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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2026/06/02 (2024-2026) DRAFT Committee on Finance 37th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 June 2, 2026 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Financ s called to order at ORDER: 11:30 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by es E. Hustace, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. James E. Hustace, Vice Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, ember �//////' Ms. Ashley L. Kierki ember Ms. Heather Kimball, 1\Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Oni� Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Mel/ber �i Absent& Excused: Mr i`i-Kleinfel Chair i STATEMENTS air dire�d the Committ � roceed to the next order of business, FROM THE State fr Public on A da Items. PUBLIC AGENDA /// (� were none.) COM I- The di rec ommittee to proceed to the next order of business, CA O Comm ations. Comm. 24.35:��////////�j R26 romOF e Dlrector DANGE iane DNakagawaHdaedMay 12P2026, transmERS AUTOIZED: AIL 1 — itting the �� ve ort pursuant to Section 2-12.3 of the Hawaii County Code. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 24.35. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Members, any discussion on Communication 24.35? We do have our Finance team here and respective members from departments. No questions from the body? I do have one question for Ms. Kalua-Lewis please if you don't mind, for DPW (Department of Public Works), or Director Segawa. You're welcome to come up as well. Sorry. You're hiding there behind Mr. Keltner. FC-37 June 2,2026 (Note: At this time, Public Works Business Manager Kelsey Kalua-Lewis came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Good morning. Kelsey Kalua-Lewis, Public Works. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Good morning. Just a question on the packaged air conditioning unit. Let's see, this is an amendment for an extension of time, Correct?MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Yes, correct. So it's to d the rental for a six-month period. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: And wh tMeynext ste r the rental of this unit? %a //// MS. KALUA-LEWIS: So the, ps, Bu 'ng is working o est solution to either, I believe, to replace or fix urre I up there. T y're in the process of working on that project rig ACTING CHR. HU And this exte to the end of September gives enough time for that p fix to your kno e MS. KALUA-LEWIS: his Po kno dge, yes. o, ACTJJ0fthR. HUSTACE° ay. Okay hank you very much. I appreciate t me. M` UA WIS: You're ome. Thank you. AC T IN f course. Any other questions? Okay, seeing All t favor of closing file on Communication 24.35,please say «a� / Vote on 24.35: mot i to close file on Comm. 24.35 was carried by Filed /////// t ollowing voice vote: es: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Page 2 FC-37 June 2,2026 Comm. 24.36: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: APRIL 16—30, 2026 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated May 14, 2026, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.3 of the Hawaii County Code. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 24.36. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Members, any question this particular communication? Ms. Galimba,please. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. This is for DPW. ted to ask about Item 11, the park expansion and improvements. //////j/j/ ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: For P MS. GALIMBA: Is it for Par ® It sa DPW here. NO ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: It does right. i (Note: At thi Parks and Recr Business Manager Charmaine Felipe came fo ddress theme o he Committee.) MS. FELIPE: Good mo g. C elip J usiness Manager for Parks and Recreation. So althou �', s D st that the contract runs through DP ALIM Okay. Than So I just wanted to ask about a little more det this. this added on? e that it's for hazardous soil and mutation, expan et c ra. So I just wanted to ask about the process for Is i ® ou wer to do it you saw more things needed to be done or highe s, or what? S. E: Su hank you for that. So this is in addition to Change Order 4. Change er 4 to deal with testing of the soil and disposing of it, which caused ge Order 5 where we had to purchase a base course and top soil to // cap off t iece of grass that was removed or the exposed dirt had to be topped f wit se course and top soil. And also for the comfort station, when this ough the permitting process, it came back that we needed to add a tonal stalls to the comfort station. MS. GALIMBA: I see. So was this all sort of, well you said there's like four and five and then this. So I kind of remember us talking about soil remediation earlier. MS. FELIPE: Yeah. The earlier one was the testing and the disposal. So now this section is to remediate the section that had the contaminated soil. Page 3 FC-37 June 2,2026 MS. GALIMBA: And this was all sort of the plantation era type soil contamination. MS. FELIPE: Yes. MS. GALIMBA: Okay. Thanks so much for the details. MS. FELIPE: You're welcome. