HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0159.007 2024-202615iIA _1�2
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From: Aislinn Chalker-5
Sent: Monday, April 7, 2025 10:05 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Budget testimony
Aloha Chair Kaneati'i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Hustace, and Members of the Committee,
My name is Aislinn Chalker, and I'm a resident of Waikoloa Village. This is testimony in regards to the
Capital Budget specifically related to Waikoloa and our urgent need for a second road. Our community is
beggingfor help —we need $2.5 million in fundingfor the initial engineering of Waikoloa's second arterial
road to be included in the 2025 budget.
Personally, as a mom, I worry about the parents with kids in Waikoloa School who work outside the
Village or do not live in the Village. They will need access to the Village during fire emergencies to pick up
their kids from school. If Waikoloa Road is blocked by fire, parents will have no access, and children wilt
be trapped without transportation.
know there are countless worthy needs and projects on Hawaii Island, and budgets are tighter than
ever. But this isn't about convenience or even `just' property - it's about protecting lives and families.
How many more near -misses or tragedies wilt it take? New funding is being added to the 2025 CIP budget
for street paving projects, new parks, and other amenities that have not been planned for 17 years and
ARE NOT flagged by the County plan as a "very high priority" project needed to prevent the loss of life.
Waikoloa generates about $25m in real estate tax revenue annually ($14.4 m from residential RE and at
least another $10 m in commercial RE taxes). Building the planned second arterial road will cost about
one year of Waikoloa's real estate tax revenue. Plus, planned new housing will approximately double the
tax base and real estate tax revenues over the next 20 years.
We're not asking for the entire $25 million new road to be funded overnight. We're asking for one critical
step: the $2.5 million needed in THIS year's budget so construction can be planned in the coming years.
If we delay now, we delay everything —and gamble with lives in the process.
Please, Council, don't let Waikoloa become another tragic headline.
Mahato for the opportunity to share my testimony with the committee,
Aislinn Chalker
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