LIHUE — The Kauai County Council will take up a measure on Wednesday that would let general election voters decide whether more taxpayer money should be allocated for public access and open space projects. That proposal, which was introduced by
LIHUE — The Kauai County Council will take up a measure on Wednesday that would let general election voters decide whether more taxpayer money should be allocated for public access and open space projects.
That proposal, which was introduced by Councilmen Tim Bynum and Gary Hooser, would increase the amount of real property tax revenues set aside for the county’s Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund.
“The people of Kauai have made it overwhelmingly clear that maintaining access to our coastal resources and our mountain resources are a very high priority,” Bynum said. “This is our way of saying, ‘Hey, we hear you.’ Let’s not have it be a political football and let’s honor what the people said in the beginning when they overwhelmingly established it.”
This voter-approved fund, which is overseen by a nine-member county commission bearing the fund’s name, receives 1.5 percent of all real property tax revenue collected each year. But the proposal under consideration would raise that amount to 2 percent.
Those funds, according to the Kauai County Charter, are used to acquire lands or property for specific conservation efforts recommended by the commission and approved by the County Council.
In all, just under $1.37 million was allocated for the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund during the 2013-2014 fiscal year, according to county budget documents.
Had the measure been enacted before the Kauai County Council approved the county’s 2014-2015 operating budget in May, the proposed increase would have allocated about $536,809 more to public access and open space projects.
County Finance Director Steve Hunt said this would have, in turn, hiked up the amount of taxpayer money set aside from $1.61 million to $2.14 million.
The initial 2014-2015 fiscal year budget proposal submitted by Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s administration in March, called for a $849,805 drop in funding for the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund.
County Council members, however, were able to stave off the proposed reduction through a mixture of budget cuts and fee and tax increases, including real property tax rates.
The County Council will take up the proposed public access and open space resolution on final reading during their meeting beginning at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Historic County Building Council Chambers.
The seven-member board will also be considering a measure that would, if passed, allow general election voters to decide whether the council’s vacancy selection process should change.
Written comments may be sent to counciltestimony@kauai.gov.
