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Henricks, Jon <br />From: Becky Ostertag <ostertag@hawaii.edu> <br />Sent: Friday, January 18, 2019 6:55 AM <br />To: Charter Commission <br />Subject: opposition of CA7, support of CA -9, changes to Maintenance Fund <br />Dear Charter Commission: <br />I am writing to express my opposition to CA7--which will gut the 2% land fund. The 2% land fund is one of the best <br />measures passed that strongly benefits Hawaii Island. I oppose it because it reduces the fund to .75% of property taxes, <br />removes the Maintenance Fund from the Charter to the County Code where it can be cut in the budget each year by the <br />Mayor and Council, and removes the clause that protects the land in perpetuity. <br />I also support CA -9 because it uses 2% LAND FUND MONIES to pay for a full time staff person working for the <br />Department of Finance who is dedicated to ONLY administering the 2% LAND FUND PROGRAM. Their duties would <br />include acquiring property, obtaining matching funds, helping the public with suggestion forms and stewardship <br />applications and the administration of the Maintenance Fund. This saves money for the Department of Finance, with <br />one less salary to pay. <br />I also support changes to the Maintenance Fund. These changes will be administered entirely by the Department of <br />Finance. The benefits are an increase in the scope of activities allowable with Maintenance Fund monies, to include: <br />constructing toilet facilities, ADA improvements, small buildings, trails paths and roads, a clarification of the stewardship <br />grant process, and allowability of officers, board members, or employees of a 501(c) 3 nonprofit to be paid. <br />Rebecca Ostertag <br />1 <br />Comm. No. 21.57 <br />