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ti q desireable modifications to the County Charter entail the following : A) The effectiveness of the County. Council should be strengthened 1) by providing it with enough staff . so that it can function effectively and be informed factually and in depth on administration proposals and operations ; 2 ) by providing it with its own legal adviser; and 3) by requiring Council approval of all department heads and also giving it the power for removal of same. B) Curtail the Mayor's present unlimited power to transfer monies between various budget accounts by requiring Council approval for such transfers above a specified amount necessary for reasonable flexibility. • Also require Council approval of all department head selections by the Mayor. 0) Restrictions on the growth of the County Budget , Debt9 and Real Property Taxes should be made as follows : 1) Expenditures from the General Fund must not exceed. reasonably expected revenues (i, e_a .balanced budget) and the rate of growthof expenditures must not exceed the rate of growth of the County' s economy as measured by the revenue produced by the gross excise tax(wi•th 4% as the basic tax rate ) 2) The payments for principal and interest on the County Debt must not exceed 15% of the 3 year General Fund average ; and all General Obligation Bonds in any fiscal year in excess of P5009000 must be approved by vote of the electorate. 3) The Property Tax on any piece of property must not exceed 1% of its assessed value, with its assessed value not to increase more than 2% per year except that when the property is sold the assessed value goes to fair market value. 4) Section 11 -2 retrictions on the use of Initiative and referendum should be removed so that the eventual power of control of expenditures should rest with the people and not with a self perpetuating government, COMPOSITION OF COUNTY COUNCIL The West Hawaii Committee feels strongly that the present • -2-