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Ms. ba. Any other questions from the body? Ms. Felipe, I actually have a ques ' regarding that. Thank you. So Change Order 4, what you discuss ith '1 Member Galimba, because we just talked about this recen Sc" went ba d looked at that date. So May 4 h, we were talking about nu ation 24.33 Waiakea Uka Park and the testing and soil rem tion. That contract says $10.7 million in the original contract and he owing t the contract w million. Are these the same contracts? I'm ein erent original ntract figure. MS. FELIPE: So there's two. There is a act and the state contract, which totals $10 million. ACTING CHR. HUST E: were comb in a previous MS. FELIPE: Yes. // j NG USTACE: cay. Is that typical that we're combining the state ct with County contra work too, to present that total? I guess I'm not see that where we hav contract kind of being lumped together. So really � W $//� million. LIP S. ACT HR. NW ACE: Okay. But then the percentages of the original contrac uld chAge, right? That's why I'm seeing some confusion in the numbers e because it shows a percent of the original contract, like if you did Change er 4, that 1.1 percent cumulative change order is 10.5 percent of the igina $10 million. Is that equivalent to what we're showing here then? ELIPE: So this change order brings the overall percentage to 17.16 percent. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Okay. MS. FELIPE: So as far as how it was broken up it's consistent with the previous change order. Page 4 FC-37 June 2,2026 ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Okay. But this one didn't include the state contract in it then as compared to how Change Order 4 was laid out, it didn't really include that state contract, correct, from what we see in Change 5? MS. FELIPE: It did as far as I can see on what's written on the form that was submitted. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Okay. But not in terms hat we see here in the communication though? It just shows the County race think. MS. FELIPE: I see. Correct. That may hav e written. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Because ,o show ontracts together then possibly, right? / j MS. FELIPE: Right. Yes. Y / j ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Okay. akagawa, anything else? Sorry. Thanks, Ms. Felipe. I appreciate your w this here. (Note: At this nce Director agawa came forward to address the mein rs mmittee. MS. NAKAGAWA: Goo o g. �agawa, Finance Department. Cou r Hustace, I go ahead review the previous one that you're r encing. normally an hanges are with the contract number that is AA So we 't normally c bine contracts for totals for this particular pu f rep ing. The reflec' s on the percentages are with that contract and co m ave been an error in the previous one but this shou the tota contract, and the 38 percent should reference the tive e order. But we will go ahead and review the previous to make sur ACT HR. �S ACE: I appreciate that. But it's not normal that we would see the s contract on there. They were combined in the previous commun tion. 'KAGAWA: Right. It's not. And I'll go take a look at that. Normally lots listed in the change order report should reference the contract date, exact cct that we're making a change to and the percentage of that contract. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Yes. I got that. Thank you so much, Director. MS. NAKAGAWA: You're welcome. Page 5 FC-37 June 2,2026 ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Sorry, Ms. Felipe. One more question on a different project. Thank you. MS. NAKAGAWA: Sure. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: With regards to contract C.012876 on the reroofing and repairs for a number of facilities. MS. FELIPE: Yes. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: There's a cou y mmunity centers,play courts. What is the timeline for the const n wor s laid out? MS. FELIPE: That I'm not sure of. an g back to you hat. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: ecauseth a number of t facilities I'm sure that you have Engineering ers, ! doing all the r acement work for all these different facilities. MS. FELIPE: They e consultants for ACTING CHR. HUSTPM.E. consultant. y. And so there will be subcontracts for all the cotructio nder , m? o MS. The construct work gets out separately once they're c leted. A CH USTACE: Bi t separately. Okay. So they're just doing the design LIP ' S. ACT HR. ACE: Okay. So this is specifically lust for designing the roof rep at theOtfacilities then? MS. FE And this change order actually is for the fire alarm system at one the S. A NG CHR. HUSTACE: Right. So kind of adding that on top of this,yeah. MS. FELIPE: Yes. Because after their inspection the system cannot be repaired it has to be replaced. