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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2025/12/02 (2024-2026) DRAFTCommittee on Finance 24tb Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 December 2, 2025 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on called to order at ORDER: 1:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, es E. Hustace, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: rnancs Present: Mr. Ms. James E. Hustace, Vice Ch Michelle M. Galimba, M Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (came in Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member (came in later) Ms. Ashley L. Kierk' icz, Member Ms. Heather Kimball, ember Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, lie er (came in 1 Ms. Rebecca Villegas, nber Absent & Excused: Mr. M - eali `i-Kleinfe air STATEMENTS Chair di d the Commi e to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE ents from the Public on Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITE re none.) ORDER air di the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Res. 396-25 Motion to Approve ACCEPT CCEP DMATION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TO THE DEPAR ENF PARKS AND RECREATION FOR RESURFACING WORK LINCOLN PARK TENNIS COURTS Oftion from the United States Tennis Association has an estimated value ,463. Reference: Comm.617 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 396-25. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: We have Corporation Counsel Deputy J. Yoshimoto here to walk us through a little bit. And there's also a request here as well. FC-22 November 4, 2025 (Note: At this time, Assistant Corporation Counsel J. Yoshimoto came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. YOSHIMOTO: Good afternoon, Council Members. Assistant Corporation Counsel J. Yoshimoto. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure the Council to the memo on the request to withdraw. I can explain if the Committee Members want an explanation, but short version is we're not going forward now. Hopefully, we can go forward in the future. AL ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Would you like just remove it from the table altogether? MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yes. Withdraw. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Withdraw Res. 396-25: Ms. Kierkiewicz Res. 397-25 this in Committee then or of Res. 396- ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Okay. Tha u, Mr. Yoshimoto. And let the record reflect that we `' ined by Council ers Onishi, Inaba, and Kagiwada at this time. Thank yo ation Counsel, a Let's move on to the next item please. AUTHORIZES THE OFF E O COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO AWA D GRANTS R PROGRAMS ADDRESSING HOUSING HOMELESSNESS oposes 12 g awards to 8 different nonprofit organizations for a total of S6,NY r to esidential Tier Two property tax revenues, purse Hawai `i County Code. ce: Comm.618 Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Kier ' wicz moved to recommend adoption of 397-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. INRCHR. HUSTACE: We have Office of Housing here. If you would like up and join us at the front. And Member, if you have any particular ions, please let me know. Office of Housing, would you like to start us off with the resolution? That would be fantastic. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Kehaulani M. Costa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. COSTA: Hi. Kehau Costa, Office of Housing, Housing Administrator. Here we are again. I can't believe it's been a year. So quick. This was one of Page 2 FC-22 November 4, 2025 our first Council actions that we took as the new Housing Administrator last year. We're here again for our next round of awards and hope that we seek favorable approval of these recommendations. I have Michelle Hiraishi. She's one of our Housing Specialist. She's prepared a short overview of our recommendations for awards. And so, Michelle, if you can take it from here. (Note: At this time, Housing Program Oversight Director Michelle Hiraishi came forward to address the member the Committee.) MS. HIRAISHI: Thank you, Administrator Costa. Aloha, Council. My name is Michelle Hiraishi. I am the Program Oversight ager for the homelessness and housing fund under the Office of Housing and C nity Development. So we're here today to present, as Kehau tioned, our y r award nominations for your approvalZil ted to thank you for ortunity to present this to share just a littlinformation. I also wan take a quick moment to thank some of the Membe that did reach o at Office of the Housing to have indi understanding of funds and the admin Sth discussions, you'll s e we had some add you today and shoul gotten that in homelessness and hou documents to I'll be referencing these c roughot So in July 2025, our consu t AS SA rebo Office the Oce of Housi nd to