2012-COH - Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

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body of the County gove=ent. This component unit is included in the County's reporting entity because of its financial relationship with the County. The County provides a full range of municipal services. These include police and fire protection; emergency medical care; public prosecutor; culture and recreation; sanitation; social services; water; planning and zoning; construction and maintenance of highways, streets and infrastructure; real property assessment and tax collection; and general administrative services. However, the County does not provide such other traditional services as public education, hospitals and courts. These services are provided by the State government. The County consists ofthe island of Ha vai`i, 4,028 square miles in size. It is twice as large as the combined area ofall the other inhabited islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Since there is no other local or municipal government within the County, there are n overlapping taxes and no overlapping debt. The County has an elected mayor and a nine- member ine- mem er council. Economic Condition and Outlook The island of Haw i` i, commonly known as the Big Island, is located 214 miles from Honolulu, the state capital; 2,200 miles from the west coast of the continental United States; and 4,000 miles from Japan. The city of Hilo on the east side of the island serves as the county seat as well as the transportation and financial center for the Big Island. Rib's infrastructure includes Hilo Harbor, a deep -water port, and Hilo International Airport, which is capable of handling fully -loaded wide-bodied aircraft. Kailua-Kona and South K ha.la, major tourist destination areas on the west side of the Big Island, are served by flights from the United States mainland, and Canada through the Iona International Airport. Scheduled freight services are available between the islands by air and sea transport. Communities on the island are linked by a network of Mate and County maintained streets and highways, The Big Island 'is the most diversified ofthe neighbor island economies. As a result it i buffered to some extent when any one industry lags. Although the past few years proved challenging to the island's economy, it appears that the County will continue on its steady but slow road to improved financial health. This favorable outlook is supported by positive trends in the following key areas of the island's economy. The County's labor force numbered 83,617 at June 2012, which is a slight increase from a year ago. A sign that the economy is continuing on the road to a brighter position than that which faced the County several years ago is the fact that the County's unemployment rate for the current fiscal year 2012 .2% was slightly lower than the prior fiscal year 2011 (9.5%), which serves as a positive indicator for the third year in a roar. Tourism — Tourism has arrays been the major industry on the island. In addition to the mild climate and natural beauty it shares with other areas in the state, the County features the Ha vai`i volcanoes National Park. A. popular attraction, the parr is the most visited site in the stag, handling over 2 million visitors annually, which became even more popular with the increased activity of Kilauea volcano. Another indication of the _2_