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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2022/10/04 2020-2022 Committee on Finance 44th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii October 4, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 1:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Matt Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, Chair Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards III, Member Absent& Excused: Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Toby Hazel: Res. 556-22 (Comm. 1004); Res. 557-22 (Comm. 1005); Res. 558-22 (Comm. 1006); and Res. 561-22 (Comm. 1019), comment. Toni Withington: Res. 556-22 (Comm. 1004); Res. 557-22 (Comm. 1005); and Res. 558-22 (Comm. 1006), in support. Gail Byrne: Res. 556-22 (Comm. 1004); Res. 557-22 (Comm. 1005); and Res. 558-22 (Comm. 1006), in support. FC-44 October 4 2022 CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Clerk, can start from the top,please? COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 30.37: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: JUNE 16—30 AND AUGUST 16 —31, 2022 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated September 13, 2022. Vote on Comm. 30.37: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 30.37. Filed Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Villegas —2. Excused: None. Comm. 31.44: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: AUGUST 16 —31, 2022 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated September 9, 2022, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.3. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 31.44. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion? Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Director Sako, for this five-year lease on Kuakini, what offices are there currently, and are we seeing any changes with what that space is being used for? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee. MS. SAKO: I believe that's the one for the Council office. Kuakini, we're on lease. Which line item? MR. INABA: Sorry, I do see it's DEM (Department of Environmental Management. So what is going on there? I didn't know they were there. MS. SAKO: So we did get them space by Liquor. We kind of have outgrown the West Hawaii Civic Center, and so they were on a month-to-month lease and now we are making that a more permanent lease, for a five-year period. Page 2 FC-44 October 4 2022 MR. INABA: Okay, and is that where the public goes for questions or interactions with DEM? MS. SAKO: Oh, yes. They can go there. Most of them, yeah. On the west side, yes. MR. INABA: Okay, very good. And then the next one for the Council in Waimea, I know Mr. Richards is on his way out, I'm not sure what the future of District 9 is in Waimea. Is that something we're locked into for five years? MS. SAKO: Most of our leases do have cancellation clauses. I'm not positive about this one. It was handled primarily by the Council staff. MR. INABA: Okay. Mr. Clerk, anything to add to that? MR. HENRICKS: If the space is no longer wanted for the purpose that it's currently used, we had some discussions with Hamana Ventura. There were other County agencies or personnel that were very interested in it, so our hope would be to peacefully transfer it over, including the cost of the lease to that agency. MS. SAKO: What? You wanted me to pay for it too? MR. HENRICKS: Not you necessarily, whatever department ends up using it. MS. SAKO: But yes, we'll find a way to use the space. There are many agencies expanding their area in Waimea. MR. INABA: Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Director Sako, taking a look at this, fourth item on the list, Certified Redemption Center Services, DEM, County of Hawaii, update of bid specification. So we're asking for Business Services Hawaii to do additional work, which is why we're paying them the $276,000? MS. SAKO: They did clarify some of the terms. I cannot recall if it was they do more work or just terms or what. We can find out. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Would it be possible to just send the communication to the Council to provide an update on this one? It's just a huge chunk of change and so I think we would all like to be able to communicate to our constituents what additional services are provided at redemption centers. Page 3 FC-44 October 4 2022 MS. SAKO: Yeah, the change order itself was actually zero dollars. But, yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. All right, thank you. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no further discussion. Council Members, the motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 31.44, all in favor? Vote on Comm. 31.44: The motion to close file on Comm. 31.44 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members David and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Communication 32.24, please. Comm. 32.24: MONTHLY BUDGET STATUS REPORT FOR THE MONTH ENDED MAY 31, 2022 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated September 9, 2022, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Charter Section 6-6.3 (h). Vote on Comm. 32.24: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 32.24. Filed Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members David and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Communication 32.25, please. Page 4 FC-44 October 4 2022 Comm. 32.25: PRELIMINARY MONTHLY BUDGET STATUS REPORT FOR THE MONTH ENDED JUNE 30, 2022 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated September 16, 2022, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Charter Section 6-6.3(h). Vote on Comm. 32.25: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 32.25. Filed Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members David and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Communication 988,please. Comm. 988: FOLLOW-UP AUDIT REPORT: CASH HANDLING AT COUNTY OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY From County Auditor Tyler J. Benner, dated September 2, 2022, transmitting a follow-up report to Audit Number 2017-02,pursuant to Hawai`i County Charter Section 3-18(d)(3). Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 988. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Benner is here to join us today. If you could come up today? Introduce your staff for us and introduce yourself as well, and then go ahead. (Note: At this time, County Auditor Tyler J. Benner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. BENNER: All right. Good day, members of the Council. My name is Tyler Benner, I'm with the Office of the County Auditor. Maxinne Pacheco, who was our lead Auditor on this engagement, is unavailable today. I am joined by Jasmine Santos, who served a support role for this engagement. We're here to debrief you on a Follow-up Audit No. 2022-04 dated September 2, 2022, and this report was presented to the DWS (Department of Water Supply) Water Board on September 27. The scope of our audit reviewed cash-handling practices from July 2022 to August 2022. We visited Hilo, Waimea, and Kona offices. We want to start out Page 5 FC-44 October 4 2022 by thanking DWS for unrestricted access to site information and personnel. Their cooperation was exceptional. There was a high degree of collaboration as we begin to form and test our assumptions. Management and accounting teams were instrumental in educating our understanding. Management noted that they generally agree with our report. With that, I'll begin with some background and context. Please keep in mind that these events represent the history and do not reflect the current leadership or the current operating practices. The Department of Water Supply has historically struggled with the cash handling function. In 2010, an IT (Information Technology) and cash handling audit was conducted after DWS found that theft had occurred over a period of 12 years resulting in a loss of over $75,000. A separate cash handling audit was performed in 2017 and provides the basis for this follow-up. During the 2017 audit, we determined that DWS had responded to the 2010 deficiencies by consolidating responsibilities into one role, effectively giving an individual unchecked authority