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Got it. That's good to know. Okay. Thank you. So we'll probably see more future work going forward after they've completed all their consultant design work. Page 6 FC-37 June 2,2026 MS. FELIPE: Yes. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Got it. Thank you, Ms. Felipe. Any other questions, body? Okay. Hearing none, all those in favor of closing file on Communication 24.36 please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 24.36: The motion to close file on Comm. 24.36 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: ep%, Ayes: Committee Members Galimb ba Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, K* a shi Villegas, and Acting Cha ustac Noes: None. o / Absent: Committee Memb ane i'i-Kleinfeld� Excused. None. Comm. 574.2: SECOND QUARTER REPORT O �NC ,LIZED ON ONS: MARCH 31 2026 JANUARY 1 O From Finance Director Diane Nakagaw Fd May 12, 2026, transmitting the Wrm above report pursuan esolution 200- i Vote on Comm. 574.2: Ms. Kierkiewicz�o� se file on . 574.2. Filed Sec nded by Mr. �shi a by t following voice vote: Ay e Committee embers Gal imba, Inaba, Kagiwada Ki'. iewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and g Chair Hustace—8. Co ember Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excn None. OR The directe Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLD S: Order o solut s. Res. 575-26: //// AUTHO ES THE ACCEPTANCE OF ALL DONATIONS OF CU IES OR PERSONAL PROPERTY NOT COVERED UNDER THE LIZATION PROCEDURES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE ARE RECEIVED DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING J E 30, 2027 Provides County Council pre-authorization for the County to accept donations that are not covered by the Finance Department's capitalization procedures for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Reference: Comm. 908 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Page 7 FC-37 June 2,2026 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 575-26. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Members, any discussion or questions on this reso. Director Nakagawa, you just want to give an overview of this one? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Thank you. Diane Naka Finance Department. As with the item before, this is something we br' tom ouncil annually to allow us authorization to accept upon receipt and n we' ead and do a quarterly report as in the previous item. So nor th time o / e'll come forward asking for us to be able to do that fo n-c" italized items then you'll see the quarterly report throughout t ext fiscal year. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Than Dir Any other qu ions? Council Member Kierkiewicz. j MS. KIERKIEWIC Aust note this wa� Ily the brainchild of former Council Chair Aaron nance Commi d deal with a number of resolutions regarding do�ti� County an dually inhibited the ability of a department to utilize e dona use w first needed to accept it as a body. And so this has crea s uch ies within our processes and it's elim' of unnecess aperwork folks can do other things that are p mg wi e County. it's a great way that we've created efficiencies our sys and then wit e uarterly reporting it ensures transparency of wh en g' and an oppo to thank those who made a donation to the Counn AKA A: Yeah. That's recommendation forward is greatly ap ed. %/ ACTIM HR. STACE: Thank you, Director. Thank you, Council Member for the h of forwa ry. Alright, any other questions? Okay, Members, all those in favor g Resolution 575-26 to Council with a favorable recommendation ease «aye » Page 8 FC-37 June 2,2026 Vote on Res. 575-26: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 575-26 was (Approved) 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-Klei er- 1. Excused: None. Relinquish Chair: At this time, Acting Chair Hustace relinquis th it to Acting Chair Inaba. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee t oceeto the next o// f business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 163: AMENDS CHAPTER 19, AR TIC OF AWAI`I CO Y CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMEND �ATIl G TO REAL PROPERTY TAXES Establishes a new re° erty tax dedicati certain properties that are owned by a descendant of a p owned the pr least one hundred years ago to be subject to the 'ni -0 Re �en Co %� Intr. Counc ember Hustace Motion to Approve: Mr. H ce moved to r�ommend passage of Bill 163 on rst re n . Seconded r. Onishi. r��� TIN INA � ciI Member Hustace. o M STA�j a you Chair. I'm honored to introduce Bill 163 today, A1,6 which Id esta an Ama Kupuna Dedication Program. First I want to thank m egisla e Assistant Elwin (Freitas) and our Real Property Tax (RPT) Adminis ors for the conversation, for their efforts and involvement in bringing this poll roposal together for you. t the core of this bill is about preserving generational family lands and h ng local families navigate our rising cost of living and across the island, any of our families continue to care for