2014-04-28 Minutes Salary Commission

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Salary Commission April 28, 2014 Fact Sheet" published last September concerning employers and population count: The top 27 employers of this County employ 20,622 people;three of the 27 employers are government who employ 12,021 people—roughly a quarter more than in the private sector. He stated that the money used to pay government come from people working in the private sector through property taxes, other taxes, and fees. The average income of working people in East Hawai'i is $20,000 a year. According to the April 18 newspaper, there is a proposal to raise the average income for the County Council up to $52,000 a year—about$1,000 a week. There is also a proposal to raise the Managing Director to $110,000 and the Deputy Managing Director to $104,000 a year. The newspaper stated that the salaries of subordinates and comparable counties will affect your decision. Though a vast island, it's not a very wealthy island, especially compared to Honolulu or Maui County. Government generates no wealth—it's the people working in the private sector that generates wealth. We cannot afford to pay for this. We're asking you to be limited in what the County employees are awarded because he doesn't think we're getting our monies worth. If you take a look at the condition of the roads on the Big Island—more money is spent on parks than roads—what good is to it have a park if someone, while driving to the park, is killed on a substandard road. What little money there is in the County, it should be allocated to other areas and less to salaries because we can't afford it. APPROVAL OF The Chair directed the Commission to proceed to the next order of MINUTES OF business, Approval of Minutes. FEBRUARY 26, 2014 (Item 4): Motion to Approve: Mr. Sumja moved that the minutes of February 26, 2014, be approved. The motion was seconded by Ms. Stroh. Page 2