over several consecutive steps of the cash handling process. This didn't adequately address the risk, rather it changed the risk. Our 2017 report found weaknesses and offered seven recommendations to address: segregation of duties, monitoring and oversight, enforcement of policies and procedures, and training. We're pleased to report to this body that when we returned to conduct this follow-up, we found that DWS had built a robust control framework with proper segregation of duties, redundant checks, dual controls, monitoring an oversight, and a competent staff trained to do the work. As of July 2022, DWS had draft policies and procedures, which it still needed to publish and disseminate. In total, five of the recommendations were fully implemented, one was resolved and one was partially implemented. At our follow-up, DWS had implemented a new cash handling software, NorthStar CIS, which had many built-in safeguards. DWS segregated its incompatible duties, performed redundant reconciliations, and conducted surprised cash counts. To give an idea of how well DWS monitoring and oversight is functioning, during our review period we noted department-wide daily revenues between $140,000 to $350,000, and we observed the accounting team detecting a three-cent variance in a daily deposit. We credit these two vigorous oversight activities perform daily and monthly at different levels and in alignment with Best Practices. Page 6 FC-44 October 4 2022 We're highly encouraged by the strides of DWS has made in the short time that the currently leadership has been in place. We recognize the cash handling is inherently high risk. It requires continual monitoring and assessment. The results of our follow-up have been placed in our remediation tracker, available at our website, and the remaining items, once implemented, we can coordinate with the department to verify those improvements and change the tracker status. I appreciate the opportunity to present, and I'm available for any questions the Council might have at this time. Mahalo. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Benner. Appreciate it. Council Members, discussion? Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Thanks for that update. Did you say three cents or three percent? MR. BENNER: Three cents. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, I MR. BENNER: Mighty difference. Mighty difference on $350,000. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. Okay, I can't keep track of five cents, so I'm thinking pretty impressive. So shoutout to our Department of Water Supply on that. And what was the partially implemented recommendation on that? MR. BENNER: They have a draft policy and procedures. Right now there are desk policy and procedures. Everybody knows what their job this, and they're doing it on a daily basis. But the draft policy and procedures have not been distributed, so that is the only item that we need to see. And we have evidence that it exists, we just need that dissemination to happen. MR. RICHARDS: Sounds like it's in process, it just hasn't been completed as of yet? MR. BENNER: Correct. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Well again, three cents outstanding. Thank you. I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you, Chair. I think Mr. Richards has closer to $30 in his center console in change, so I can appreciate his comments. Page 7 FC-44 October 4 2022 You know, springboarding off of what he mentioned about the written policies and procedures, and I see Kawika here today, you know, I just wanted to understand that a little bit more because I also read the letter from Water Supply in the back. And is it because those written policies have to be viewed by the board, and accepted by the board before implementing? Or is it just training and policies within the department that has to occur? (Note: At this time, Deputy Water Supply Manager Kawika Uyehara came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. UYEHARA: Good afternoon, Kawika Uyehara, Deputy Water Supply. With me, I also want to introduce Ms. Candace Gray. She's our Waterworks Controller. I guess to answer the question, it's an internal procedure that we're working on, and we have a draft. I believe it's for the cash receipt. So it's an internal policy that we'll approve internally and distribute. But again, I just wanted to take that opportunity and time to recognize Candace and our Finance Division, our team there that really implemented, took the audit results of 2017 to heart, and made a lot of good progress to implement change for the better to improve our processes and improve our protocol and practices. And to the Auditor's office, thank you for the time and collaboration on the audit report. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. And the accounting system, the NorthStar that yeah, also helps, I'm sure. You know, congratulations. No more questions, Chair. I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Yeah,just to confirm. So now that we've reviewed and had good markings, is this chapter closed? MR. BENNER: We won't be back. The follow-up is done, but we'll just address the remaining partially implemented ad hoc. MR. INABA: Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Benner. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Okay, thank you, Mr. Benner. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Council Members. We have a motion on the floor to close file on Communication 988, all in favor? Page 8 FC-44 October 4 2022 Vote on Comm. 988: The motion to close file on Comm. 988 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Communication 989,please. Comm. 989: PERFORMANCE AUDIT 2022-05: DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE REAL PROPERTY TAX DIVISION REVENUE CYCLE MANAGEMENT From County Auditor Tyler J. Benner, dated September 14, 2022, transmitting the above audit report,pursuant to Hawaii County Charter Section 3-18(d)(2). Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 989. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion? Go ahead, sorry. MR. BENNER: This next discussion is based on our Audit Report No. 2022-05, dated September 14, 2022, conducted with the Department of Finance Real Property Tax Division (RPT), and centered on Revenue Cycle Management, particularly with emphasis on delinquencies. The scope of the audit included ten years of performance data related to taxable collections and outstanding receivables for Fiscal Year 2012 to 2021, and 46 years of delinquent receivables dated 1976 to 2021. The audit was started in December 2021. It was suspended in January, resumed in April, and was completed in July. Management noted that they generally agreed with our findings. We conducted this audit because RPT's tax collections account for nearly 70 percent of General Fund revenues, and delinquencies have been growing. We knew that pandemic-related restrictions were easing, emergency and moratoriums were expiring, and federal aid related to the event would be ending. Our review focused on whether the delinquency and foreclosure process was balanced appropriately to ensure optimal levels of program effectiveness, with sufficient safeguards to protect the public and working with individuals experiencing financial distress, thereby minimizing foreclosures of occupied properties. Page 9 FC-44 October 4 2022 Overall, the audit found that RPT has a very well-put-together program. It goes above and beyond its Chapter 19 obligations to provide ample notification to homeowners at risk on the front end. It has a suitably design notification system for mailers that can meet scale our island population densifies, and its personnel is exceptionally knowledgeable about how to perform their duties. With those high points in mind, we did find some areas where we believe RPT can improve, and worked with them to offer 11 recommendations. Those include a more comprehensive list of key performance indicators to educate stakeholders; a devoted payment arrangement employee to serve financially distressed property owners; an amendment to Chapter 19 of the Hawaii County Code to revoke homeowner exemption for delinquencies that are outstanding over a year, unless approved payment arrangement is in place