Poll: County budget issues

[Rob Tucker]

Friends of Puna's Future (FoPF) wants to poll your views. FoPF will have an opportunity to testify before Mayor Kenoi this next
week and we need your opinion(s).

Two things.

1. Mayor Kenoi is proposing tapping the 2% Land Preservation Fund monies and applying them to the general budget.

The 2% Land Preservation Fund was launched by citizen inititive and currently holds approx. $8 million in funds with

Council approval to negotiate for ten properties.

SUPPORT? or OPPOSE?

My take is that while the CoH is truly in a budget crunch tapping these funds is too easy and no real hard work has been done to trim

county costs. Real Estate values are low right now and that makes it a good time for the county to buy. On the other hand Kenoi feels

that county jobs are at stake and property owners do not want to sell in a low market. I am not sure if that is true for all of them.



2. Mayor Kenoi is proposing selling Hamakua agricultural lands acquired by the county in the demise of the sugar planation. These
lands are held to the benefit of the people of the Big Island.

SUPPORT? or OPPOSE?

Real Estate values are low now and selling would not bring best prices. I have not heard if the lands are to be offered

in smaller parcels suitable for local farming or in large tracts which might attract off island buyers.



My take is that CoH should only offer these lands at this time in reasonably small parcels to local islanders. Both of these issues

are related in one thing. The most simple business axiom is Buy Low / Sell high. This is business 101. What Mayor Kenoi is effectively proposing

is the opposite of this. Buy High / Sell Low. If we wait until real estate markets rebound (whenever that will be ) the lands to be preserved will cost more.

If we sell tha Hamakua lands now the people of Hawaii may not achieve their true value. It might also be worth considering that if the CoH sells these lands that they be sold as AG land, without development rights.

Punaweb moderator

[JerryCarr]

I say 'NO' to both proposals. Like Rob and many others, I don't believe that every reasonable effort has been made for the County to economize. The basic tenet of real estate or any other business is to buy low and sell high. What Mayor Kenoi is proposing to do is the opposite of good business sense and, perhaps more importantly, against the expressed will of the voters in the case of the Land Acquisition Fund.

[jerry]

No on both, for reasons mentioned above.

[hikatz]

Definitely NO on both proposals!

[Seeb]

on #2 No its not time to sell
but on #1 spending money to take land off the tax roll is Economic Suicide. if someone had explained to people that every time you take land off the roll everybody else assessment goes up i dont think it would have passed in the 1st place.

[David M]

#1 - wish I could read the complete wording of what we voted on. While I would prefer this source to be "tapped" only as a last resort, I'd definitely don't want taxes raised. The role of removing property from the tax roles needs to be examined, perhaps shown as the true cost of a property?

#2 - Not the time time to sell UNLESS used as a means of providing truly affordable housing opportunities via small, individual parcels that become part of the tax base. No in favor of a mass sell off as big parcels at all.

David



Ninole Resident

[Bob Orts]

#1. ABSOLUTELY NO!
The Public Access, Open Space, Natural Resources Preservation Fund was established by the citizens of Hawaii to do what the elected officials refused to do. It has a defined purpose to provide for the acquisition and protection of lands that have a direct impact on the well being of the citizens and on the environment.

The Fund was established by the people not elected officials. So they need to ask the people if it’s O.K. to use it for general funding and not the specified purpose.

The Fund should not be tapped because the Law mandates that the County of Hawaii establish a Budget Stabilization Fund under Chapter 2 Article 43 of the Hawaii County Code! This is the fund for the County to tap because that is why it was established by law. The elected officials need to explain what is going on with this fund and how much is in it.

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#2. UNDECIDED.
Not enough information.

[james weatherford]

No on both. Rob's and Jerry Carr's points cover the essence of the way I see it.
Get the current over spending and waste under control, first -- and last!



James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park