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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2025/04/01 (2022-2024) DRAFT Committee on Finance 7th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 April 1, 2025 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 3:34 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr.Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair Mr. James E. Hustace, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member (came in later) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather Kimball, Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in'later) 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. 23'.& REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: FEBRUARY 1 — 15, 2025 From Acting Controller Wilson Crider, dated March 5, 2025. Vote on Comm. �3.8:,. Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 23.8. Seconded Filed by Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kagiwada and Villegas —2. Excused: None. Comm. 23.9: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: FEBRUARY 16 —28, 2025 From Acting Controller Wilson Crider, dated March 11, 2025. FC-7 April 1,2025 Vote on Comm. 23.9: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 23.9. Seconded Filed by Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kagiwada and.Villegas —2. Excused: None. Comm. 27.2: REPORT OF DONATIONS RECEIVED FROM THE DANIEL R. SAYRE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION AS OF FEBRUARY 2025 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated March 13 2025, transmitting the above report pursuant to Resolution 468-20:„ Motion to Close File: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 27.2. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is there any discussion? MR. INABA: Chair, Fire is here. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Go ahead when you're ready on the donation: (Note:-At this time, Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Volpe came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. VOLPE Sure: I'll just keep this brief. Just another really, really grateful, put in on the public record for Laura and Frank Sayre, the Daniel R. Sayre Foundation. What you see represented in this thousands of dollars of donation as represents kind of with the Fire Department. So it's a wants versus needs. We expect,bur needs to the County, needs to public are funded often by the County budget, right. There exists within the fire service, technology, trends, new things, pilot programs, new devices, equipment, that's very hard within the existing structure to sometimes dedicate money for those new idea, those new things. So with the Sayre's, we are so fortunate for them to be able to provide this equipment to be able to try things to see, you know, this is our list of our wants, bind of what was out there. This represents some of the future of some of the firefighting equipment and they're able to provide that equipment for the department. So it's a huge benefit to us over to the public. You will see here some travel expenses related to the pre con of the brand new Engine 14 that actually was dedicated on the South Kohala area back on Page 2 FC-7 April 1,2025 February 7 h. It was dedicated, it had a name; had the blessing ceremony. And again, through their foundation, donated an entire fire engine that otherwise, you know, as you all know we kind of struggle purchasing. So that represents a huge significant purchase, and we are always, always, grateful. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. And just for the record, could you introduce yourself? MR. VOLPE: My name is Daniel Volpe, Deputy Fire Chief. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, sir. Questions, anyone? MR. INABA: No. Thank you. Just on behalf of the Council again wanting to mahalo the Sayre Foundation for their Continued support of our.County. Mahalo. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER; Thank you. Council Members? Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yeah. Also, do you know that the Sayre's are so, I guess, generous,helpful to the Fire Department and they also donate like rescue ambulances too, usually. But then the problem with that is that the state provides the manpower and that's where we've got to work with our legislators to make sure that they provide us the funding because our island is so big and our ambulances with the traveling to the differentmedical centers, it takes a toll on mileage,yeah wear and tear on the vehicles too. So, you know, really thankful. And all your equipment and stuff like that, is that island wide; do you guys share it island wide? MR. VOLPE That's correct. Typically, sometimes how we identify what's necessary was needed. We usually go down kind of a list, put it out to the Fire Department, you know, what do you guys need; what are you guys looking for; what's missing?,Typically, because of how the Daniel R. Sayre Foundation was started based on the tragedy of the loss of their child, based on some—it was a specialized technical rescue operation that thankfully we are able to execute well, but not in'time to save their son. So initially, the impotence for their foundation was for rescue specialized equipment. So often you will see, again, it kind of maintains that spirit of that to this day is that often it's focused on technical rescue. So you'll see a lot of beginning of these items are the clutch, the witney packs, these are all rope rescue systems. So that said, it's not necessary island vide but it does reflect to the two rescue companies, which service the entire island. So you'll see some of this equipment and other stuff that goes to training. The stuff it is stay with training but again that's focused on delivery island wide. So yeah, it supports everybody island wide. MR. ONISHL You know, I just wanted you to acknowledge that because then public can know what's happening because like Waiakea Fire Station is in my Page 3 FC-7 April 1,2025 district. So I went to them, and I asked them, with my contingency funds, how can I help you, right, with rescue? They said, "Oh, don't worry because the Sayre's help us out." And so I'm like, "Okay. Right on." So I just wanted to acknowledge that. But thank you, Chief. MR. VOLPE: Thank you very much. They are a huge part of our department and our island benefits from them being here. MR. ONISHL Thank you. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay. Seeing no further discussion. Yeah, a heartfelt thanks to the Sayre's for what they do for our Fire Department and thank you for being here today;. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Clerk, we have the motion on the floor to close file on Communication 27.2, all in favor? Vote on Comm. 27.2: The motion to close file,on,Comm. 27.2 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas and Chair Kaneali`i=Kleinfelder—9. and. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Comm. 73.2: MONTHLY THLY BUDGET STATUS REPORT FOR THE MONTH ENDED AUGUST 31, 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated March 12, 2025, transmitting the about report pursuant to Section 6-6.3(h) of the Hawaii County Charter. Vote on Comm. 73.2: ' 'Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 73.2. Seconded Filed by Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—9. and. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Comm. 143.1: ANNUAL REVENUE REPORT: DULY 1, 2023 —DUNE 30, 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated March 3, 2025, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.6 of the Hawaii County Code. Page 4 FC-7 April 1,2025 Motion to Close File: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 143.1. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Any Discussion? Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. We did have this presented to us recently and there might just have been a filing mix up on our end, but this report just shows the percentage change from the previous fiscal year. So nothing different than the one we got a couple weeks ago. Thank you. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Galimba, go ahead. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Yeah,thanks',,Diane. I was just wondering, as much as I enjoy the origami once a year. I mean, I'm like, wow, it's that time of year. We have the origami. I'm justwondering if we could perhaps we could consider another format to bring it in just a little more concentrated: I mean, because I don't actually understand whatthe point is. I mean, it's interesting. I love to see year over year and the subcategories are very interesting as well. I just kind of wonder if like what the legislative history of it is or why we have these subcategories and the size;and all of that; do you happen to know? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Good afternoon, Council Members. Diane Nakagawa, Finance Department. I was just speaking earlier with Councilman Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder of the history, and I don't know maybe you'd like to share since as you had mentioned this was your report request. MS:GALIMBA., Okay. That explains it. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'll take your comment as it may have been intended; This really was to give everyone including the public kind of a real highlighted condensed version of all of our different revenues and also to provide when they were changed, if they've been changed, what their rates are, and across the board so you or the public or anyone viewing it really can get a feel for when the last time we adjusted whatever rate is in the County from building permits, to camping permits, to real property tax. I mean, you name it, it's all in here. It gives you an ability to review it and if we as a body are looking to decrease or increase any of our revenue sources, you have a basis on when it was changed, what it is, where it is, kind of all the information that I was searching for at one point in my time here in one condensed version. I've seen it come to us in different formats over the years, so totally open to that conversation and look to the director for her advice. Page 5 FC-7 April 1,2025 MS. NAKAGAWA: Yes. So thank you for that. You know, we are actively going through implementation of our ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). So all the different reports that we put out right now we're working on to make sure that it can be more efficient and easily produced through our new system. That does include making sure that the information presented is utilized and put forward in a manner that is comprehensible for people. So if you have any suggestions, we're open to it. But we are looking at things like this to make this information just a little easier to read. And I will point out since you mentioned our monthly budget status, that was also a point of discussion in making these "reports faster and just more digestible is on the top of our list and those efficiencies are coming. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay., Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay. Thank you, Director. Thank you, Council.,:A motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 143.1. Any further comments? Hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor, all in,favor? Vote on Comm. 143.1: The motion to close file on Comm; 143.1 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewiczy Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kanoali`i-Kleinfelder—9. and. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 166-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM THE DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT(S) AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNA'T'ED FUND ACCOUNT(S) Transfers $5,212 from the Parks and Recreation Administration Other Current Expenses account to the Animal Control account to provide a grant to Action 4 Animals to support its rehoming and adoption programs for at-risk animals. Reference: Comm. 182 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 106-25. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Galimba. Page 6 FC-7 April 1,2025 MS. GALIMBA: Thank you, Chair. I have to thank Finance very, very much for helping with this. The Council approved the CRF (Contingency Relief Fund) going to Parks and Recreation and when it actually got there Parks and Recreation didn't really have an account to deal with this and thought that it would be better to go to Animal Control, which Animal Control hadn't really done CRFs before or is just starting to. So we did very much appreciate the help of getting it from one department to the other. So hope that my colleagues can bear with me on this extra step we had to take for this money. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you: Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor. Thank you, Council Member Galimba. All in favor? Vote on Res. 106-25: The motion to recommend adoption`ref Res. 106-25 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee MembeisGalimba; Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,`Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—9. and. Noes: None, Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR, ANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Bill 34, please. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 34: AMENDS'CHAPTER 19, ARTICLES 1 AND 7, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING REAL PROPERTY TAX CLASSIFICATION, Repeals the,definitions of"affordable rental housing" and "affordable rental rate," and amends the requirements of eligibility for the affordable rental housing class. Reference: Comm. 163 Intr. by: Council Member Inaba Withdraw Bill 34: Mr. Inaba announced the withdrawal of Bill 34. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Bill 36,please. Page 7 FC-7 April 1,2025 Bill 36: ADOPTS A PAY PLAN FOR PERSONS EMPLOYED BY THE COUNTY OTHER THAN THOSE WHOSE PAY IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, DESIGNATING PAYROLL PERIODS, PAY DAYS, PRESCRIBING REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO OFFICIAL FIDELITY BONDS, AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 24-28 AND ALL AMENDMENTS THERETO, SAID ORDINANCE TO BE KNOWN AS THE SALARY ORDINANCE OF 2025 Establishes rates of compensation for appointed employees in the Legislative Branch and the Office of Housing and Community Development, the County Physician, Student Helpers, and Senior Community Services Aids for various County agencies, and incorporates updates to minimum wage positions. Reference: Comm. 183 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage,of Bill 36 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagwada., CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Discussion on the motion? Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Just on'behalf of our—within the Legislative Branch, there's been one step added for each of'the positions. So just want Council Members to be aware. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for pointing that out. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWAbA: Yeah,just my thanks to folks who worked on this and appreciate that the salaries are low for folks, especially compared to other people iti"the County who do similar positions. So I do appreciate this ability to step up. Thank you. CHR KANEALI`l-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Seeing no further discussion. Just mahalo to the different folks who worked on this. Mahalo, Diane. Diane, I do have a question for you. Sorry, Director. Does the draft budget take into account these changes to the salaries for our employees or will it take effect in the second` (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: I will have to confirm that to see if they're included. There's a couple of different things happening with the salaries and wages that were included in this year's budget due to the negotiations occurring at this Page 8 FC-7 April 1,2025 moment. So most of the salaries in the budget, the departments were instructed to do it with the current year, but for this specifically, let me double check on those. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, motion is on the floor to forward Bill 36 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Bill 36: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 36 onfirst (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice Vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onish, Villegas, and Chair Keal `i-Kleinfeldcr—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Bill 37,please. Bill 37: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 Increases revenues in the Fund Balance from Previous Year account($70,000,000); and appropriates the same to the Provision'for Compensation Adjustment-General account. Funds would be used to pay for Temporary Hazard Pay for all covered employees for work performed,during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to March 2021 Reference: Comm. 184 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to'Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 37 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Discussion on the measure? Council Member,Inaba. MR. INABA: Yeah. I just want to give Director Nakagawa an opportunity, if you'd like? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Thank you. Good afternoon again, Council Members. This is our long awaited item. You know, we've been working on this for quite some time. So in front of you is a request to amend our operating budget by Page 9 FC-7 April 1,2025 $70 million from our fund balance. I can certainly answer questions on our fund balance and what that does. But this is for our temporary hazard pay. This is for all covered employees. We've reached preliminary settlement agreements with all four unions; UPW (United Public Workers), HFFA (Hawai`i Fire Fighters Association), SHOPO (State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers), HGEA (Hawai`i Government Employees Association). Corporation Counsel is here to answer any questions related to the agreements. This is the estimate for those four. I will mention that our'estimate is based on the financial system we have in place today, so it is taking that into account. But once we get into each and every hour on these timesheets, we'll get a better estimate. But this is taking into the account that we have with the financial system that we have today. MR. INABA: Thank you very much, Director. And with that, thank you to the team at Corporation Counsel for getting us here, and most importantly to all of our County employees who kept this ship running during those times. I'll be in support. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. MS. VILLEGAS: Chair?, CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELEiER: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yes. Thank you, Director Nakagawa, for being here today and for helping with,this lengthy process. I also want to give a shout out to the prior administration for hanging on to these funds in the general fund balance in order to cover these expenses depending on how this circumstance played out. I also want to thank the current Mayor and administration for navigating these agreements and honoring the hard work of our County staff during COVID (Coronavirus Disease). You know, I ran into Riley Smith, who I'm sure you all may remember and, you know, he reminded me, he said, "Look, I was asked, voluntold to be down at the airport." And he was there mitigating the arrival of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people still coming to our island that put him in a direct line of potential contact with COVID when we were right in the throws of it. And hearing his reflection of that, that he wasn't doing it for potential more financial pay, but he was doing it because it was the right thing to do. And I believe that us honoring all the people who put themselves in that line of potential exposure for the greater good and the benefit of our community; I'm just really grateful that this is being put to rest,people are being compensated, and for the wisdom. I know you were serving as Deputy Director under Deanna(Sako), and so for your help continuing through this process and bringing us to fruition. I'm sure a lot of people are going to be very relieved. And with that, I yield. Page 10 FC-7 April 1,2025 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I just want to make the disclosure that my significant other is a member of the Hawaii Fire Department and that is one of the unions that are benefiting from this particular negotiation. I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Sorry, go ahead. MR. INABA: Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Ki;erkiewicz. I didn't even think about that. But yes, both my sister and'her partner are members of the Fire Department as well. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Since we're doing it;my daughter is in the Police Department. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I don't have any relatives in any of the unions. Although, I am a tarping member for HGEA myself.: I,wante to ask since you made me think of it about this being an estimate and we have talked a`little bit and I'm sure you're talked with the other Council Member about the challenges will come to actually figuring out how much each person gets paida.How comfortable are you with that estimate and what do you think the margin of error is, are we over shooting just in case? You know, I'm just thinkirg as we're walking into budget discussions next week, I want to have a sense of what sort of padding we need to think about with this. MS. NAKAGAWA: I do think it's a conservative estimate of what we're looking at: I will caveat'that by saying that we have a lot of challenges with our 20 year old system and the data it's reporting. So this will be a very detailed labor- intensive process to calculate each and every hour worked. But with the information that we have, it is a conservative number. MS. KIMBALL Conservative as in over-estimating what we could potentially need? MS. NAKAGAWA: That's correct. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you very much. Appreciate that. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay. Director, I know this has been on your list for about three years and so I appreciate all the work that you guys have done. And understanding this is a negotiation between the County and bargaining units but there is a lot of other thought that has to go into this, so thank you for what you've brought to the table for this. Mahalo to the administration. Page 11 FC-7 April 1,2025 MS. NAKAGAWA: Yeah, you know, this was something on all our plates. So I thank you as well. I think we all had to navigate through holding funds and making it available while looking at needs of the community. So to get here and to be able to do what we need to do and move on,you know, and continue with our budget process, it was really a collaborative effort. So thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yup. Thank you, thank you. And then just as a final comment and this is absolutely huge for the community. During the middle of the pandemic when nobody knew anything, about;what was supposed to happen or how we were supposed to respond, our County workers were front line providing services that didn't stop to the community, like most of us were. And although this is a substantial expense for the County, I think for what we went through and what our County workers did in that time, it was necessary. So this is huge for our community, and I appreciate everything that happened to get us here, so thank you. Okay, any further discussion? Okay. Council Members, motion is on the floor to forward Bill 37 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Bill 37: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 37 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, 14ustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewiez, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business on our agenda today, Acting Chair Hustace MENT: adjourned,the meeting at4:02 p.m. Thank you very much. Approved: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair (Date) Finance Committee MK/tk Page 12