lands that have been passed down generation. These properties are often more than financial assets. They are places of history, culture, identity, genealogy, and community connection. And so as property values and taxes increase and assessments increase some families face this growing difficulty of holding on to these passed down inherited lands. In some cases these pressures contribute to the loss of these properties that remain in their families for generations. Once these lands leave, the culture, history, and Page 9 FC-37 June 2,2026 familial connections tied to them can be difficult to reobtain and sometimes impossible to restore. So Bill 163 seeks to address one aspect of the challenge by creating a voluntary ten-year dedication program that provides significant property tax relief for qualifying descendants or longstanding landowners. Eligible properties will be taxed at the minimum real property tax rate during that dedication period and certain penalties and interest on recent delinquent tax uld be waived. So as stated in the bill, the qualifying propertie t be 20 acres or less, owned by descendants of a person who owned the p e ore January 1, 1926; ownership must remain within the family, the pr must continue to meet those program requirements. The bill rcts agri al uses. And part of these proposal is not out precedent. Maui Co as established and `Aina Kupuna Program in d they and County of lu also considered similar legislation. So 3 b } on these cone is that have already been developed elsewhere acr tate although adapting them for our unique circumstance here on Hawaii Is But unlike the Maui a lu measures r generally limited to the properties located withi e anagement s, this proposal recognizes many of our Hawaii Isla gener ds, o founded rural agricultural communities, ranch lands, u reas. I also establishes a lower tax thre rticipation a° ocuses spe ically on properties with ownership h' ry dati k before 19 reflecting on longstanding connections for many amities have their la that they even steward today. This d t Ive every challenge facing families with A/000/00000011����� eratio nds. eciate the testimony that was received highlighting e imp f losing agricultural land are not solely economic. For many fa hese ® e esent a living connection to this history, culture, genea and th se of place. And so preserving these connections strength com nities and helps ensure that future generations maintain ties to the land sustained their kupuna. I do Icome the discussion on how to make this program more effective, cessible, and maybe some questions about this. I believe this proposal d es some thoughtful discussion on this as well. So I look forward to orking with my colleagues and see how we can implement some program to this effect and I welcome the feedback and input from our Real Property Tax Administrators here. So, thank you for your consideration. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Before we go to other members, do you folks want to chime in right now? No. Alright. Council Member Villegas. Page 10 FC-37 June 2,2026 MS. VILLEGAS: First off, I just want to compliment Council Member Hustace. That was really beautiful, what you just said and the words that you used were poignant. It just really took into consideration so many elements of the connectivity to land and place, and purpose, and belonging. So I really enjoyed hearing you define the purpose and vision of this particular piece of legislation and the vision behind it. So I'm interested to hear what the rest of colleagues, pros and cons, where that leaves us. But the intentionality of it just really resonates. So thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Ki MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Thank you, ncil r Hustace, for bringing this forward. I know that over the year e several tituents point to the Maui legislation and City and Coun gis ion and a t doing something here. I'd like to dive ' the numbers and just he our Real Property Tax Department. Hadentifie ow many par e looking at, what the impact would be on re� an ,of those points (Note: At thi,s�time, Real Pro pe Administrator Lisa Miura and Assistant Ad rator Keita Jo ca and to address the members of the Committee. MS. MIURA: Good afte' on. Rea roperty Tax Administrator here with Keita Jo, Assista" rop Administrator. We referred back to to see how y propertie ey have in their program even t h ours t up a little bi ifferently just to get a baseline because our ter data no way to te s who today is related to an owner of a property fro year o. So I'll be h� t, I can't give you a realistic idea other than lookin hos alues are higher than ours and theirs is focused the oc nt. o g to be higher end properties. They have 36 tions ntly in their system. There was only five new ones within the las ears. r enue loss in support of this program is $1,006,782 this past y The av a parcel received a tax break of$27,996. // MS. KI LL: Yeah. You bring up one of the questions I had about and I j%don't