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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2018/10/02 2016-2018Committee on Finance 44th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii October 2, 2018 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at 9:30 a.m., ORDER: in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Eileen O'Hara, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Absent & Excused: Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Member STATEMENTS FRC)N4 TNF PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: COMMUNI- r A TTnNc The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Jon McElvanen: Elliott Fein: Abelghassem Abraham Sadegh: Jean Graham: Res. 690-18 (Comm. 1072), in support. Res. 662-18 (Comm. 1033), in support. Res. 692-18 (Comm. 1033); and Bill 190 (Comm. 190), comment. Res. 690-18 (Comm. 1072), comment. CHR. DAVID: Alright, Council Members, at this point I'm closing public testimonies, Statements from the Public at this time, and moving on to Communications. The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Communications. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Communication 14.43. FC -44 October 2, 2018 Comm. 14.43: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: AUGUST 1 —15, 2018 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated August 31, 2018, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.3. Vote on Comm. 14.43: Ms. Poindexter moved to close file on Comm. 14.43. Filed Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, by request of Mr. Richards, we're going to jump to Resolution 662-18. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following items were taken out of order: Res. 662-18: ACCEPTS A GRANT OF PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC ACCESS EASEMENTS, IDENTIFIED AS TAX MAP KEYS: 5-3-007:010 (POR.) AND 5-3-007:041 (POR.), SITUATED AT HALAWA, PAPAA, AND NAPAPA`A, DISTRICT OF NORTH KOHALA, ISLAND AND COUNTY OF HAWAII, STATE OF HAWAII, FROM VIPASSANA HAWAII, A HAWAII NONPROFIT CORPORATION AND INHABIT LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY The granting of pedestrian public access easements is a result of a settlement agreement between the County and Surety Kohala Corporation entered into on April 4, 2002. Reference: Comm. 1033 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Postponed: September 4, 2018 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Poindexter, seconded by Ms. Lee Loy, to recommend adoption of Res. 662-18.) (Note: Comm. 1033.1, from Thomas Yeh, Esq., dated September 11, 2018, transmitting pertinent information regarding Res. 662-18.) Page 2 FC -44 October 2, 2018 CHR. DAVID: I notice we have Mr. Yeh in the audience. Would you come forward Mr. Yeh? I believe we have Communication 1033.1. And I'd like to thank you for actually informing us why we postponed this, and you needed to do some contact with the Trails Association. MR. YEH: Right. CHR. DAVID: Thank you for doing that. So, could you please give us a summary of that? MR. YEH: Sure. After the last meeting, I did have contact with Toni Whitington, who is part of the North Kohala Community Access group. I got an email from her at least a day or two ago indicating support; I haven't heard of any objections. I was actually anticipating more testimony in support of this particular access proposal, but I haven't heard anything contrary to that. I know Councilman Richards was absent, and you wanted to get his input. From what I understand, things seem to be a go at this point. It is a really beautiful trail, I have to acknowledge. I guess one of the things that I was talking to Bethany, when we were at a break, is—you know, most landowners, they like to push accesses way out to the cliff edge; but if you take a look at the map that we provided, it's actually significantly inland, so it really provides a really safe location for pedestrians. It even anticipates climate change and possibly erosion. I don't think we're going to need to touch this thing for decades probably. The final thing, on the Halawa Gulch side, there had been some concerns by Ms. Whitington the last time, which I think have to be delayed now. Basically what happens on the Halawa side or the Hilo direction, is as you go into the gulch, it's pretty steep; as you come out of gulch, it's pretty steep. So what we did is you'll see a little bit of an irregular line on that side, and what that does is it crosses those slopes at a diagonal way so that you can cross diagonally. Get down into the valley, come back up again on a less steep slope, so safer for everybody. So having said that, unless there's any questions, I'm done. CHR. DAVID: Thank you so much for that. MR. YEH: Thank you. CHR. DAVID: And since Mr. Richards was not here, I would like—go ahead, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you. Thanks, Chair. Thanks, Mr. Yeh, for being before us. I just spoke to Toni Whitington; I was in North Kohala. Days blend together. It was first part of last week or latter part of last week. And she said she wouldn't be available for testimony. Page 