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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2023/02/21 (2022-2024)Committee on Finance 4th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii February 21, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 11:04 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Cindy Evans, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Cindy Evans, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, Chair Ms. Heather L. Kimball, 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: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 12.4: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: JANUARY 1 — 15, 2023 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated January 26, 2023. Vote on Comm. 12.4: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 12.4. Filed Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. FC -4 February 21, 2023 Comm. 95: SECOND QUARTER REALLOCATION REPORT: OCTOBER 1 — DECEMBER 31, 2022 From Human Resources Director Waylen L. K. Leopoldino, dated January 20, 2023. Vote on Comm. 95: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 95. Filed Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. Comm. 101: ANNUAL REVENUE REPORT: JULY 1, 2021 —JUNE 30, 2022 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated January 31, 2023, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.6. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 101. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair Evans? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Member Kierkiewicz, yes, please. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. We have Finance Director Sako here in Hilo Chambers. Director, I have a quick question for you. Thank you so much to you and your team for pulling this report together. It's very, very thorough and extensive. Very interesting to see how all the different funds come in to support County functions and services. One of the things, I was wondering if it's not too difficult for you and your staff to do going forward, I'm just taking a look at the different kinds of charges and fees and then there's a total dollar amount at the bottom, are we, say for instance, and I'm just flipping it open randomly: camping fees, adult, junior child non-resident, would it be easy enough for your staff to help us identify how many adults are being pulled, how many non-resident permits, just so that we know how this particular $269,000 number is being calculated? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 2 FC -4 February 21, 2023 MS. SAKO: We can look into it, but no promises. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. SAKO: Just because the revenue categories are why the bolder totals. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it. MS. SAKO: So that's the way we accumulate the information in the general ledger. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. SAKO: But that's not to say that Parks might not have more specific information from the permitting system, to pull like camping information, or like from the Building Permit system, to pull the more individual types of permits. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I'm also seeing there is a lot here for Parks and Recreation. They're for facility -use permits. MS. SAKO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Just because a charge is listed here, doesn't necessarily mean that someone went out and secured a permit for that facility, correct? MS. SAKO: That would be correct, yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. How long does it take for your staff to pull this report together? MS. SAKO: All of the departments help, and they provide any updates and changes. But it takes a good amount of time, yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, and this is a really useful tool. I think, one, it's very helpful. MS. SAKO: It is. It's very helpful, yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Great, that's all I had. I extend my gratitude to you and your team and all the departments for pulling all this information together. MS. SAKO: Definitely, thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, thank you. Member Galimba. Page 3 FC -4 February 21, 2023 MS. GALIMBA: I also want to thank everyone who worked on this. It's a great document to look at. I was just wanting to ask about the different—there are different facility use permit categories; so for instance, facility use permits, EAD (Elderly Activities Division) versusoh, there's another, you know, facility use permit, so it goes on and on. I was just wondering if you could tell me a little bit about those different types of facility use permits, and why they're sort of broken out separately. MS. SAKO: So if I'm looking at the right one, I think we're talking about 010.3407.20. Parks and Recreation, for all of our facilities, we do have a fee basically that you have to pay, and that's per their Director of Parks and Recreation Rule No. 6, and so we do get kind of specific as to how much it is just to be fair to everyone, and so that everyone does kind of know how much it is, maybe to use the rodeo arena or to use the drag strip. So, there are different categories, whether it's a school or a nonprofit, and different ways. All of these are available so everyone knows that the fee is and we're being fair and equitable to all. MS. GALIMBA: So just out of curiosity, there's one the first facility use permit, Account No. 010.3407.20, is a negative. Would that just be—like how would that happen? MS. SAKO: I'm trying to see where you are looking at. Oh sorry, I see where you're looking at. Most likely, we had to refund someone. So it probably happened they may have put a deposit down or paid the amount, and then weren't able to use it and we had to refund. It's kind of unusual for the net amount to be negative though, for the whole year. MS. GALIMBA: Okay. MS. SAKO: But I can, yeah, I can ask P&R (Parks and Recreation) or our staff why it's negative. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, thank you. Member Lee Loy? MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Deanna, thanks for being here, and like the rest of my colleagues, really echoing the gratitude for this wonderful information. One thing that you provided, which I think is incredibly helpful for us as a policymaking body, is in addition to the annual revenue and how they're charged, you actually gave us the date of the most recent adjustments. MS. SAKO: Right. Page 4 FC -4 February 21, 2023 MS. LEE LOY: Some of those are 30 years old and have not been adjusted. As the departments, and I'm looking specifically at the Parks department because that's where a lot of some of the revenues come from, have they looked at some of those rules that are 30 years old? We know that we collect fees for them, and over time I don't know if we're even collecting enough money as far as the facility charge, as it relates to the cost of operating those facilities. MS. SAKO: I do know P&R is one of the ones that does look at their revenues annually. However, kind of related to their earlier question, like how many in each category, some of these categories may be very—hardly ever used, so then they may not have felt the need to update it. But, I can ask them. I know they do actually do an annual review of all their revenues. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, that would be really interesting, to see if our policies are actually in alignment with the cost of actually operating those facilities. I cannot help but take note of our building permit fees. We collect them, and we just adjusted them just a few years ago; and back to the same question, as far as, are we collecting enough to pay for the time that it takes for our employees to either clean these facilities, evaluate the process, and/or issues these permits? Deanna, thank you, thank you, thank you, this is incredibly helpful. Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Members, any other discussion? Yes, Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. This is very minor. Just a request, next time can you put page numbers on here so that we know where— MS. SAKO: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing when you guys were asking questions. Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, and thank you to everybody who added to this report. We really appreciate it. MS. SAKO: Thanks. ACTING CHR. EVANS: No other discussion? I have a question. Director, when I'm looking at the breakdown, with the description and what the charge is, it really doesn't—at the very beginning, it gives you a sum total, but it doesn't give you like a total number. So when I'm looking at the electrical permits, for example, there's a nice breakdown of all the different permits for all the different items, but it doesn't say how many actual permits were issued. It just gives you a total dollar amount. Is it that hard to add another column? MS. SAKO: We can see if the information is available. Like the number of permits, I believe they do provide it monthly on R&D's (Research and Development) website, so we should be able to include something like that; Page 5 FC -4 February 21, 2023 maybe even camping permits, if they break it up that way. We'll work with the departments to see if we can get more detail, but if they're not tracking it, it would be difficult and we would have to start in a new fiscal year. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Got it. But they're giving us totals of what they spend per category? MS. SAKO: What they collect per category, yes. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Right. Okay, all right. Thank you very much. Okay, with that, we have a motion on the floor, and in MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair Evans? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yes? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sorry, I have one more question for Director. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Director, last page, Golf Course multipurpose room, there's no revenue there. Is that something that the County is no longer renting out, or is that something that's part of the new food vendor's contract? MS. SAKO: It's part of the new food vendor's contract, so the concessionaire manages that room and controls it. I don't think we're the ones taking the reservations, or maybe it's just the food piece of it. This is MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So the renting of the facility goes through that particular vendor? MS. SAKO: Yeah, I'll have to double-check on that. Now that I'm saying that, I know the food has to go through that vendor, so I'll double-check who is actually managing the room. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thanks for that. Thank you, Chair. I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, thank you. No more discussion? Okay. Members, we have motion on the floor, all in favor? Page 6 FC -4 Vote on Comm. 101 Filed ORDER OF RESOLUTIONS: February 21, 2023 The motion to close file on Comm. 101 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order of Resolutions. Res. 58-23: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Allows for the receipt of $1,765,000, which would be used to purchase battery electric buses. Reference: Comm. 105 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Vote on Res. 58-23: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of (Approved) Res. 58-23. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 23: AMENDS CHAPTER 19, ARTICLE 10, SECTION 19-71, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS Amends subsection (d) by adding a requirement that the property owner has had a home exemption in at least five out of the ten years preceding the taxpayer's claim in order to be entitled to the exemption for taxpayers 60 years of age or over to be applied on applications received on or after January 1, 2025. Reference: Comm. 96 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Page 7 FC -4 February 21, 2023 Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 23 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Members, any discussion? MS. LEE LOY: Chair, if I may? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yes, Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Evans. Just to broaden out this discussion, last term we saw property values go all over the place. We saw a lot of comments about those property values, and I had advanced a piece of legislation to cap it; that failed. However, I learned a lot about real property tax and the different levers that we as policymaking officials have as it relates to real property tax. In addition to that, over the course of the last term, we heard a lot from our constituency about local housing, and how do we keep properties from being bought up, sold, and flipped. One area that I became keenly aware of, which was up for discussion during our last term, and even prodded on by our colleague, Council Member Chung, is about this cap, an exemption that we provide, which actually provides tax shelters for investment of these properties. You know, I have Deanna here, because we're still going to have to work on this a little bit more. But the goal was when people—when properties were being bought and sold, you wouldn't be able to get the tax exemption as soon as you came in. You have to somehow contribute to this fund, and so this "circuit breaker" I'd like to call it, which would be, "Hey, you guys got to be paying for five years before you can take these tax shelters." This is just one step. I know Deanna and I had a conversation earlier, she's going to share some of maybe the unintended or unexplored things that would come up if we tried to make this particular bill applicable as it stands. Looking for feedback from the rest of my colleagues. And then at some point, we'll be asking to postpone this for about a month so we can continue to work with the Real Property Tax Division on how they would actually kind of apply this. The other thing I do want to share, within our communications, we did get a letter from Grassroot Institute, about how this affects those who have exemptions after 60 years of age (see Comm. 96. 1), and so really going to lean back in on them on maybe how we could create pathways so that we are taking care of people who have housing, who may be on a fixed income; or that particular house, is a family home that they want to pass on to their family members, and how we transition in that form. Really, this was set out to basically ensure if you were going to buy property here you weren't going to be able to flip it as quickly. I think one of my Page 8 FC -4 February 21, 2023 colleagues, Ms. Villegas, always talks about prospecting, and so this was kind of that short-circuiting way of trying to keep all of our housing available for our local families. I'll leave it to Deanna to further explain her concerns on some of the words on this paper. I do want to highlight that this would take effect in 2025. Keep in mind, you know, willing to move that date out so that Finance Department would have more time, but we have to do it within a particular real property tax cycle so that Finance Department can understand how much money we are collecting in real property tax, which then sets our budget, in addition to making sure we have all the right properties in the right categories. Ms. Sako? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. SAKO: Good morning. So we did take a look at the bill and we have several concerns with it, one is that sometimes people aren't fortunate enough to be able to buy their first home in Hawaii prior to the age of 60, even though they may have been lifelong residents, and this would disqualify them from the age exemption until they have at least been homeowners for at least five years. If a home is passed down, family member to family member, we have several multi -generational homes. If the homeowner exemption is in the, let's say your grandparents' name, and then gets passed down to your parents and you're all living in the same home, if this was the first home they've owned, then they again wouldn't get the age -exemption until they've been in it at least five years. Manually tracking, the five out of the last ten years, and ensuring that we have the right person. We do collect the last four digits of the social, but not the entire social security number, so trying to ensure we're matching up the right people. But also, we have a concern about husband and wife, you know, what if one of them had it for three years and one for seven, does that count, or three out of the ten? You know, how would that work if there are joint properties and things like that? We also had Corporation Counsel look at it, and we do have some concerns over the constitutionality of it, and I'm hoping Keyra (Wong) is either in the Kona Chambers or online. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Sako. Deputy Corporation, please? You know, I had floated this to Corporation Counsel to ask this specific question because we hear it all the time from our local families, just, "How about if we just don't sell," right, "to outside investors," and we know that's not possible. But this was my way of trying to keep the ability of a taxed shelter close to home. Go ahead, Deputy Corporation Counsel. (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Keyra Wong came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 9 FC -4 February 21, 2023 MS. WONG: Thank you. Keyra Wong, Deputy Corporation Counsel, thank you for the opportunity to allow my office to review and comment, and I'm sorry that it was so last minute. So generally speaking, the County can introduce laws that give our residents a benefit; but where there's a disparity between our residents and a nonresident, that's where our concern steps in. So if the concern is that we want to ensure that people are committed to staying here and contributing to our community, I think we can do what you want by looking at the definition of what it means to own and occupy your real property here as a principle residents, because a part of the definition already requires that you have the intention to be here, right? Your intention is to remain here even if you go away. Your intention is that this is your principal residence; it's not here for a vacation or a temporary purpose. Right now, I think it's 19-72(E) (Hawai`i County Code, Chapter), if you look at the definition, it does require a prospective taxpayer to submit documentation of at least 12 months, what you call a State of Hawaii Tax Return. So one of the ways that we might be able to look at this is simply by requiring, perhaps it's a longer period of time that people have to file tax returns, and that way the application is distributed equally among people who have lived here and people who are moving here, and so they're aware also, this is what's expected if you come in and apply for homeowners exemption. I think the five out of ten years part is a little bit concerning, actually, it is concerning because it puts them in a separate pot that's different from the taxpayer who was living here prior to the effective date. I know that date can change, but it's a fixed date in a sense, where you had to have been here before 2015 if we go by the 2025 date, and have lived and occupied your real property as your principal residence. I've looked at some case law in other jurisdictions and it can vary, but the point of what I'm trying to say is that your law has rationally related to some valid governmental purpose, and that can't just be, "We want to take care of our people here." There has to be a relationship between what the law is trying to impose and how we're treating people in similarly situated groups of people differently. But I think there are ways to look at the language overall in Chapter 19, it's a big chapter. I think we can look at the definition, probably of what it means to own and occupy your own property here as a principal residence because you cannot have another home exemption anywhere else. You have to show your tax returns or you're registered to vote here. So if the interest is that we want to keep people here, who you know, as they get older and they're elderly, we want to be able to keep them in their homes, then this is a distinction—an amendment that we can make to the definition that would allow that to happen, but also for the people who are going to be applying for Page 10 FC -4 February 21, 2023 homeowners exemption, to meet that same criterion. Those are just some of our concerns. I can answer any questions anyone has, thank you. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you so much. I welcome my colleagues' input, questioning the director and Deputy Corporation Counsel. I think we're all trying to find pathways. Real property tax, it's a lot. So thank you, Chair. I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair; and thank you, Council Member Lee Loy, I really appreciate the intent behind this. Hopefully, working with Finance and Corp. Counsel we can figure something out that fulfills some of the intent behind this. A couple of questions. One, does the current law state that the exemption runs with the person and not with the land, or is that something new? MS. SAKO: That's new. MS. KAGIWADA: So currently an exemption would run with the land? MS. SAKO: With the property, yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Oh, really? Okay, I was not aware of that. Okay, thank you. I think that's great. Corporation Counsel, is there any problem with that particular part of the bill? MS. WONG: I think that if—one of the purposes is to make clear the intent of how a homeowner exemption is supposed to run with the property, versus with the person, so I think it's okay. But again, I think we can look overall, at Chapter 19; if there are other amendments, we want to make sure that everything, with respect to what we're changing, is aligned with the purpose. I mean, there are other things in Chapter 19 that could probably be polished, but I don't think that's a concern right now. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, thank you. Another question is, you mentioned 19-71(E), and that the 12 -month tax return at this point could possibly be looked at. Do we have any idea from other places, or what the range might be? I mean, is five years too much? You know, is two or three years? What are we thinking? MS. WONG: Yeah, sure. Thank you for the question. I think County of Maui does—and I looked at the ordinance, it doesn't say 24 months of State tax return documentation, but I think the way the dates are aligned, and when someone comes in for a homeowner exemption, they need to have shown at least years of property tax return documentation. Page 11 FC -4 February 21, 2023 In other states I've looked at, one case that comes to mind is a law that was in place. I don't remember the state right now, and I can get back to you on that, but it required veterans to have at least three years of residency prior to getting the veteran exemption, under that state's tax law. The court in that case said it was okay because it wanted to encourage veterans to move and to stay and to be secured in their principal home, but the court did question the efficacy between the three-year requirement and the benefit that they would receive, which is $3,000, I think, in an annual exemption amount for veterans. So that's an issue that we would have to address, is why the five out of the ten years, if we're looking to ensure that there's a rational relationship between that. So, it varies. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you, Chair. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. So, I can't see you, Member Kierkiewicz, do you have a question? No? Okay. Okay, Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you. Ms. Kagiwada sparked why some of this work was put in. Deanna, could you currently describe the process? If I have a home with the homeowners exemption—or maybe even Deputy Corporation Counsel as the law is currently written, and I sold the home in March to an off -shore owner, would they be eligible for the balance of that calendar year or real property tax cycle to keep the exemption until it was later determined that MS. SAKO: Did you say an offshore corporation? MS. LEE LOY: Just out-of-state. MS. SAKO: Out-of-state? MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. MS. SAKO: So they may get it for the first part of it, but it also depends on what their intended use is because we change it if they're not I guess if it's an investment property, it's their second residence, it's whatever it is, you only get one homeowners exemption. So it depends kind of what they're coming in and doing, but most of the time that would get removed. There are few situations where it is possible they may continue the exemption for the last three months of that fiscal year. In general, when someone buys a property, they are handed the homeowner exemption form, so if they feel they meet the criteria, which is you must be a resident or living in the home for, I think, it's 201 days or more a year, your intent is to make Hawaii your home and you're not just this is not just one of multiple places that, you know, you are bouncing between. Page 12 FC -4 February 21, 2023 MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Deanna. Thank you. I mean, everything is always very unique. Time to get everybody in the lane. Thank you, Ms. Evans. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Members, any other questions? MS. KAGIWADA: Sorry, one more question, Chair? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yeah. Go ahead, Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. If you end up not going with the way it's written, but changing it to maybe be based on tax returns, is there anything would you be considering doing it for the regular home exemption, not the one yeah, 65 and older but the regular home exemption, too? MS. LEE LOY: Right now, I think it's how do you eat the elephant, right? You have to take one bite at a time. This conversation, with Deputy Corporation Counsel, and with Deanna, right now is really exploring all of that. As I mentioned, I wanted to have this conversation kind of open and transparent so that my colleagues knew where we were trying to get; but also, as Deputy Corporation Counsel mentioned, there might be larger areas that we have to polish off within Chapter 19, and so it is my intention to take all of this feedback, postpone this bill, and continue to work with Real Property Tax and Corporation Counsel. Really ensuring the legality of this adjustment, if this body so chooses at some point, as it gets advanced. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you, Member Galimba. I do have a question for Corporation Counsel in regards to your you talked about legislation needing to relate to a valid governmental purpose, something along those lines, right? I was wondering if a provision of affordable housing for residents, would that qualify as a valid governmental purpose? MS. WONG: Sure, I think that these conversations we are having right now will be in the record as part of your deliberation, decision-making, about this bill, so whatever interest that this body feels would be rationally related to what the bill does, and that's the part of what this group is intending and deciding. But to and I'm not saying that this is what Council Member Lee Loy is saying, but one of the cases that I read was that one of the states simply just wanted to say, "We want to treat our residents better than other residents," and the court in that situation said, "No, that's not sufficient," which I think everybody understands here, as well. But for purposes of illustration, whatever you're considering as a part of your interest in achieving this goal, then that is a part of your record and how you're deciding to move this bill forward. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Gotcha. Thank you. Members, any other questions? If not, I do. I have one question. The comment, first, is I really like the intent of this, and I hope we can advance this. I know we already give home exemptions. Page 13 FC -4 February 21, 2023 I'd like to think we could have more criteria to what we do to provide that. The thing that concerns me was at least five out of the last ten years, because I would see that as being on paperwork nightmare to try to figure out, five out of a ten. You know, having said that, I really hope we can move forward on this. Thank you for your work and the conversation, and thank you for this. I think that, again, I just want to say that we already give home exemptions to people, and just adding additional criteria I think should be okay, but that's just my take. So I appreciate your work on it. Do you want to have a motion to postpone? MS. LEE LOY: Absolutely. Again, thank everyone for being here today. It's actually their tax collection day today, which is why Lisa (Miura) and some of those from Real Property Tax are not available. Vote on Motion Ms. Lee Loy moved to postpone Bill 23 to to Postpone: April 4, 2023. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. So, read in Bill 25. Bill 25: 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 State Grants — Volkswagen Settlement — Hawai`i Zero Emission Bus account ($1,765,000); and appropriates the same to the Volkswagen Settlement — Hawai`i Zero Emission Bus account for the purchase of battery electric buses. Reference: Comm. 105 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 25 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? MS. LEE LOY: Chair, I believe this is the companion bill to Resolution 58-23. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, thank you. So any other discussion? If not, all in favor? Page 14 FC -4 February 21, 2023 Vote on Bill 25: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 25 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. Bill 26: 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 State Grants — Kua Bay account ($100,000) and the West Hawaii Ocean Safety account ($76,402) account; and appropriates the same to the Kua Bay — State Equipment account ($100,000), bringing the total appropriation to $580,000; and the Hapuna Beach — State Equipment account ($76,402), bringing the total appropriation to $995,505. Reference: Comm. 106 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 26 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair Evans? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yes, Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. We have Deputy Corporation Counsel Cody Frenz on Zoom, and we also have Fire too here. Maybe if you could come forward, Chief, and just provide us an overview of what this funding is going to be supporting. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Deputy Fire Chief Eric Moller and Accountant Nikol Lonokapu came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. MOLLER: Good morning everybody, and thank you for the opportunity. I also have Nikol here, who is our financial, in case there are any specific questions as to where the money is going to be going. For many years now, we've not been having any funding sources for the purchase of equipment at these beaches. Chief Todd had an opportunity this year to talk with the State, and actually secured these funds to actually purchase long-term Page 15 FC -4 February 21, 2023 equipment that's been kind of going away. This is at Kua Bay and at Hapuna Beach, for that equipment. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chief, what kind of equipment? MR. MOLLER: It's for the rescue equipment. It includes things like the surfboards, the actual rings, and other associated equipment for the towers, and maintaining those beaches so we can respond. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, perfect. And just for minutes purposes, could you just state your name for the record, thank you. MR. MOLLER: Sure. Sorry, Eric Moller, Deputy Fire Chief. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chief. Nikol, did you want to add anything? MS. LONOKAPU: No, he covered it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Just mahalo nui to Chief Todd, I know that he was in here a bit earlier, for working hard to secure those funds. I know that equipment is so sorely needed at those two particular beaches, which are very, very popular on our island. Thanks again for being here and for your patience. Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Members, any other comments? Okay, thank you. Motion for a favorable recommendation, all in favor? Vote on Bill 26: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 26 (Approved) on first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:45 a.m., Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. Page 16 FC -4 Approved: February 21, 2023 ACTING CHR. EVANS: With that, we're adjourned at 11:45 a.m. Mr. Matt Kaneali i -Klein Finance Committee MK/na der, Chair 3 2, I 73 (Da e) Page 17