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This report includes all funds of the County of Hawai'i, including its component unit, the <br />Department of Water Supply, established by the County Charter as a semi -autonomous <br />body of the County government. This component unit is included in the County's reporting <br />entity because of its financial relationship with the County. <br />The County provides a full range of municipal services. These include police and fire <br />protection; emergency medical care; public prosecutor; culture and recreation; sanitation; <br />social services; water; planning and zoning; construction and maintenance of highways, <br />streets and infrastructure; real property assessment and tax collection; and general <br />administrative services. However, the County does not provide such other traditional <br />services as public education, hospitals and courts. These services are provided by the State <br />government. <br />The County consists of the island of Hawai'i, 4,028 square miles in size. It is twice as <br />large as the combined area of all the other inhabited islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago. <br />Since there is no other local or municipal government within the County, there are no <br />overlapping taxes and no overlapping debt. The County has an elected mayor and a <br />nine -member council. <br />Economic Condition and Outlook <br />The island of Hawai'i, commonly known as the Big Island, is located 214 miles from <br />Honolulu, the state capital; 2,200 miles from the west coast of the continental United <br />States; and 4,000 miles from Japan. The city of Hilo on the east side of the island serves as <br />the county seat as well as the transportation and financial center for the Big Island. Hilo's <br />infrastructure includes Hilo Harbor, a deep -water port, and Hilo International Airport, <br />which is capable of handling fully -loaded wide-bodied aircraft. Kailua-Kona and South <br />Kohala, major tourist destination areas on the west side of the Big Island, are served by <br />flights from the United States mainland, and Canada through the Kona International <br />Airport. Scheduled freight services are available between the islands by air and sea <br />transport. Communities on the island are linked by a network of State and County <br />maintained streets and highways. <br />The Big Island is the most diversified of the neighbor island economies. As a result it is <br />buffered to some extent when any one industry lags. Although the past few years proved <br />challenging to the island's economy, it appears that the County will continue on its steady <br />but slow road to improved financial health. This favorable outlook is supported by <br />positive trends in the following key areas of the island's economy. <br />The unemployment rate for the County for the current fiscal year is at approximately 5%, <br />which represents a percentage point decline from last year's rate for the same period of 6% <br />and an even larger decline from the high of 11% in 2011. <br />rouriszv — Tourism has always been one of the major industries on the island. In <br />addition to the mild climate and natural beauty it shares with other areas in the state, the <br />County features the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. A popular attraction, the park is the <br />most visited site in the state, with over 1.7 million visitors each year. The number of <br />domestic and international visitors to the County for the current fiscal year was <br />2 <br />