3 FC -44 Vote on Res. 662-18 (Approved) October 2, 2018 But being Council last couple of years, this is all fitting in line with the direction of what that whole coastline is, and the access, and the trails, and all that, fitting in line. If you go back and look at the document, I think it's 2002 when this was first started to come forth? MR. YEH: Correct. MR. RICHARDS: So we're looking at 16 years to try and get this perfected, which doesn't measure up. The other thing I worked on, that was 50 years, trying to get perfected. The point is we're finally getting the inner -shot of some this stuff and getting it addressed. Toni Whitington is very supportive of this, that's what she said to me. It makes sense for the community. It makes sense for the coastline. It makes sense, so everything is in line. I appreciate, Mr. Yeh, your testimony on that. MR. YEH: Thank you. MR. RICHARDS: I'm very supportive of this going forward. CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much, Mr. Richards. Anyone else wanting to comment? No? Seeing none, thank you, Mr. Yeh. All those in favor of approving Resolution 662-18 please say "aye." The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 662-18 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can you just go down the agenda? Resolution 690-18. Page 4 FC -44 October 2, 2018 Res. 690-18: REQUESTS AN AMNESTY PERIOD FROM JANUARY 2019 THROUGH THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 2019-2020, DURING WHICH TIME REAL PROPERTY TAX RATES FOR PROPERTIES ZONED COMMERCIAL WHERE A LEGAL BUSINESS OPERATES OR PLANS TO OPERATE IN PAHOA AND VOLCANO VILLAGE, THAT CONTINUE TO BE NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY THE 2018 LAVA EVENT, SHALL BE ASSESSED AT THE MINIMUM TAX RATE Requests relief from the full assessment of real property taxes as a means to support businesses that report substantial financial losses due to the recent volcanic activity. Reference: Comm. 1072 Intr. by: Ms. O'Hara Motion to Approve: Ms. O'Hara moved to recommend adoption of Res. 690-18. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. O'Hara. MS. O'HARA: Thank you. This came about in discussion with the business organizations that represent Volcano Village businesses as well as the Main Street, Pahoa, and it has to do with the fact that we have experienced a serious and significant downturn in business activities in those areas due to the lava events. While the lava may have ceased for at least the time being, if not forever, it has not resulted in a return of customers to the area in the numbers that we normally would see, so businesses are still experiencing a significant downturn. We have some written testimony that's been submitted as well as some oral testimony in support of this. In terms of the consequences of this action, I asked the Real Property Tax office to analyze the number of commercial properties that this would impact. Understand that all businesses don't necessarily operate off and receive a commercial tax bill. They may have other designations for their real property tax. But what they found were, I believe, 85 businesses that would be impacted by this. It would reduce their rates to the minimum tax of $200 for the period of time of 18 months, starting the second half of this fiscal year, which would be January through June of 2019, and then extending to the fiscal year 2019-20. For the fiscal year that we're currently in, that reduction, that tax relief would result in a lost of revenues to the County of approximately $200,000. If it were extended to the full fiscal year 2019-20, it would be an additional, approximately $400,000 in lost revenues to the County to provide that tax relief. So that's kind of the story behind it, and I open up for discussion. Ms. Sako here. I don't see Real Property Tax here. Page 5 FC -44 October 2, 2018 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. O'Hara. Council Members, any questions? Ms. Sako, would you like to come up and comment? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako and Acting Real Property Tax Administrator Keita Jo came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. SAKO: Good morning. CHR. DAVID: Good morning. MS. SAKO: Deanna Sako, Director of Finance, and with me is Acting Real Property Tax Administrator, Keita Jo. We have read the resolution, and as much as we feel and support the businesses of Puna and Volcano, they were not the only ones impacted by the lava eruption and the downturn and tourism. The whole principles of our tax system is based on being fair and equitable to all, and so it's hard for us to distinguish or point out, you know, individual sections of our island that may or may not have been impacted more. I mean, some businesses actually shut down during the eruption, as well, not necessarily located in Puna and Volcano. We're not supporting this today, unfortunately. But we're happy to answer any questions you might have. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Sako. Council Members, any—Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Ms. Sako, thank you. I'm actually more interested in a kind of the procedure part of this. We adopt real property tax rates based on resolution, just like our fuel tax. I just want to understand a little bit better, procedurally, if this actually even fits. And, if you could, explain that process or procedural process. MS. SAKO: About adopting the rates? Yeah. Each year, as we prepare the budget, the May 5 1 submittal, we do have suggested rates that go with that budget. And then the rates have to be approved by resolution no later than June 201h of each year, and also is required a public hearing on that, as well. MS. LEE LOY: So when I look at this particular resolution, this would require like a public hearing process, just like when we adopt those rates at that time? MS. SAKO: We need some sort of legislation, and I think Mr. Kamelamela is ready to speak as well, that the resolution is not the right way to do it. You know, we do have provisions in our County Code in times of disaster, and unfortunately Page 6 FC -44 October 2, 2018 these businesses don't fall under that. There's not really unless Keita thought of something else, another section that applies to them, so it's kind of hard for us to be able to enact this. MS. LEE LOY: Deanna, help direct me to that section of the Code. MS. SAKO: The disaster one? MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. I had reviewed Section 19. MS. SAKO: Yeah, 19-36. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. I was looking at Section 19-90(b)(2), a resolution to set the real property tax rate shall disclose the approximate amount of revenue to be raised, but I didn't see language about revenue loss. MS. SAKO: Yeah, so we're back to the initial thing, where we've definitely lost value in Puna this last year with the lava. We did go in, and we amended values for those people. And then we had to come in and amend the budget, that just finished passing last time. So we're back kind of in that situation. When there's a reduction in revenue, then we have to amend the budget. We have kind of amended and are out of options. In addition, our cost had increased this year, well, both last year and this year with the different disasters, so there's not a whole lot of extra funding right now either. MS. LEE LOY: Deanna, share again with me the section. MS. SAKO: The disaster one? MS. LEE LOY: The disaster one. MS. SAKO: 19-36. This is more commonly used, or regularly used, where's there's like a house fire or something like that, but it also applies to earthquake, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, and any other kind of disasters we might have. But our whole real property tax system is set on property tax values, so that's really what we look at and what the impact has been. Unfortunately, we're not seeing the reduction of values in this particular area. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. I want to thank Ms. O'Hara. But there are a few things that popped up during this conversation, which is, you know, being fair and equitable. I think as policymakers, we all want to help but we also have to apply policy fair and equitably, and because of the way this is structured, it doesn't create that balance. Page 7 FC -44 October 2, 2018 What I also heard was this might not be the appropriate vehicle to do such. I actually want a little bit more time to take a look at that Section 19-36. For right now, I'm not going to be supporting this just because it kind of runs against the grain of our role here. As policymakers, is to create legislation that is fair and equitable and done in a manner that's appropriate. So, I'm going to yield at this time. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Any other comments, Council Members? Seeing noneoh, Ms. O'Hara, go ahead. MS. O'HARA: I'm sorry. We reduced the taxes on many properties in Puna. Did we not, residential -owned properties? MS. SAKO: We did. MS. O'HARA: Did we reduce the taxes on any anything but residential? MR. JO: I would say that there were some agricultural class properties included within that adjustment. MS. O'HARA: Within that adjustment, we did some agricultural properties, as well. Did we have a public meeting about that reduction to see if the people living in the area felt it was fair? MR. JO: No public meeting. MS. O'HARA: Did we apply that reduction throughout lower Puna or just to an area that we decided our arbitrarily was impacted? MS. O'HARA: So the adjustments were done according to the Mayor's proclamation, which suspended our valuation date as of January 1st. We looked at the market. So as far as applying equitably and fairly across the board, we looked at all of the markets within that area. The adjustments that were made were specific to areas that we saw some market reductions in value. Contrasting that, there are other areas near that lower Puna area that actually saw an increase in the assessments. MS. O'HARA: Understood. MR. JO: We use the mechanism a little bit different than this particular resolution. MS. O'HARA: When you're looking at market reductions, you don't have in that framework, of May 3rd through today, much time to analyze