MIN CHARTER 2019-01-25 (2018-2020)

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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -7 January 25, 2019 CA -7, the PONC Commission urges the Charter Commission not to reduce the amount of additions to the preservation fund below its current two percent portion of the collection of real property tax revenues. The much larger scale of Hawai`i island properties require a proportionally large amount of funds for purchases. CA -7, the in perpetuity portion of the Charter requirements for the purchase properties enhances the ability of the preservation fund to leverage monies for matches from additional funding entities and we would like to keep the current Charter wording regarding in perpetuity. Thank you for your consideration. My personal testimony, I would really like to see the Charter Commission forwarding to the ballot some more measures that I can support. Measures that would benefit the County's people and `aina. CA -9 is one such constructive measure that would greatly enhance the PONC maintenance fund. It centralizes the operations and administration of the PONC program within the Finance Department which will help refine the evolving program that actually responds to public requests to preserve meaningful lands. However, it would be pointless if the other two PONC measures before you succeed in altering the Charter. As 1 testified in December, on December 14th, CA -7 would gut the PONC program and relegate the program's funding to the momentary whims of the Administration and Council. We don't want the PONC fund trumped. CA -13 is equally appalling and will most likely result in similar defending. You should not move either measure forward. I notice in the County's County Code website that the PONC fund portions, Article 42 are flanked by two other funds. One the Disaster and Emergency Fund, Article 41, to accumulate sufficient supplemental financial resources to respond to public health and safety emergencies. And two, the Budget Stabilization Fund, Article 43 to be used as a temporary supplementary source of funds for times of financial hardships. These special funds already exist for the purposes purported in CA -13. Successive Administrations lack of fiscal discipline to correctly utilize these funds, that is not to raid thein regularly, should not be an excuse to embed another raiding mechanism into the Charter. Do not pass forward this pointless proposal. Kill it now. Contrast the negative nature of these proposals, CA -7 and CA -13, to the words of Governor Ige in his State of the State message last Tuesday "These places are worth saving for us and for future generations. That is why we are requesting increased funding for land conservation by removing the 6.8 million dollar cap on the ten percent conveyance tax to the Legacy Land Conservation Program." In this age of wholesale off -shore purchase of our `aina and wahi pana, Governor Ige recognizes the importance of preserving these special lands, advocated for and nominated by the people in the State's equivalent of the PONC program. Why can't you? These two land conservation programs and those of Maui, Honolulu, and Kaua`i Counties are very popular and vital. They are popular because they are the people's small part of government where residents can have a big say in saving from development some of the wahi pana that they cherish. Residents nominate lands and advocate for them at meetings of their Page 26