneshiro were absent, as they are attending the National Association of Counties meetings on the Mainland.
The operating budget’s main revenue source is real property taxes, at $46 million nearly half of the budget.
Some $11.8 million comes from the county’s share of state transient accommodations taxes (TAT, or hotel-room taxes), and the remainder of the $66.4 million projected to come into the county general fund comes from fees and other miscellaneous charges, said Michael Tresler, county finance director.
Of the proposed expenditures, $25.4 million is for general government, and $21.2 million is for public safety, the two largest categories. Some $7,028,466 will be used for sanitation and waste disposal, and $6,575,550 will go to pay down county debt. Another $5.3 million is to fund pensions and retirements of county employees.
Yukimura said she was pleased that funds were approved to update the 20-year-old solid-waste master plan approved when she was Kauai mayor.
“We have a ticking bomb here,” with the Kekaha Landfill filling up and no long-range, solid-waste master plan, she said.
More effective diversion efforts are needed, as well as disposal of whatever can’t be diverted. “I happen to think that burning is a better alternative” than landfilling, Yukimura said.
She said she was sorry the council didn’t approve additional staff for the county Planning Department, to assist with implementation of various community development plans, and to address public-access land issues.
Yukimura said the budget-making process with the “excellent leadership” of Council Chair Kaipo Asing was “the most harmonious” she has ever been involved with, and thanked council staff and representatives of Baptiste’s administration for bringing forth “very innovative and thoughtful proposals.”
Finally, she thanked the public for their participation and involvement.
Munechika also complimented Asing, saying the approved money documents represent “a budget we can all be quite proud of.”
Echoing Yukimura’s praise of Baptiste’s call for an integrated information technology department within county government, Munechika said if county officials can’t find or afford “warm bodies” for critical positions, maybe technology can help cover some of the gaps.
Councilmember Jay Furfaro also thanked Asing, adding that he supports efforts to recruit officers to the Kauai Police Department, to address shortages there.
Further, he thanked council services’ and clerk’s office staff, representatives from the county Finance Department, Gov. Linda Lingle and other state representatives.
“Thank you to the administration for being so descriptive in their proposals,” said Councilmember Mel Rapozo, like Furfaro completing his first budget-making process as a councilmember.
“He was just a good leader,” Rapozo said of Asing, while also thanking the public for their participation.
Asing thanked his fellow councilmembers for “working hard, diligently,” and for their willingness to compromise.
Councilmembers and the public didn’t get everything they wanted, said Asing, adding that he looks forward to working with councilmembers and the administration on subsequent budgets.
Among items approved was a third full-time maintenance position for Lydgate Park. Funds for a third body to help the two full-time park caretakers were approved last year, but at the discretion of county parks officials, that position was used for Lydgate and other parks, explained Furfaro.
Business Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
$225,000-plus going to land access fund
By TGI Staff
LIHUE — Some $237,000, representing one half of 1 percent of all county real-property-tax collections, is being set aside for acquisition of lands for public use.
The set-aside is the result of an amendment to the County Charter approved by voters in the 2002 election.
The funds are included in a “public access initiative” line item listed in the county Department of Finance budget for fiscal year 2003-04.
The new county fiscal year begins Tuesday, July 1.
“This money is very important,” said County Councilmember JoAnn A. Yukimura, as the council voted unanimously yesterday to approve a $98-million county operating budget and $19 million for capital improvements to county facilities.
With more “No Trespassing” signs and gates being put up across the island, the need for public open space and access is paramount, she said.
Yukimura expressed disappointment that a proposal to set aside $375,000 for access to beaches and other public lands was not approved by the council, but noted that a contingency fund may be able to be tapped into for specific public-access proposals.
A committee made up of representatives of the County Council and Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste’s administration will decide how to spend any of the funds from the public-access account.