the little bit to of the funds. From those information that we provided to of these supplemental esolution 397-25. And th esentation. a recommendations il. And in that recommendations one of the statements t they made, I'd like to read it just briefly, a cutout sat report. The statemen , "Given the long term nature of the ho ness c is, building ar nable infrastructure and expanding the capaci of Cou r viders must be a priority." So I say again, and I've is be o to our County and to our County Council for tablishing omelessness and housing fund as a way to build the County's capacity_ Also from that relkit, there was recommendations that they gave to us to administer the funds going forward. So we've incorporated most of those recommendations into our year four approach. That includes clarifying the purpose urpos the fund, focusing on short term twelve month projects that can have a bigger impact during that grant period, addressing the geographic inequities, and approaching this year's funding using a multipronged approach that I'll talk about again a little bit more. As Kehau mentioned, we were here recently in January 2025 to present to Council year three awards. During that session, Office of Housing, we received lots of feedback from the Council. We have incorporated that feedback and summarized it in, you'll see in your Addendum No. 1 in the additional packet information. Page 3 FC-22 November 4, 2025 In building year four then, we incorporated the consultants' recommendations, we incorporated community input, we were mindful of our Mayor's priorities; we incorporated Council feedback, and we significantly then revised our approach to getting the year four funding out the door. We made a more equitable geographic distribution island wide; we put more emphasis on organizations leveraging of outside dollars and use of other funds; we clarified fiscal definitions, we clarified fiscal rules, and we also clarified the allowability of expenditures. We developed a more strategic approach to maximize this investme d we entered year four with a total available funds of $12,225,000. You' e o we budgeted these funds in the addendum two from the additional t. Only 8.8 percent of $1,078,000 did we budget for administrative ts. dministrative costs include some data management under our data s We also budgeted $5,147,000 for fi on ted essentialNEastwai'i the County needs to provide through (Request for Propont process. Specifically those fiv ts, the er shelterai`i and West Hawai `i, safe space overnigh ing ogram and in West Hawaii; and the fifth project w permanent supported housing project in a County f cility in Kona. So we are RFPing for separately. That leaves us with $6 mi ow to put out thr the request for grant applications. To back up just a little bi , when w ur year ur approach, rather than putting out the grant as any type of acts a nonprofit wanted to provide, we On that were sp ific to servi that we need. Our categories were ;rm housing shelter, long term housing, and support 2025, Office of H ng and Community Development (OHCD) our eles ess and housing fund request for grant applications nse to that RFGA, we received 23 applications requesting nding* All the applications were reviewed and scored through a .v uation program. There was five evaluators on the committee. laators came with their own set of expertise, whether it was in in community services, in grants management, fiscal, even ose evaluators came together and individually scored the then offered a nomination selection. that nomination selection and put it through even further factors. the feasibility and scalability of the project. We looked at the reliance of the project on homelessness and housing funds and how does that organization reach out to leverage other funds. We looked at the services that were offered to make sure that we weren't duplicating the same services in the same area, we looked to make sure there was geographical impact island wide. When known, we even looked at the past performance of the applicant. Page 4 FC-22 November 4, 2025 Finally, we asked ourselves two very important questions. Does this project give us a good social return on our investment? And secondarily, if this project or service is not funded, what does that do to our community? So after they went through all of these additional screenings, our list of award recommendations includes twelve projects across the island. But the nominated projects would support our strategic roadmap priorities one through six, they would be administered by eight different nonprofits. The nominees address three of the four RFGA categories. We did not choose to fund th lter category because we're doing that again through RFP process. And e i e that this slate of 12 recommended rewards represents the most balance .allocation of resources, the most effective use of the funds to advance th County's,�strategic roadmap, and the department's overarching goal to keep omelessness rare, brief, and non - reoccurring. So we hope for favorable roval of our r tion and I'm available for any questions th;Zou may have. Thank o much. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: for that presentation an duction here. Anyone would like to start us ere Council Me r Onishi, the floor is yours. great. You answered everything. I really al prior to coming to the we're all good. Than] Lions. It was Othat and being o I b ' ally gc Keiko and Alison, it was red you explained to meet with you folks my questions answered, so thank you for meeting with us. you, Council Member. Council Member AD ank you, Chair. Yes, thank you for meeting with me as ng ask a few questions even though you answered some of them just for the public more than for me. But to just go back to the County projects for shelters on east and west side, safe sleeping side, and what was the third thing? Permanent supported housing in a County facility. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you. The numbers that we're seeing of people experiencing homelessness on the island because I know equity is a big thing, but I want to be very clear where people who really need help are. So can you give a little bit of information about the numbers and where they're located? Page 5 FC-22 November 4, 2025 MS. HIRAISHI: I can speak to it. Thank you, Council Member, for that question. And thank you again for also meeting with us individually. I can tell you that we collect numbers not just homelessness and housing fund, but County wide, there is out of Mayor's Office, an executive assistant who is managing homeless. We collect a lot of numbers through the engagement hui of unsheltered folks. I can tell you that the latest numbers, the highest concentration tends to be Hilo side, followed by Kona side. But that has to do with unsheltered folks. MS. KAGIWADA: Right. And that I believe al 0 cent of the unsheltered folks reside in the Hilo area for the island. MS. HIRAISHI: Yes. I believe you're rig MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So I jus nt t every clear, ally important to have equity and that we get servic to everywhere. But whe eo le are who need some of these servic , a huge ports of them are in t area. Okay. Because that's an important balancin along with I d lso think if maybe there were more services in other places along the island maybe everybody wouldn't be concent ated in Hilo. So it' ky balancing point but, yeah, I hope that you're kee is front of mind 're looking at equity and equity around the island. MS. HIRAISHI: Thank MS. KAGIWADA: In looks at this I do)Fe where some of the funds were reduced because they are now this other section. But also, just wondering About a couple o er reductions nd of. I'm looking at last year's compared to this year's it loo _ s like BISAC sland Substance Abuse Council) had its fundin reduced about ' if ' at correct? And Men of Pa`a did not get ded. M . IS n f Pa`a did not apply. MS. KAGIWAD . Did not apply. Okay. Well that's a reason that people don't get fund s sometimes they don't apply. That is true. And it looks like we're doing m funding for like Going Home and Hale Kipa. Is that correct? Is there thin ou can share with us; you kind of gave the big shift but for these things, is there anything you can share? Okay. 1. HIRAISHI: So specifically for Hale Kipa, that is a West Hawaii Youth Program and right now we're struggling to provide that service already. Salvation Army has East Hawai `i as you know. They don't feel like they have capacity, at least the last I understood, to expand to West Hawai `i. So Hale Kipa is a new player in that realm although they have been on island, especially here in Hilo, under other services. Page 6 FC-22 November 4, 2025 MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, great. And as far as pretty large reductions and funding for HOPE Services and Salvation Army, is that because some of that moved over to this County projects piece? MS. HIRAISHI: Yes. And even like HOPE Services, how they applied this year was a little bit different. They didn't do individual. They manage numerous individual shelters. They consolidated that application into one application and that didn't receive full funding. So they approached ' the bit different also. But yes, there was a reduction in funding, and we y o ed at partial funding across all the applications. We did let organiza n ow during our information sessions that the County was absolutely consi ering p ial funding. You know, we had to weight that balance too because n that ick up the cost of an application. But we did let folks kn^*tha t up fro we're looking at and giving additional points to agenan leverage e dollars. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, ok mean, derstanding we J e a limited amount here. We just have to spre rou t I know your lso struggling to balance with essential services that t them too low then we might lose them as providers ofthose services. So balancing. I appreciate all the work that you and your whole team put in g this. I think strategically it makes a lot of sense. I'm glad that you're foll s e of the guidance that was put out there from t study and everything. m just thankful. I know in being part of our Nationa ssociation of ounti ACo) that I hear from other counties and they actually ovide most e services themselves in county, rig�acounty the majority o unties do vide these services directly. And so w that relies on se nonprofits to do the work in our community with some funding from us tha her counties have full responsibility for putting out there. So I do appreciate the that you do and the work that the nonprofits do. And thank you f bringing this forward. I yield. G C USTACE: Thank you, Council Member MS. AISHI: k you, Council Member Kagiwada. I just want to take a quick moment si e you mentioned it, to call out the rest of the homelessness and housing fund team. Allison (Gardner), Wade, and Holly (Hreha). Holly is our own Dr. Data, PhD. Epidemiologist. I also wanted to call them out because one Yesome ou said triggered it, one of the hardest tasks that we had and that fell to s to make the call to the nonprofits that didn't get funded. That was heavy conversations because again, 23 applications, all very solid rograms, awesome projects, we just can't fund them all. So that part was difficult. But again, we feel very confident in our final list. We feel like the services are island wide as much as we could. We tried to pick up additional things. Like I know there was a question on who's going to be doing outreach in Hilo side if we don't fund the applicant that applied for outreach in Hilo side. And I wanted to remind Council that this is just one little piece of all homeless service provisions in the homelessness and housing fund. So outreach in Hilo is Page 7 FC-22 November 4, 2025 still happening. It may not be happening under this funding. There's Going Home Hawai `i who's doing quite a bit under this funding to do outreach in the future to cover from some of the pukas now that are left awards that weren't funded. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Ms. Hiraishi. Over to Council Member Villegas, please. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Thank you for being lot of money but it starts to feel like it will nev organizations applied. MS. HIRAISHI: No. 23 applications MS. VILLEGAS MS. HIRAISHI: Not organizati numerous applications. MS. VILLEGAS is that? this all up. It's a So just to clarify; 23 put in and how many organizations MS. HIRAISHI: It's rep ented y eight organizations; nonprofits, that would manage these 12 projects. ILLEGAS: Okay. An see the same names. And it's been no secret that d issues with many of th names and the lion's share of funding con g to go to them and the ograms with very little impact quite frankly is wha I'm frustrated about. I se the Neighborhood Place of Puna's Family and Outreach`Pro am once again•getting almost half a million dollars, and there was a lot of cont around that program and potential legal cases associated with it. So no matte e e are on the island, we're seeing the challenges of our unhoused, whethe not they're kama`aina or people coming straight in off the plane. I just wan to know where the data came from that indicates that 60 percent of the unhoused population are in Hilo? AISHI: So that data, again, is collected by the engagement hui. The ent hui is a County wide program. It has numerous different nonprofit that contribute to that engagement. MS. VILLEGAS: Does point and time count? MS. HIRAISHI: Yes. For example, point and time count. But they are constantly, that engagement hui island wide, is constantly putting real time data into the system. So the numbers that come up are real time numbers. Page 8 FC-22 November 4, 2025 MS. VILLEGAS: Based on who they can get to. And so probably to no fault of their own, but I know as a fact in my district they don't get everybody and the outreach doesn't happen as consistently for staffing reasons or what not, the west side does not get the focus and the authentic support. Therefor the numbers are not accurate, but they're the best they can do at that time. So I first off want to congratulate you on changing the paradigm here from organizations writing a wish list, creating a budget, and submitting it, and if they happen to be very savvy in navigating the system, they get the money. 