or an exception has been granted by the Finance Director. When a property is recognized as delinquent, is an important nuance of that recommendation. We recommend RPT prepare procedures to collect by way of civil judgment, primarily for commercial leases, where the State is a property owner. We recommend RPT write its oldest and most uncollectible accounts off annually to maintain the accuracy of tax rolls. We recommend RPT develop a new calculation for advancing foreclosure properties, specifically to replace the 2x multiple. We recommend RPT work with the Corporation Counsel to amend Chapter 19 to redefine "ascertaining ownership" and "notification requirements"to improve their ability to operate, and simplify the burden with regards to due diligence. We recommend RPT add provisions to Chapter 19 to allow unsold option properties to be conveyed to the County, where they can then pursue a range of community goals. We recommend RPT revise Chapter 19 to lower the minimum bid price on parcels at auction to return them to active tax rolls. We recommend the schedule to scrub parcels and special status. We recommend the department develop a workflow to establish procedures to foreclose on foreign-owned properties, addressing Hauge Convention member and nonmember statuses, and prioritizing countries with the largest debts first, Japan and Canada. Management provided a comprehensive response which I would encourage you to read. We've added a dashboard to supplement the information presented in the report which can be found on our website which can be researched by this body or the public, if you'd like to look at the information for yourselves. The results of our audit had been placed on our line order remediation tracker and are available at hawaiicounty.gov. Page 10 FC-44 October 4 2022 And we would just take this opportunity to thank the Finance Department and our RPT Division for unrestricted access to facilities, files, and personnel. Cooperation was exceptional. And thank you for the opportunity to present. I'm happy to field any questions. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Benner. Council Members? Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Auditor Benner. I was really curious around that foreign-owned debt, you know,just-because it's complex, right? MR. BENNER: Right. MS. LEE LOY: RPT is already complex, and then you add in just foreign investment, and maybe even Deanna can speak to that. But a step-by-step decision-tree, elaborate on that. And then, Deanna, any thoughts on how that effectuates the change that we want to see with foreign investment or foreign investors with real property here? MR. BENNER: Yeah, I might just go ahead and draw your attention to page 41 of the report. We have kind of a step-by-step table that we've inserted there, that breaks out the difference between a Hague member and a nonmember state. Essentially the Hauge process, it's supposed to be a simplification, a streamlining for service. That hasn't always been the case in practice. And I don't want to make any claim of what the department knew or didn't know. But I don't think that there's a full understanding of which countries belong to and are not part of. So because of the way that Canada's set up with providences, it doesn't fit well into this Hague model, so they elected not to become a member state for this. So essentially what we're saying, is that we need to identify what methodology is appropriate to go through foreclosure for those specific entities that might be one-off outside of the streamlining process. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Just in a previous life, we have to do notification to surrounding property owners, and oftentimes they're foreign, right? And so when something is being developed next to them, we send them the notice but it comes back just because of this travel across the ocean. Thank you very much for that. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? MR. CHUNG: Explain again. MS. LEE LOY: It really has to do with how they handle the step-by-step process for real property tax. I'm just saying back in the day when I had applicants doing Page 11 FC-44 October 4 2022 various entitlement processes, you get the list of surrounding property owners and they're often foreign countries, and so communicating that to them. And so I was just trying to understand how they communicate the real property tax, as we communicate various entitlement processes to them. That's all I was curious about. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Chung you have the floor. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I can bring this up later on, as it relates to foreign foreclosure. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Chung. MR. INABA: Chair? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Yeah, I'd just like to hear from Real Property Division. Looking at the recommendations that have been proposed in this report, do you folks have an idea of priority or method of attack to try and implement some of these? (Note: At this time, Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Miura came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MIURA: Thank you. Lisa Miura, Real Property Tax Administrator. So this was the second legislative audit that we've had. The first one was done under a different auditor. We went through several months of audit, and it never went anywhere because the staff changed. Mr. Benner did work with us because of the timing of the audit and other items we had ongoing, so we are very grateful for that. A lot of the recommendations that were put forth and discussions that we had, majority of them aren't anything that's brand new to our office. I mean some of it we are well aware of, and on others it's really a matter of staffing and financial considerations and how we do the prioritizations. If I went through each recommendation one by one—and on the very back of this audit report is the department's response to each of the recommendations and where we stand on it. I think, like you said, for the most part, we collect 97 and 99 percent of all revenue taxes with no issues. That is balanced every month, and we have an annual audit. There is no fraud or waste found that he confirmed in his report. Some of the recommendations are to—such as recommendation number one, with the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and that's to have different performance indicators, so we can take a look at it. Page 12 FC-44 October 4 2022 I think our focus on the reports that have come to Council has been very assessment-based, and there are other parts to the Real Property Tax Office that obviously include the collections that fund the majority of our General Fund. So we are looking at what would be useful performance indicators to the County. And whether that's to provide you at our tax calculation and what our delinquency amount is, we can do that; but in some of the other areas, there are always ongoing moving targets. Other things that they had recommended, Recommendation No. 2, is the payment plans, and as we've stated, we have only about 51 payment plans. We have been extremely unsuccessful at collecting on payment plans. Some people do very good in the beginning. They do good when they get the loan. They do good when DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) is doing a transfer from one member to another, and it immediately stops getting paid. For the payment plans to continue, it's a tremendous resource of time for our collectors. And I did reach out to the other administrators at the other counties on their payment plans, and they've been very unsuccessful at them, as well. And again, most of that is on State land. In regards to Recommendation No. 3, the removal of the owner exemption, as the Real Property Tax Administrator, I am extremely against it. I can understand where it's coming from. It would be a tool, and I'm not saying my collectors are against it. It is nice to have the tool. I guess my concern is you're already delinquent on taxes. You're going to remove an exemption. The average age of the homeowners that are in this program that are delinquent is 64. We have over 284 properties of people that are over 80. I have a