COM 0041.001 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ER Complaint - Misappropriation of State Glass Container Tax Page 2 RSH who had inside information through their work on the 93' & 94' Senate Environmental Summit Hearing. Briefly, the State of Hawaii took over management of the nearly six year old City and County of Honolulu Glass Container Recycling Tax in June of 1994, " to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the State and preserve our limited natural resources," by enacting Act 201, 1994 HSL S.B. No. 2170. At that time only the Island of Oahu developed the glass importer/manufacturer tax to encourage glass recycling. Also in 1994 the State looked forward to expanding glass recycling to the outer islands, planning to collect a glass container tax for all glass containers imported to the outer islands in October 1994. According to private governmental plans the tax money would be collected and then allocated to the outer island Counties in January of 1995. However, the State Office of Solid Waste Management did not start collecting the outer island monies for the Big Island until June 1995, a full nine months later. The County of Hawaii looked forward to the State of Hawaii funding designated specifically for a County of Hawaii Glass Recycling Program as early as October 94'. County of Hawaii, Public Works Department Chief Engineer Donna Kiyosaki and Department of Finance Director Harry Takahashi both had knowledge of the upcoming funding and the general defacto population funding amount prior to the January 5, 1995 submittal date for RFP 1533. The State Department of Health, Office of Solid Waste Management Coordinator John Harder was in contact with the County of Hawaii since June of 1994 and indicated that their office would start to collect State glass container import and in-state manufacture tax designated for the County of Hawaii in the final quarter of 94', beginning October 1, 1994. The County of Hawaii Administration under the guidance of Mayor Steven Yamashiro accepted $216,000 from the State of Hawaii to institute a Glass Recycling Program in September 1, 1996, a full nine months after RFP 1533 January submittal date. The violation is that these funds were not disclosed to the general public or business' by the County of Hawaii Administration. The County of Hawaii County Council was not, as far as I am aware, made aware of the State funding established by Senate bill 2170. The $216,000 was never announced nor made public. The County of Hawaii Administration decided not to disclose these anticipated State funds and instead allocate the funds to a Hilo recycling company that coincidentally entered an non- specific RFP 1533 with a proposal for glass recycling in January 5, 1995. The County's awardee Recycling Systems of Hawaii also had internal governmental knowledge of the State funds. Environmental Recycling believes it was and is necessary for the County of Hawaii Administration to not only disclose the funds, but also to develop an advisory committee to discuss with the general public and