4an ansition to stating what your needs are and then them essentially doing, n t, is with creative thought processing and solution mindedness. Unfortunately, I see the same names, and I tinue I mean, somebody just sent me a report of a big drug bust her i at a HO ices homeless facility where they weren't getting eac r in ageme there was no staff present and they weren't taking c of that s ace, and so whi is into line. I mean we also have this simila ' . Kona 'th the facilities. eems it's a chronic challenge and I can't place I e pa ly but I can co roue to call into question the leadership of these orgaaniza ions and the utilization of this funding because I to%at at this much mon this much money split between the number of peoplthe point and time co t continues to say are homeless on our streets, giving ch one of these people t this point, if we're dealing with the same p Fe, we'r of being of e. And I have some concerns about this A ere in the Addendum 1; flights not allo _ Explicitly listed as a nonall able cost per guidance of the County Council, and thi was the progr in to fly people home, and I don't remember us saying that. In ct the irony w ointed out when we approved $50,000 for Animal Control o fly dogs to th Winland to rehome them. So I'm wondering QK- ound of funding we were advised that under Chapter 2, is were not allowed. And so travel was not allowed )e that way incorrect, but I believe that was part of one Corporation Counsel responded at that time. But we So that was Corporation Counsel, not the County n Counsel at County Council, there was a question on the floor about travel and flights. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Can I ask Corporation Counsel now if they could come up and provide some clarification on that. And I empathize with you; you get told one thing and then you get told another thing, and the gift cards, and the this and the that. Unfortunately, these family reunification programs have been one of the Page 9 FC-22 Vote on Res. 397-25 (Approved) Change Order of Rn�ine�� Bill 108 November 4, 2025 most successful means for us to —it was travel for the giving flights to the unhoused folks to be able to send them home. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen came forward to address the members of the Committee.) (Discussion on Res. 397-25 continued until the vote was taken.) The motion to recommend adoption of carried by the following voice vote: Ayes Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, O Villegas, and Ac ' g Chair Hustace — Noes: Absent: Excused: As directed by the A ting Chair and with no objection from the Committee Members, the follow m was taken out of order: AMENDS ORDINAN AS AME , THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE CO Y O `I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR Increases revues in the St rants — St#E Emergency Medical Services account ($1,750 00); and appropriates the same to the following Emergency Me al Service accounts: Salary and Wages ($749,000), Other Current Ex ($90, 0), and Equipment ($911,000). Funds would be used for the openin of ambulance o ti at Makalei Fire Station in Kailua-Kona and six Reference: Comm.619 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) moved to recommend passage of Bill 108 on first Seconded by Mr. Onishi. 3sion on Bill 108 until the vote was taken.) Page 10 FC-22 Vote on Bill 108 (Approved) Return to Order ni RnainAaa BILLS FOR ORDINANCES Bill 103 Comm. 593. Motion to Amend: November 4, 2025 The motion to recommend passage of Bill 108 on first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali `i-Kl ' lder — 1. Excused: None. The Acting Chair directed the Committee to The Chair directed the Committee Bills for Ordinances. (Note: An item in this category AMENDS CHAPT R 19, ARTICLE 7,' COUNTY CODE 19 016 EDITION, order of business. to the next o7VW business, ously, out of o r.) 19-53, OF THE HAWAI`I JDED), RELATING TO Applies the homeowner classification's three -per annual assessment increase cap to a property's agricultural assessed -value un r certain conditions, including if the property is no longer sessed accordin o its agricultural use; expires after two Comm. 593 Council Members Kimball and Hustace November 19, 2025 motion by Council Member Kimball, seconded by Council r ommend passage of Bill 103 on first reading.) it Member Heather L. Kimball, dated November 21, 2025, the Real Property Tax Legislative Change Summary. GIs. Kimball moved to amend Bill 103 with the contents of Comm. 593.3. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. (There was discussion on the proposed amendment via Comm. 593.3 until the vote was taken.) Page 11 FC-22 Vote on Motion to Amend: (Approved) Vote on Bill 103 (Approved) ADJOURN - Approved: Mr. Matt Finance MK/tk i `i-Kl The motion to amend Bill 103 with the contents of Comm. 593.3 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali `i-Kl ' lder Excused: None. November 4, 2025 — 1. (There was discussion on Bill 103, as amend o 2, until the vote was taken.) The motion to recommend to Draft 2, on first readin voice vote: Bill 103, as by the folic Ayes: Committee MembWs Galmba, Inaba, agiwada, Kierkiewicz, 'mball, Onishi, s, and Acting Ch stace — 8. Noes: No Absent: Co i er Kaneali` mfelder — 1. Excused: None. her busin on our age a today, Acting ng at 2:34 m. Thank you very much. fort Chair Hustace ied eti (Date) Page 12