2023-09-11 Minutes Approved - Laserfiche WebLink

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been paying out of their pockets for years. There are Council Resolutions regarding funding, but they have yet to receive any funds for the past years. She is waiting to meet with the Department of Finance to resolve this matter. There being no other public testimony, Chr. Chang closed public testimony and proceeded to the next item on the agenda. III. DEPUTY CORPORATION COUNSEL REPORT: Jean Campbell, Deputy Corporation Counsel, gave a brief reminder of allowable expenses that can be covered using maintenance fund grants; according to HCC 10- 16(g) of the County Charter, which lists 17 permitted expenditures, including preservation and conservation of the property, wildfire prevention, repair and replacement of specific signage, restoration of existing buildings, installation/repair of fences, and cattle guards. She said, "The Charter section 10-16(h) also allows for the compensation for specific duties such as labor, educational workshops, and maintenance work which can be paid to officers, board members and employees of the non-profit if those duties have been specifically identified and approved of in the detailed business plan as part of the grant proposal." She advised the commission to carefully check to confirm that the payment is only for the work effectuating the permitted task. She gave an example: fence installation is an identified task; an employee could be paid for the time they are installing the fence using maintenance funds, but their salary or wages should not be paid to the extent they are doing other tasks. She clarified that the maintenance fund cannot be used to pay the organization's administrative costs. She said this question comes up every year. The maintenance fund does not pay for employee benefits, bookkeeping or accounting costs, insurance premiums, or administrative fees charged by a non-profit for administering the grant on behalf of a recipient or similar costs. These are all simply the costs of operating the entity and must be borne through the entity's standard operating procedures, such as fundraising or other grants. Commissioner Ward asked for clarity about administrative costs to run the organization. Ms. Campbell replied that the maintenance fund does not pay for employees running the organization or administrative costs, and the organization might need to find other funding sources to pay for these costs. There being no further questions from the commission, Chr. Chang thanked Ms. Campbell and proceeded to the next item on the agenda. Chr. Chang invited V.Chr. Kelepolo to explain the grant process. Minutes of September 11, 2023, Approved Page 2