hard time with that, but at the same time, I understand if that's the Council's will, then that is something we would do from our side. But basically, that's removing your homeowner exemption. You would lose your three percent cap. You would go up to market value, and be taxed at full market when you already can't pay your taxes. Maui County did institute that. They're a lot more aggressive on their delinquencies, So that is something that County Council could consider, but it's nothing we can do without a County Code change. Recommendation No. 4 regarding the civil penalties. I would very much welcome the assistance of the Corporation Counsel and the Prosecuting Attorney. However, I'm not sure how high on the priority list real property taxes are if you're looking at other types of criminals that they have to go after, if Real Property Tax is going to make it on there. It's very intensive, and I feel like both offices are overloaded with their current work. Page 13 FC-44 October 4 2022 Recommendation No. 5, on write-offs. This is something we would have to work it with the Finance office on. We have not done many write-offs since I have been here. In Real Property Tax, the majority of that is the concern with how fair that is to other people who have paid their taxes, and then somebody else gets their taxes written off. I think the one area we would like to have looked at, for sure, is when it's State or government leases; that the State has pretty much told us, "We've canceled the lease. We're not going to lease to them again. They've died. You're not going to get your money. We're not giving you your money," and they're requesting us to write it off. We would like to take a look at that. But it's also being fair to everybody else who paid their taxes. Recommendation No. 6 is on the foreclosure calculation. We can look at that right now. Mr. Benner is right for the most part. If the market value that we've set isn't two times or more than what the upset price is, a lot of times we're concerned that we won't be able to sell it at tax sale, but now that values have increased so much, we can take another look at it. Recommendation No. 7 is on due diligence. As many of you have heard from your constituents, it's not easy to get some title companies to recognize our tax deeds. Our concern is if they're not recognizing our tax deeds now with the full due diligence we do, I'm not sure how much worst it's going to be later. But we do need to make some considerations if we cannot get the title companies to do title searches for our tax sales. In regards to Recommendation No. 8, deed unsold titles to the County, that would require Code change. Areas to consider is the liability that the County would have, which agency would take on these properties. A lot of the properties that don't sell are not usually in the most desirable areas to start with. And in the case of the major subdivision that we're unable to sell,you might have a conflict with the General Plan in regards to the lack of services in the area. Recommendation No. 9 is regarding the upset price. We agree. We'd love to sell properties and not worry about the upset price. I think we've been trying to get the County the most money so far, without it having to cost us. Because you can't recoup all the fees when you don't sell with an upset price. We recognize Recommendation No. 10 is to scrub our data, and we heavily agree. Recommendation 11, for the foreign-owned parcel. It sounds like we're going to have some more discussion about that later. A total of less than five percent of our total delinquency is foreign-owned parcels. We do agree that it's not fair that people living on other countries are not having their property sold because of the Hague Convention, but it is a very extremely costly process. And prior to me Page 14 FC-44 October 4 2022 coming to Real Property Tax, there were several attorneys that worked at the County, including I believe the Finance Director, before that went to Japan to have a Japan tax sale, and that tax sale is still being challenged by many individuals because of proper notification. So I think that's the eleven recommendations. As the Finance Director put in the letter regarding it, you know, we have to look at staffing and financial considerations. A lot of times the Real Property Tax puts in positions to fund ourselves. It's a little self-serving, you know, for Finance to have positions for themselves. The Collection Section has worked extremely hard, and we only have three Assistant Collectors is their job titles. We have two of them here with us today. Ann and Shelly are in the back, along with their new accountant too, Michelle. Wesley is back at the office. He's the third collector. For this upcoming January tax sale, we've already mailed out over 1,400 preliminary tax sale letters. And so he's back there waiting. He's getting phone calls, so he couldn't join us today. Hopefully, I answered any questions you might possibly have on this report, but if not, I'm here to answer the rest. MR. BENNER: Council, if I could. I do want to speak really quickly, as I mentioned, regarding Recommendation No. 3. I did just want to say that was regarding taking back of homeowners exemption. At one point in the past, RPT was foreclosing at the three-year mark and not the two. So when we say, "To recognize delinquency at the one-year mark,"we have a caveat, a paragraph in here, where it says, "RPT should evaluate its historical three- and two-year foreclosure timelines to determine if the addition of a gradual incentive structure is more conducive under a longer timeframe to working with the stressed taxpayers than current two-year timeline." So when we talk about recognition of that delinquency, that the billing periods one and two, if they were to establish a three-year timeline, would take place, and then at that point they become delinquent, and then they would actually lose the homeowner exemption at one year after delinquency. So essentially, that would fall them back into a progressive three-year timeline for tax sale. They weren't able to meet the three-year, when that was the process in place. So taking it down to a two-year timeframe was not really in their best interest. They haven't been able to keep us with the supply there. MR. INABA: Thank you, Ms. Miura, for your follow-up. Mr. Benner, we will we see a five-year follow-up on what has been presented today? MR. BENNER: We would give them two full years and be back on the third year. Page 15 FC-44 October 4 2022 MR. INABA: Okay. Thank you very much. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anybody else? Okay, seeing none. Well, I appreciate the report. And thank you for being here today, Ms. Miura. I think, very interesting. And I like you preface of real property isI'm going right back to that section. This will come back to us during budget. Contains 140,000 parcels, roughly, and generates $350 million, which is 70 percent of our General Fund revenues. That really is the powerful statement for me. So, this makes sense. And as usual, given in a very detailed and poignant way. So, mahalo. MR. BENNER: Thank you very much. I appreciate your time, and I appreciate management's response. I would much rather see a response, considerate of all the variables, and maybe unanticipated variables, then to see a rubber-stamped approval, so I appreciate it. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Miura. Council Members, seeing no further discussion. We have the motion on the floor to close file on Communication 989, all in favor? Vote on Comm. 989: The motion to close file on Comm. 989 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 556-22, please. Page 16 FC-44 October 4 2022 ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 556-22: AWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FUND STEWARDSHIP GRANT TO NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE HAPU'U PROPERTY Approves a grant of$37,690 to North Kohala Community Resource Center, a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization, to partner with Kohala Lihikai to protect, preserve, and restore the Hapu`u property (Tax Map Key: 5-3-007:022), pursuant to Section 10-16(h) of the Hawaii County Charter. Reference: Comm. 1004 Intr. by: Mr. Richards Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 556-22. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you. This is part of the whole PONC (Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Preservation Commission)process that we're going through. Since I've been on Council, we have been purchasing lands but really haven't gotten the funds out to the maintenance side, and now we're starting to gain momentum to actually get this done. So, this is one of the three that you can see. North Kohala has quite a few PONC properties. And this is getting the ball rolling. I ask for my colleagues' support. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Okay, seeing none. I would like to just note the testifiers today, on behalf of these same PONC stewardships forward, so mahalo to them for coming today. And with that, we have the motion on the floor. All in favor, Council Members? Vote on Res. 556-22: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 556-22 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Page 17 FC-44 October 4 2022 Res. 557-22: AWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FUND STEWARDSHIP GRANT TO NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE KAIHOLENA PROPERTY Approves a grant of$64,042 to North Kohala Community Resource Center, a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization, to partner with Kohala Lihikai to protect, preserve, and restore the Kaiholena property (Tax Map Keys: 5-8-001:011, 019, 020, 021, 022, 024, and 025),pursuant to Section 10-16(h) of the Hawaii County Charter. Reference: Comm. 1005 Intr. by: Mr. Richards Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 557-22. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you. Again, this is just a continuation of another piece of property getting of funds from our PONC Stewardship out to the organizations, so it actually could be used to manage the lands. I ask for my colleagues' support. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Seeing none. We have a motion on the floor, all in favor? Vote on Res. 557-22: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 557-22 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 558-22, please. Page 18 FC-44 October 4 2022 Res. 558-22: AWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FUND STEWARDSHIP GRANT TO NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE PAO`O PROPERTY Approves a grant of$34,898 to North Kohala Community Resource Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, to partner with Kohala Lihikai to protect, preserve, and restore the Pao`o property (Tax Map Key: 5-7-001:005, pursuant to Section 10-16(h) of the Hawaii County Charter. Reference: Comm. 1006 Intr. by: Mr. Richards Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 558-22. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you. Ditto as I said before, again, by getting the funds out. But I do want to do a"shout out"to Tony (Withington) and Gail (Byrne) for coming in and giving some testimony on supporting this. I ask for my colleagues' support. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Council Member Richards, I just want to take this opportunity to mahalo you for working with your community to empower them with these funds to take action. I'm looking at the amounts, and they're so manini, and it's so incredible how resourceful our community is in implementing their community-based strategies. So, thank you for that. I have one question for Director Sako. I just want a little bit of clarification on funding expended through this particular maintenance and stewardship fund. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So the Charter prescribes various activities, but my curiosity is around—does it also cover administrative expenses to administer the funding? MS. SAKO: Administrative expense for the ? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Like say if you have a fiscal sponsor that is cutting the checks, making sure that vendors are paid, the money is being expended Page 19 FC-44 October 4 2022 according to Charter. Is there like a five or ten percent of this amount that would cover their administrative cost? MS. SAKO: I'm not sure that we have historically done that. I didn't bring my Charter with me to double-check, but I can look into it before the next reading. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, that would be great. Thank you, Director. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah,just quick response. I have to say Toni Withington is the Yoda of PONC. She has worked very well with the community for a long time, and helped steward all of this stuff going forward. So again, thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Seeing no further discussion. We have the motion on the floor to forward Resolution 558-22 to Council with a favorable recommendation, all in favor? Vote on Res. 558-22: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 558-22 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Can we skip down to Resolution 563-22, please? Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following items were taken out of order: Page 20 FC-44 October 4 2022 Res. 563-22: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT Allows for the receipt of$574,234 in federally-derived funds, which would be used for the department's Distracted Driving, Traffic Services, and Speed Enforcement programs. Reference: Comm. 1015 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) and Comm. 1015.1: From Finance Director Deanna S. Sako, dated September 26, 2022, transmitting proposed amendments to Resolution 563-22. Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 563-22. Seconded by Mr. Richards. MS. LEE LOY: Chair? CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: You want to amend now? Vote on Motion Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend Res. 563-22 with the to Amend: contents of Comm. 1015.1. Seconded by Mr. Richards (Approved) and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Okay, so back to the main motion. Resolution 563-22, as amended, Council Members, any discussion? Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. If we could call up Torey Keltner, I know he's been waiting here patiently. I know we have you back here every single year to kind of talk through some of these programs that Police Department receives funding around. So just wanted to provide you the opportunity to speak a Page 21 FC-44 October 4 2022 little bit more about the National Priority Safety Program and some of the community collaborations that are happening to expend this funding. Thank you, Torey, for being here. (Note: At this time, Police Traffic Safety Coordinator Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee. MR. KELTNER: Thank you very much, Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Council. I appreciate the opportunity. The grant funds that we receive from the Department of Transportation really do help us impact the safety in our community. One of the big changes that you probably saw in this was the addition of one that appeared to be a high-dollar grant, but what actually happened is they changed the way we receive those funds and combined them into one. The benefit of that is that there have been times where we've exhausted funds in one type of enforcement program, training and that, and we aren't able to transition to this other pool of funds to do that easily. This will allow us to conduct enforcement campaigns and educational campaigns, and just public awareness out there, and to help us to reach those goals to lower the unfortunate number of people that are injured and killed in our County. So that really is the biggest change of the things that we have, what were put forward. Another one that we have in there is Impaired Driving. The grant that we put with them, we added one more position into the DUI(Driving Under the Influence) roadblocks; and Saturation Patrol, is one more officer available to that. We found that we actually had been available to staff our Traffic Enforcement Units to full capacity, which was great, but they are so efficient that several of them were promoted, and now we're wanting to make our, you know, get our guys back in. So, it's actually great. It's a great program. We are obviously doing the right things if we are bringing the right people in, and they're actually becoming leaders in the department, so it's a positive that way. The grants we have here also purchase things, like our Stalker radars, the LTI (Laser Thermal Imaging) lasers that the officers use for enforcement. You know, we are very fortunate that we have such a good relationship with the Department of Transportation, in our community, our County. We've been very careful with how we go about spending money and doing those enforcements, and they've been supportive with the things that we've done. So, thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks for being here to share all of that. I just want to clarify the little over half a million here, combining all those grants into one pool of funding. Does that track historically with what our County has received? MR. KELTNER: It does. Yeah, it's very close. Page 22 FC-44 October 4 2022 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. KELTNER: We try to you know, depending on the year, we get different kinds of equipment, but it is very close. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Okay, seeing none. Thank you for your patience today, Mr. Keltner. I'm going to run through a few of the bills that I think you're here for as well, okay? With that, Mr. Clerk, we have the motion on the floor to forward Resolution 563-22, as amended, with the contents of Communication 1015.1 on the floor. All in favor, Council Members? Vote on Res. 563-22: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 563-22, Draft 2 as amended to Draft 2, was carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Let's go to Bill 214,please. Bill 214: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 22-63, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2023 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Hawai`i County Roadblock Program account($62,578.20); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii County Police Department Roadblock Program account, bringing the total appropriation to $487,578.20. The additional funds would be used by the Police Department to reduce the number of drivers operating a vehicle while impaired. Reference: Comm. 1012 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder(B/R) Page 23 FC-44 October 4 2022 Vote on Bill 214: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of (Approved) Bill 214 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards and was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Bill 215,please. Bill 215: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 22-63, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2023 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Occupant Protection Program account ($24,966); and appropriates the same to the Occupant Protection Program account, bringing the total appropriation to $148,966. The additional funds would be used by the Police Department for seatbelt and child safety enforcement projects. Reference: Comm. 1013 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder(B/R) Vote on Bill 215: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of (Approved) Bill 215 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Page 24 FC-44 October 4 2022 Bill 216: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 22-63, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2023 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Hawaii County Police Department Data Grant account($1,400); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii County Police Department Data Grant account, bringing the total appropriation to $74,400. The additional funds would be used to establish a statewide traffic data system and ensure compliance with national standards. Reference: Comm. 1014 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder(B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 216 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion on Bill 216? Seeing none. Mr. Keltner, who goes after all these grants? MR. KELTNER: Well, there's a team of us, but primarily it's my responsibility. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Well done. MR. KELTNER: Thank you. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, well done, Mr. Keltner. Okay, motion on the floor to forward Bill 216 to Council with a favorable recommendation, all in favor? Vote on Bill 216: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 216 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Bill 217,please. Page 25 FC-44 October 4 2022 Bill 217: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 22-63, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2023 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Hawaii County Police Department 2023 Special Traffic Enforcement Patrol Grant account ($574,234); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii County Police Department 2023 Special Traffic Enforcement Patrol Grant account. Funds would be used for the department's Distracted Driving, Traffic Services, and Speed Enforcement programs. Reference: Comm. 1015 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 217 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion on Bill 217. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. No question, I just want to extend gratitude to you, Torey. I'm in the midst of working with some County departments to administer federal funds. You guys, it's not easy, and so the fact that you're managing this many at this amount is really a testament to how you're able to get the resources to our police officers and get it done for our County. So just deep gratitude for what you're doing. Thanks, Torey. Mahalo, Chair. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Seeing no further discussion. We have the motion on the floor to forward Bill 217 to Council with a favorable recommendation, all in favor? Vote on Bill 217: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 217 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Let's roll back up to Resolution 560. Page 26 FC-44 October 4 2022 Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Res. 560-22: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR MULTI-YEAR LEASES FOR FIVE MULTI-FUNCTION COPY MACHINES FOR THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT Authorizes the Mayor to enter into five-year lease agreements with approximate monthly costs ranging from $72 to $91 for each copier. Reference: Comm. 1009 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Vote on Res. 560-22: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of (Approved) Res. 560-22. Seconded by Mr. Richard and was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 561-22, please Res. 561-22: CREATES TWENTY NEW TEMPORARY "ON CALL"POSITIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES Establishes an on-call pilot program to provide day-to-day coverage for staffing shortages within the Department of Parks and Recreation. Reference: Comm. 1010 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 561-22. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion? We did have Moe (Maurice Messina) on Zoom, and we also have these wonderful folks with us today if anyone has questions. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Okay. Sorry, I was a bit confused. So this is a DHR(Department of Human Resources)project to support DPR (Department of Parks and Recreation)? Okay. Summary please, if anyone here is able. MS. SAKO: I'll try. Page 27 FC-44 October 4 2022 CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: If you could? MR. INABA: Thank you. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna S. Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. SAKO: You know, we've been having a lot of difficulty filling positions. I mean, it's no secret. That's a nationwide problem. And so I think this was a very creative solution that DHR came up with to try to fill our park caretaker positions. You know, people might be calling in sick; and after a while, some of our employees just don't want any more overtime. You know, they would like to spend time with their families. So this is a way to fill usually nights and weekends when we're very short-staffed, to come in and take care of the things that need to be done to protect the people of our island's safety, primarily, and public health. MR. INABA: Okay, and then because these are 20 "on call"positions MS. SAKO: Temporary positions. They're not going to be funded, so the department will just come up with the funding throughout their budget. MR. INABA: From within Salary and Wages? MS. SAKO: Uh-huh. Point of CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just a point of information, Mr. Inaba, Information: Mr. Messina is ready to speak on the matter as well, if you need him to. (Note: At this time, Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. INABA: Okay, thank you, Chair. Are there any problems or potential issues when it comes to Civil Service positions, and that we're doing these unfunded temporary positions? Just never seen this before. MS. SAKO: We actually have several in the budget. It's just that they're usually used for promotional opportunities, like TA (Temporary Assignment) or temporary positions, which these are also temporary positions. MR. INABA: Have we begun this already, or we're waiting for approval? MS. SAKO: We need the positions to be able to do it. Page 28 FC-44 October 4 2022 MR. INABA: Okay. And is this something—sorry—Mr. Leopoldino, is he available? No? MS. SAKO: I think it's Moe (Maurice Messina) that was on the line of P&R (Department of Parks and Recreation). MR. INABA: Okay. So is this part of that$500,00? Like, you know, their approach for trying to take to address our shortage of employees in the County? MS. SAKO: Well yes, we gave them money for recruitment and incentives. I'm not positive who is going to pay it. I was thinking that P&R would just utilize their budget first. MR. INABA: Director Messina, do you have anything to add here? MR. MESSINA: Yes, thank you, Council Member Inaba and everyone else, and Finance Director Sako. Sorry, I cannot be in there in person today. So this whole idea started, my understanding was, a few years back it was bought up internally within the department because historically what we're seeing on weekends and holidays, for the most part, sometimes because of vacation, sick leave, you know,people calling in sick. It's not unheard of for us to have one park caretaker like for basically Waimea and Hamakua Coast. Just a couple of park caretakers to take care of Kona or just a couple to take care of Hilo on some of our busiest days. And on those days when it's like that, we're talking about, you know, like if we're talking about like Fourth of July weekend, and some folks do not want the overtime. Our parks, our trash, our rubbish cans, or bathrooms, they're chasing their tail the entire day. So this is going to basically supplement our department. These folks, they'll be like on an "on call"basis after we've already exhausted all of our overtime list. And this is our lowest position, Park Caretaker L So yeah, so that's it. And yes, the funding will be coming out of our own department to cover for this. MR. INABA: From with Salary & Wages or ? MR. MESSINA: Correct. MR. INABA: Okay. With an ideaI mean 20 positions, do we have an idea of how many hours or what the cost is you're anticipating to pay out to these "on call"positions? MR. MESSINA: Well, for right now—so the 20 positions are going to be broken up. There are going to be ten in Hilo, five in Hamakua, and five in Kona. It's Page 29 FC-44 October 4 2022 really hard for us to gauge that right now, that's kind of why we want to do this pilot project, because instead of—if we had regular folks at work, you know, the regular salary and wages would be paid, or we'll be paying someone overtime to come in and work for them. So that's part of this, is to find out exactly how many people, and how much is this going to cost us to see if this is something that should be done on a more permanent basis. MR. INABA: Thank you, Director Messina. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. David, go ahead. MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. I just have one question. I believe, Deanna, you can answer. These positions, are there any benefits that go along with it? MS. SAKO: I don't think they're going work the normal hours, yeah. MS. DAVID: No. MS. SAKO: And they'll be less than 89 days if we use this short-term list. MS. DAVID: If we use it. Okay. MS. SAKO: Yeah, there won't be benefits. MS. DAVID: Just checking. Thank you very much. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. David. Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. And I was channeling that question, was benefits. I don't want to think about this, but if they were to get hurt? MS. SAKO: All of our employees, including volunteers, are covered by worker's compensation. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. All right. Chair, I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: This might be kind of a dumb question. I was just wondering how this mechanically works. So is it at any given day, there are 20 spots that could be filled by any number of people, or is it that we're going to have 20 people on call, and any given day we might call a certain number of them in? Page 30 FC-44 October 4 2022 MR. MESSINA: So Council Member Kimball, some days it's five; some days, on busy weekends or holidays, we may need the full 20. You know, this idea was brought up quite a few years ago, but for some reason was never moved on. So what we did is we asked DHR if they could help us out with this, to at least look into it. This was the best idea that they could come up with to help us, because they did see the dire straits of some of our park facilities on long weekends when we don't have enough workers. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. Thanks, Maurice. And so in that case, it sounds like that at any given day, you could have up to 20. Do you guys have a plan in place, like prioritizing who you call first? You know, presuming that there would be some sort of list of folks that are willing to be on call, or we just—you know, that you've thought that far ahead yet. MR. MESSINA: No. Yes, Ma'am, the DHR has been working with our HR Specialist, and they actually have a they're putting together all the requirements, procedures, and everything for that, including the on-call list, how many times a person can work. Again, these 20 positions are island-wide. But yeah, so all those procedures are being worked out. They're in draft form right now. You know, one more thing to add, there are—we do have quite a few people who come in and apply for park caretaker positions, but when they come in for the interview, it's kind of new to them because they've never had a chance like OJT (On the Job Training), earning things. So this is actually going to maybe help us out even further when we're looking at filling the unfundedI mean, fill these positions, the open positions. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, that's an excellent point. Well, I look forward to hearing more about this program as it evolves. Happy to support it today. And thank you for being creative, thinking outside of the box, and moving this forward at this time. I certainly know in District 1 it's necessary. All right. Thanks, Chair. I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Okay, seeing no further discussion. I actually think this is rather ingenious, and I like the direction this is headed. I like the pilot program that you've created, so mahalo for doing this. Nice to see you, Ms. Botelho. Mr. Messina, thank you for being on call for us despite not feeling good today. Seeing no further discussion, we have the motion on the floor to forward Resolution 561-22 to Council with a favorable recommendation. Council Members, all in favor? Page 31 FC-44 October 4 2022 Vote on Res. 561-22: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 561-22 (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Which takes us to Resolution 562-22. Res. 562-22: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46--7, FOR A WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT GRANT Allows for the receipt of$1,647,337, which would be used by the Department of Research and Development to assist adults, dislocated workers, and youths by providing services that will train individuals to increase employment, retention, earnings, skills, and literacy. Reference: Comm. 1011 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) and Comm. 1011.1: From Finance Director Deanna S. Sako, dated September 26, 2022, transmitting proposed amendments to Resolution 562-22. Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 562-22. Seconded by Mr. Richards. Vote on Motion Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend Res. 562-22 with the to Amend: of Comm. 1011.1. Seconded by Mr. Richards and was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER:_Bringing it back to Resolution 562-22, as amended. Council Members, any discussion? Page 32 FC-44 October 4 2022 CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I see Director Adams, Research and Development, on Zoom. I would love for him to kind of share a little bit more about R&D's (Department of Research and Development) sort of vision and leadership for this particular program. I know in the last year this program, funded through the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, was transferred from the Office of Housing and Community Development to R&D. So Director, if you could just share with us a little bit more about the work that Sandra(Goodale) and your team are doing to implement these funds. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Council Member. Thank you, Committee and Chair, for the opportunity to talk about this. We are still in the transition period between the Office of Housing and Community Development. The folks over there are helping us a great deal to make sure we can spend down the funding that we have. Right now, we're spending down program year 2021 funds, and receiving the program year 2022 funds, which this is the budget for. It will be very helpful to allow us to work on the Workforce Development side of efforts. As all of you know, there are a variety of efforts ongoing. We've heard about $16.4 million that the University of Hawaii received, including our own Hawaii Community College, through the Good Jobs Challenge. In addition, we know that there are some nonprofits and for-profit agencies that are working on Workforce Development's activities. WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) funding will help us in the structured way that the grant and the Act require us to work on. We've had some difficulty with accessing, frankly, folks to participate in the program as a result of COVID (Coronavirus Disease), seeing the opportunities that will be available through the use of the agencies that we fund to be able to work and provide rescaling and upscaling opportunities for folks on the island. It's going to be very helpful to allow us to align this program with the other efforts that are ongoing. We know that there are going to be new jobs out there, new kinds of jobs, and this funding is going to help us move in that direction. So I would encourage you to move this to the full Council with your support. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director, for that high-level overview. Absolutely going to be supporting this. And I will be inviting you back to Council for, you know,just a kind of a deeper conversation. I'd also like to see Page 33 FC-44 October 4 2022 how we can connect some of these funds to supporting the industries that are laid in our Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Thank you. MR. ADAMS: If I may,just briefly? So we did have our most recent Hawaii County Workforce Development Board. As you know that entity allows us to connect with the private sector to a great extent here on the island to this particular effort, so we are nearly full with the number of folks that we have and required to be part of that board. And we look forward to that board again being a huge part of the effort as move forward. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Thank you, Director. Again, there are three programs that are being funded with this grant: the Adult Program, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Program, and with the help of the Workforce Development Board, understanding what sorts of jobs need to be filled right now, but how we're preparing our residents and our workforce for jobs for the future, so this is really important funding. We look forward to further discussion with you on this, Director. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Okay, seeing none. Thank you for being here today, Director. I appreciate your input and the overview. We do have the motion on the floor. Council Members, all in favor? Vote on Res. 562-22: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 562-22, Draft 2 as amended to Draft 2, was carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I believe that takes us to Bill 213. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Page 34 FC-44 October 4 2022 Bill 213: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 22-63, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2023 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act(WIOA) account($1,647,337); and appropriates the same to the following 2022-2023 WIOA accounts: Administration Planning ($164,734); Adult Program ($615,398); Dislocated Worker Program ($277,263); and Youth Program ($589,942), bringing the total appropriation to $1,647,337. Funds would be used by the Department of Research and Development to assist adults, dislocated workers, and youths by providing services that will train individuals to increase employment, retention, earnings, skills, and literacy. Reference: Comm. 1011 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Vote on Bill 213: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of (Approved) Bill 213 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Bill 219,please. Bill 219: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 22-64, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2022 TO JUNE 30, 2023 Adds the Parks and Recreation—Kamakoa Nui Park—Recreation Facilities Expansion project($2 million)to the Capital Budget. Funds for these projects shall be provided from General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund—Fund Balance and/or other Sources ($2 million), and would be used for the development of pickleball and tennis courts at Kamakoa Nui Park in Waik6loa. Reference: Comm. 1019 Intr. by: Mr. Richards Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend passage of Bill 219 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Richards, go ahead. Page 35 FC-44 October 4 2022 MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you. This came out of a community talk story ask. Kamakoa Nui Park is one of our parks kind of out of the end of Waik6loa Village. And future plans, it was built but it was built incorrectly, as I understand. The playing fields out there are really in unusable condition. The Skate Park is in great shape and that's been going well, but as we were looking to revitalize it, a question came from the community, "How about pickleball?" I didn't even know we had that as a sport. Anyway, and a tennis court. So the idea is as we go—everyone on Council knows, this $2 million is aour County wish list, meaning we put it on, and it's the first step in getting this thing going forward. So I ask for my colleagues' support. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Okay, I think this is a really positive project for the community. I thinkI mean, it references District 9, but I think it'll be servicing Districts 1, 9, 8, and probably 7 as well with this improvement, and maybe even the whole island, yeah? MR. RICHARDS: Is this for the world championship pickleball? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah. MR. RICHARDS: There we go. We're thinking, yeah? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Well done, Mr. Richards. Thank you. Okay, seeing no further discussion. Council Members, the motion is on the floor to forward Bill 219 with a favorable recommendation, all in favor? Vote on Bill 219: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 219 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That brings us to the end of our agenda. Page 36