Comm No 0035.53 - Testimony - CA-18 - PONC Maintenance fund

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Property Management Specialist 2.200 859,616.00 - $08.248.00 Annually Plans, develops incl directs tl' emanage.,f t co 'id cl' position of Coci ty ow lett fs.tvl arld 1 efsof ni f pc rfo oversees t110901latiOlIS8nd leasing of real property, establishes and rnaintains a system of r=' tial inventory :oclkeep' 7 and ve,ific,Illi011, and perfolms otl eE related duties as required_ Property Management Technician 1.824 838,220,00 - 558,824.00 Annually Independently performs avariety of ad nn atr'4 .cnd lae;hr< i..apport y'ery Gr'for tha Property Management Division; see.s as the principal elc'<niyapport for ': property management conlrnis,ior're<'o'cl, and trans c'b,.mnutes ofn =ingsard he.-gs' serves as the omrrstiors contact post forr1orma and reryuesf... 2. THE IMPORTANCE OF ONE STAFF MEMBER TO WORK ONLY on the 2% Land Fund program: • Real estate deals are time sensitive and require willing sellers. Willing sellers want to be paid as soon as possible because the taxes keep mounting up on property and they may have a use for the money. It also takes time for the staff people to apply for matching funds, get appraisals, do surveys and all the due diligence required for property purchases by governments. • The Maintenance Fund grants have been granted to only 6 organizations in the 6 - year existence of the fund. Stewardship groups say the process has been very difficult and they have had to apply several times before receiving funding. A full time staff person can assist the non -profits with getting the funding they need to care for the 2% Lands. The stewardship non-profit groups have received only 9% of all the money deposited in the Maintenance Fund from 2013. 3. STAFF MEMBER TO ASSIST THE PONC COMMISSION -It's important to ALSO have the staff member assist the commission so that the Land Specialist so that the Land Specialist time can be spent with the above duties and not with commission agendas, submissions for land acquisitions and work with the non -profits paperwork. QUICK HISTORY OF THE LEGISLATION FROM 2005 to 2018: 1. Where did the 2% amount come from? In 2004 and early 2005 Sammie Stanbro-Olson donated money to the Trust for Public Lands (TPL) for a survey of Hawaii County residents to ask if they would approve a 1% or 2% Land Fund as a ballot measure. A large majority of residents said they would want a 2% Land Fund because land is so expensive on the Big Island. 2. The Save Our Lands Citizen's Committee Petition Initiative drive collected 9,600 signatures from April to July of 2006. This was during Harry Kim's first term. Mayor Kim was adamantly against setting aside 2% of property taxes for land acquisition, even though this is only 1.5% of the total income for the County. County Clerk Connie Kiriu and County Counsel Lincoln Ashida disqualified almost 6,000 signatures for leaving off PI, St. or Rd, or if husband and wife used ditto marks for their address when signing under each other or if the year was left off, (we collected signatures from May to July so it was only during 2005 which made the year implied and irrelevant). 3. We needed 4,400 signatures to get the measure on the ballot, but because of the disqualifications we didn't get enough. The County Council at Chair Stacy Higa's request, decided to place the 2% ballot measure on the ballot for 2006 anyway. 4. Despite the Corporation Counsel submitting confusing ballot language using double negatives, the amendment to the Code passed by 63% of voters who voted on the issue and become part of the Hawaii County Code. 5. In 2008- As the his first piece of legislation, Mayor Kenoi and the County Council suspended deposits to the Fund for two years. This was possible because the legislation was part of the Hawaii County Code. The Save Our Lands Citizens' Committee pointed out that there were more 3