ow di u t or easy d you think it may be for some of these nowners to actually at historical connection? I know that we have challenges even tracking o rship within the last 50 years much less the last century. Have you looked i o that at all? And let me ask my other question too. The other question I had too is around the definitions that are going to apply to this particular area for the code, and just to confirm that you, or your legislative staff, or LRB (Legislative Research Branch) have kind of confirmed that there's not going to be any ambiguity created or conflict with respect to the agricultural dedication programs and those definitions. I understand maybe the need for a Page 11 FC-37 June 2,2026 slightly different definition in this area. But I just want to make sure that there was a cross check done to make sure there isn't going to be any gray area created there by having two kind of definitions in the same vicinity. That's all my questions, Chair. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Yeah. So the two questions. Your t question about the history and kind of the genealogical tie to property at he most challenging for sure, right. And what is proposed in here is nus and that responsibility falls upon the landowner. So it doesn't fall t r istrative staff to help families figure that out or clear the title. T 'need t e to the program with a clean title and really have that laid out. d it does r ce Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), other opp niti� to help track ther resources out there that may be able to help fa ' s figure that piece out. reall isn't an easy way to understand what t ct migk'� e here and that s it back so far causes some challenges for sure ms ,gaper records what we have as individual documents. So tha itely going to be a challenge, what's proposed right here,jut it does set some aints too. So it may make it more challenging but the i to revenues may e as big possibly. I don't know. The agriculture definiti�sh ostly simil m not mistaken on what is defined elsewhere in the 64pter. ed to gn that so the agricultural use and production could also li n the o. NG &EIown ITNABA: Coil Member Kimball. M BA Yeah, thank y r those responses. I'm just spit balling this here ch es that we've made recently, the idea of putting unset haven ,. , mporary especially with these programs where we don't how many people might actually enroll and what the real fiscal im ight w der if it would make sense in this particular case as well to ha ve-yea� it on it to start off and see how many people enroll, see what th pact That's just because, and Council Member Onishi has ention his before, like how difficult it is if something like this ends up being roblem to get the political will to roll it back. Just something to consider. not rried to the idea, but maybe just want to throw that out for conversation others. I think it's a little imprudent to propose something when we d know what the impact will be and have really no way of assessing that. at's my thought. Thank you. Thanks again for introducing it. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, overall I'm really supportive of the idea. I do have some concerns about the unknowns. Yeah. I mean given what we know is coming with our obligations financially, you know, I have brought it Page 12 FC-37 June 2,2026 forth that I have other ideas to increase revenue that were not taken up this year potentially that could help with a deficit of this sort. But I think the overall idea is really good. My biggest concern is the timing of it and the unknown part of it and our escalating financial obligations as a County in the next ten years. So I'm not sure if the five-year thing is really the exact right way to do it, but it's an interesting thing to consider. I don't know what other ways, if there could be a cap or a limit on how much in the first year we spend and then look at that. I'm not really sure. But yeah, I do have some concerns j out the unknown and the potential issues when we back ourselves into a ermound this. So I've always really liked what Maui did w' I'm happy to see you bring this forward; it looks like there's a to simila there. Can you explain the ten-year part of this? I guess I can is doing ba years. But what does it mean going forward for a pr t t enters this p m? Can you explain that please? /E ACTING CHR. INABA: Council er MR. HUSTACE: Sq rry. I think you're ng to the tracking back 100 years. / MS. KAGIWADA: I �o a said a vol un�� ear property tax program. MR. HUSTACE: Right. the p a vol tary dedication for ten years. So you'd have to enter int i e gram 'd have that commitment of mini rty tax for to ears, unless ou violate kind of the program r semen ere. So the ould be backed out of the program and there be pen s for that. Bu think that was your question on the ten years, co A KA DA: � as on the ten years. Yeah. But you can re-app for r ten and another ten years. It's not limited to ten years. ////���j// MR. ACE: ect. j/ MS. KA ADA: Okay. That's what I want to understand here. Okay. So similar t, me of the ag programs that have been proposed, you enter into it for a riod 'me in order to meet all those criteria, and then it allows you after that you want to make some changes, you don't want to stay in the program th the time you can get out of it. Okay. I understand. Thank you. Yeah. I ant to continue to discuss this and figure out how we can make it work. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Thank you for this legislation. I think it's a really great thing and have had folks ask for something similar in my district. I'm just a Page 13 FC-37 June 2,2026 little confused around the question of like agricultural tourism and farm stays versus residential rental uses for a term less than six months. What's your intention there and also kind of,you know, we're all in the midst of short-term vacation rental considerations so that's a whole sort of ball of wax by itself. But I just wanted to understand what your thoughts are around the use of these lands for farm stays and short-term vacation rentals. MR. HUSTACE: Right. ACTING CHR. INABA: Go ahead. MR. HUSTACE: Thanks. Sorry, Chair. k you. is really the intent of not having those bigger commercial o o being q d within this program, but anything that pertains ose' gricultural us / hile farm stays is allowable in this capacity here, I k it revolves around the Itural sector. MS. GALIMBA: I see. So there I re e would be if i something completely not involved with agricul would not be allowed. But if it is an agricultural tourism or farm stay, they stay overnight and get some funds from that? MR. HUSTACE: I thin��ha� tion that w� work out if we need more specificity on the details that a ou t to see this piece here. But it's reall for the agricultur p ses. mercial is not included. So it's basi that these o less than s months are not permissible, right? ALIM Right, right, ht. I see. Okay. Yeah, I have to think around tha e bit d I'm not even tly sure where we are as far as like Rose Hill and ho this. Thank you for clarifying. G C ABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIEWWhank you. Thank you for bringing this forward. You know, t 's a I of talk about revenue at this point. But I think what you're trying to fiver here is relief, relief for a lot of our generational `ohana that have found c east and inflation,tocult n I think it makes maintain their mily sense res.ally y en t rtain this with cost of living , y type so that we can ensure that our local families can still call Hawaii home. I re are issues that need to be worked out here in committee, I'm happy to do t at now. If not, I'm also happy to move it forward to Council. I know that you have a great working relationship with the Real Property Tax Office, so that they can think through program mechanics. Administrator, I would be remised if I didn't ask again, do you have the capacity and all the resources needed to implement this program should the Council elect Page 14 FC-37 June 2,2026 to move forward on it? Because I feel like you understand and appreciate the intent of what is trying to be achieved here. MS. MIURA: Yes. Lisa Miura, Real Property Tax Administrator. That's a loaded question. I'm sure my staff are watching and screaming. So maybe I'll just share a little bit. Some of the problems that we've seen that have come out of the Kuleana Program to provide a little bit on why we're kind of stuck in the middle. We do want to see a program, especially lik ' , come forward because for kuleana parcels, they have to have been dated awa' ed as a kuleana. And so what we've noticed in working within OHA fter families have thought they've had a kuleana parcel for all these ye n taining the stewardship, and then they do their genealogy only to fi ut tha d wasn't given as a kuleana. They don't qualify. So I bell a this s ®rom, and I can't speak for OHA, I saw they did do a g wry en testimony t it that there was nothing really for these families alify. And so, definitel ake it fair and equitable, I believe this is the or the to go through ince Maui had done it, I can understand. Differences that we do want to point out 80 years versus 100 years. This is 100 years and to ma k° nd I know when cussed this part of it, it was let's see what we get with t ars and maybe overburdensome then the Council can look at futu �at that. Ina n, the property not larger than 20 acres was most h estea ery I e and what Council Member was tryin to address in pr ct Is i o be a burden? Yeah, it's another pro 't pretend it' t. Is it one Ed while Keita and I were walking o m lik know, there so many things that come up and everything is a ntent a can see the p" and the negatives to it. I wou� n port this in the terms of a Real Property Tax minist not jus e trying to write some things that could be done n our but seeing so many families being taxed off their property. An hear i ® e, mostly all testimonies, right, like what are you guys doing ocals, are you doing for this? And this doesn't specify one ethnici does specify how long someone had to have been on the property because could have no homestead on it, it's not your main house. It could be family o operty that you've taken care of for many years such as agriculture ope S "would have to state that for the fairness and equity and while we don't 11 ually lobby, we are supportive over this program. Even though I won't be here in ten years when this is renewed because I will be retired by then, so I can leave it open to Keita as well. How we implement it makes me a little nervous. There's some minor things we would clarify just for the record if it gets to County Council. Page 15 FC-37 June 2,2026 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Can you identify which sections you are feeling a bit challenged over and would like clarity or would like to suggest an amendment? MS. MIURA: Sure. I'm not suggesting an amendment,just clarity for the record. I believe I know what the intent is on it, but just for the record going forward for future administrations or the public who might interpret something differently. On Page 1, under the definitions, Item 2; we do want clarification if this includes hosted rentals. The way our interpretation is it does /It's any residential rental uses for a term of less than six months, non- cu al. And on Page 1, under eligibility, we just wa c for the record that we understand the penalties and interest woul waive uding the two years prior to qualification of that period. B ,moo fixes are uring that period, once the ten years end, if there's no ewa eve wouldn't ck and assess for the penalties and interest, but we Id going forward. On Page 2, under A at the very top st w clarify that ou nderstanding is the property did not have to stay in ily for the last 100 year period, but the owner today is just providing genealo someone who owned the property in January 1, 1926 or ously and that th of having to prove ownership all the way through it n the family, a t' ,similar to how the kuleana is and that's ho �we nd that's m or clarification purposes. So o, if I'm wrong on any of the Cou ber H tace will tell me. And one on Pag° under b at e very bottom under the petition p ss, the for may req the petitioner to provide. The ownership today t one pe t interest, on wner, something needs to be in the applicant's na f to not looking at usiness side of it. And we want to clarify if j� that sh t t e's unknown heirs or unknown owners, they ���� 't co k an s is me. I'm the unknown person." It has to sho hat person's name. And I can just see that coming up so we wa clan ' ur understanding. It has to be in their name. And the woul e more of a comment under Page 3, Item 3. There's been a lot of dis Sion about agriculture, and we have had families reach out who read a, the bill t felt that they would qualify with the exception that they've been doing ricul this whole time, so their tax bills have not been up to the $10,000. their concern is that they would not qualify for it and if there was a way ar d that. When I read it the $10,000 is right there; it's written. So I didn't ow if that could be looked at in the future so that they probably could qualify because I believe that's the intent. And in one case that we're aware of, they will not be able to apply for the new agricultural program because they would not qualify. That's all. Page 16 FC-37 June 2,2026 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. And I look forward to Council Member Hustace confirming, clarifying all the points that you've raised. What is a realistic next step in your mind? MS. MIURA: If Council approves the bill, whether there's amendments or not, just make some clarifications on it so we know how to do it procedurally as far as administering the program. And then we would get the word out somehow on our website. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. You wouldn't w socialize this program idea before it's passed by the Council? / MS. MIURA: Socialize like public h MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I'm just c us. Or not public hearin � ow that in the past you've done mailers j t a tem ature check, a p eck in the community around folks understan Willi s to take advan e of the program. I know folks here are like t numbers at the same time. Who's going to take advant Xe of it, what is the cial loss of the County, how do we make up that incomes here? So I'm ju dering if there's any sort of public outreach that w re discussing 11 nd seeing if there's any fine tuning that needs to of followin t engagement. MS. MIURA: Yes. I like t I essarily know how we would go abo veryone sin don't kno ho they are. If the value changes fr less th 0,000, it wo open it up to more individuals, but at the same might ore fair beca you have properties on the west side of the isla viou it's going to b easy to hit that$10,000. On the east side I do sti it nificance and maybe it won't hit that number. it ou person other than the assessment notice; that's our thin ar that we notice every single owner, lessee, addressee of the pro and t w 140,000 mailings. That's expensive. MS. MI It's expensive and people will always have a lot of questions. And fore were trying to get out the ag kupuna program information now along �rybody that needs to renew, that needs to go through a bid process, you what I mean. By the time we get through all of that, you guys will be t rough the next several meetings, and it could change if amendments come forward. So I would love to know a good way to reach the public without it being a large expense where I could avoid procurement. I would appreciate knowing what that would be. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah. Just a question for Council Member Hustace, the kind of community outreach that was done to inform this measure. I know that Page 17 FC-37 June 2,2026 we've all received calls looking for relief by `ohana, but I'm just wondering if socializing this idea to see who would take advantage or the questions they might have to help inform any amendments, if there are any. But thank you for being here. I appreciate having this discussion. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Any other discussion? Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Yeah. Chair, I'd love to hear your ghts as well. So I just want to thank everyone's input on this. And I app te, Administrator and Assistant Administrator, on your work here as /Yeah, I know I've been receiving calls from community about how t o elief is something we get often. So this was a way to look at that rea operty echanism as a means. I've been kind of sharing this idea in c u about hat might look like, but I think a lot of people struggle w' t ei roperty and to track how far back it is in their family. So ther some really opportunity and information there for sure. I' ire what° t quite looks likm happy to kind of reach out to community e if ,, any kind of b in on something like this. So yeah, thank y ACTING CHR. INA Thank you for in ing this. This was something that our office had sta ad that you ha is d it off. Question on the decision for 1926. %////�j�� GM MR. HUSTACE: You knA ere t dates. Maui County did 80 y ey even had, i ieve there as some amendment where they w going a rolling 80 �ars. I don't think that went through, but they were at a s years back. ��d 80 years back, we're looking at post war, so the lot o onomic develop t, investment, in the lands here in the state and th as ' et on that time. I wanted to go a little bit further g k than O`a a their proposal was 50 years back and that didn't go d rig t was not approved as an ordinance there. So, I really wanted to set pre t 'nd of tracked generations back further. And I was just kind on tho 0 years, tracking back from now and what that looks like j� kind of War pre World War II, before significant investment in our commun s here. . TIN HR. INABA: Okay. I think I just need a little more time on the date. ink I really have concerns about the structure that has been proposed. B can remember when I was trying to imagine this, like what is the appropriate te, and I don't think I have the answer for that right now. But I'll think about it in the next couple weeks. But with that, any other discussion? Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. I appreciate that. I mean the date is I think important, about how far back we go or to look at does it roll, what does it mean, does it stay stagnant and then people have to track in 20 years, 120 years back, Page 18 FC-37 June 2,2026 that sort of thing. So kind of maintaining that time of time and space there. I welcome any ideas on what that may look like. I just thought setting on that 100 years would be a significant marker in time from now when this could potentially be set in stone. So I appreciate any other thoughts you have on that. I just wanted to go a little further back than what Maui had proposed there. But I do appreciate that conversation so I would like to postpone this for further discussion here in committee. ACTING CHR. INABA: Just a moment. MR. HUSTACE: Sure. Thank you, Chair. ACTING CHR. INABA: Just wanting to irm be" Administrator Miura brought up. So on Page 2, A at the to th ecord, r this passes and o,, people apply right away or people a fob° 10 years fro the date that makes someone eligible is some ; they are a descendant o eone who owned the property prior to Ja 1926. wthat correct? MR. HUSTACE: Yes, Chair. //ft ACTING CHR. INA Okay. Thank yo �th that, I'll take your motion. MR. HUSTACE: Thane° ' Vote on Motion Mr. Hustace movek o o to Postpone: hi an d (Approved) carri the followil*voice vote: es: I Committee Me rs Galimba, Inaba, iewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Vi Acting Chair Hustace—8. oe None. jbse / ittee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. used: e. ADJOURN- ��/%MEj ad'ourne e meetiner atu12 20 omo Thankd ouovdey muchg Chair Inaba MENT: g p y ry Approved: ��/% Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair (Date) Finance Committee MK/tk Page 19