transactions in the market. So, there's probably only a few cases of sales that you can look at to determine whether there's a reduction or not. Page 8 FC -44 October 2, 2018 MR. JO: We'll look at sales within those areas to see a reduction. With that being said, a sale does not make a market. We'll take a look within the community, the real estate community, we'll take a look and speak with the appraisers, Board of Realtors, to determine what that market condition is in the absence of a significant amount of sales. MS. O'HARA: With regard to market appraisals of commercially classed properties, in terms of real property taxes, were there any sales? MR. JO: From my recollection, there weren't any sales within this geographical area that's under the resolution. MS. O'HARA: Right. So, there's no way to claim that we've analyzed it and we see no impact. Furthermore, the Tax Code does allow us to do commercial appraisals based on revenue and cost, which we don't currently do, I understand. But it does allow us to do that, does it not? MR. JO: We'll do that in a sense of appeals, and we'll do a paired analysis. Not only will we do a paired analysis, we'll use a broader range of data from several years, up to five years to determine what that income is. So, utilizing the income approach in a manner, such as a resolution, really relies on self -reporting to determine what those losses are. Again, I would go back to the uniformity, the equitability. If I'm going to look at this specific geographical area, I'm also going to look at the whole island. You know, a lot of the hotels and resorts lost a significant amount of revenue. If I were to apply this equitably, I would need to look at those areas, as well. MS. O'HARA: Okay. But we haven't actually done that, looking at the area in terms of the lost revenue? MR. JO: Right now, it's based on self -reporting. So, it's a question of where the data is. MS. O'HARA: Well, we haven't asked for that data, if it's self -reporting. The reason I'm asking is the businesses, as most of us received our assessment in advance of the May 3rd event, and the opportunity to appeal passed before May 3rd am I not correct? MR. JO: That's correct. MS. O'HARA: So they have no opportunity to even appeal this year's taxes? MR. JO: That is correct. Page 9 FC -44 October 2, 2018 MS. O'HARA: Okay. So I'm just going to proceed here and explain to the Council that procedurally this may not be the best approach, but it is basically the only approach given. Mayor Kim could have in his emergency declaration included relief for the given area that he included relief for residential taxes, but he chose not to, and that would be approximately the same areas that we're defining in this resolution. I have asked that he consider it; he has chosen not to. It has put businesses out of business in Pahoa, in particular, and likewise, in Volcano Village. I understand that every business on the island and in throughout the State has been impacted by the events, but not to the extreme that this area was impacted. So, I continue to ask for your support on this. I could see potentially making an amendment and having this only impact fiscal year 2018-19 and withdraw or make a floor amendment to modify the following fiscal year. But other than that, I really feel we owe that support to the businesses of that area. So, I'm going to continue to ask for your support. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. O'Hara. Council Members, any other comments? Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Woman O'Hara for bringing to light and giving consideration. I think I'm touching on the comment made about other businesses because I know definitely we've had a lot of impact on other businesses. I think about the coastline and hotels on my side, we had an announcement of May, June, there was $25 million worth of cancellations of hotel rooms, and that doesn't take into account the amounts of rent -a -cars, restaurants, activities, and the financial losses, or unrealized business, I guess, a better way. Though I commend Council Woman O'Hara, I'm bothered by that aspect, and I'm not sure what to do about that because we have to be fair and equitable going forward. I needed to state that. I am on the fence on this for those reasons. I fully appreciate the intent for Pahoa and Puna, but I'm also very mindful of the other businesses that I saw downturn, as well. Again, just comments. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? No? Ms. O'Hara. MS. O'HARA: Thank you, Chair. In response to that, I struggled with this in terms of the equitable approach. Even within the village of Pahoa say, or the village of Volcano, we have businesses that are chained businesses, in other words they have other locations throughout the State and maybe throughout the nation, where they can recoup losses from a location. But this is primarily a community that has small businesses and that's where the impact has been the hardest. When you have chain hotels and what not, they can absorb losses in one location as supported by other locations; but for the small businesses, they don't have that. Page 10 FC -44 October 2, 2018 The businesses community of Pahoa and the businesses community of Volcano Village is primarily composed of small businesses. There will be some larger businesses, that advantage from this action, but there's no way to equitably split that apart. So, that's my response to that. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. O'Hara. Anyone else? Mr. Jo or Ms. Sako, do you want—need to respond? No? Okay. Alright, Council Members, ready for the vote? All of those in favor of approving Resolution 690-18 please say "aye." Vote on Res. 690-18: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 690-18 failed Failed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Member O'Hara – 1. Noes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David – 7. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles –1. Excused: None. (Note: Mr. Kanuha and Mr. Richards voted "kanalua" then "no"; and Res. 690-18 will be forwarded to Council with a negative recommendation.) CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Council Members. Mr. Clerk, please, Resolution 692-18. Res. 692-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII Provides $5,000 from the Department of Research and Development to the University of Hawaii to fund its "Developing New Selections of Native Hawaiian Plants for the Floriculture and Nursery Industries" project proposal. Funds would be used to collect, propagate, and evaluate several native and endemic Hawaiian plants for potential uses in floriculture and nursery industries Reference: Comm. 1077 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 692-18. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. CHR. DAVID: Any discussion, Council Members? Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Actually, Chair, a little latitude. Let's say if we have Research and Development coming forward for floriculture insemination and feral breeding. Looks like we have Mr. Sako here from Research and Development. Could we Page 11 FC -44 October 2, 2018 just bring him up one time in the effort saving some time, and a little latitude with questions? CHR. DAVID: Sure. Perfect. Alright, thank you very much. Note: At this time, Research and Development Economic Development Specialist Glenn Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. DAVID: Good morning. MR. SAKO: Good morning. CHR. DAVID: Identify yourself for the record and go ahead and give us a short summary. MR. SAKO: Glenn Sako, Agricultural Specialist, Research and Development. MR. RICHARDS: Chair, I can go ahead? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Glenn, thanks for being here. With the latitude that the Chair has granted, can you just give a kind of a—looks like we're going after enhancing agriculture and enhancing our education in the community. Can you just kind of give a broader context of what the intention is here and what the expected measurables might be on the other side? MR. SAKO: Regarding the MR. RICHARDS: All three. MS. SAKO: Well, there's actually four. Resolution 695-18, regarding grafting. MR. RICHARDS: I will learn to count a little bit better next time. MR. SAKO: Basically, we have—we're fortunate that we have the University of Hawaii, who has submitted proposals to conduct some research and education in different facets of the agricultural industries here. With Resolution 692-18, we are looking to reduce the introduction of invasive species and make use of our natural resources, and hopefully use that to—with the branding of Hawaii and native Hawaiian plants, to help that industry. We also want to support the livestock industry by improving the genetics through artificial insemination. That requires training. We also see that in that livestock Page 12 FC -44 October 2, 2018 industry, there's a lot of interest in the small animals, especially starting off with the hogs, goats, and sheep. On the taro breeding there is a concern. In this case, taro leaf blight, reducing the yields of the taro industry. So educating the growers about some new hybrids that are coming in, that can increase their yield, and also teaching them how they can perhaps make their own hybrids that would be suited for their location. Finally, with the grafting, the macadamia, cacao, and avocado industries are well, the macadamia is a matured industry. However, there is a shortage of plants for replacement of trees that had to be removed, either through disease or through natural weather phenomenon. So it's to help these growers try out for different techniques, which ones would work best for them, and then they can supply their own nursery or their own farm with the replacement plants, or as in the case with cacao and avocado, for their expansion of their fields. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, to me it's just sounding very comprehensive and trying to approach a bunch of different aspects, which I commend. Is this specifically for college students or is there an extension outreach as part of this training? You guys are already doing it. MR. SAKO: There's an extension component to this. Whenever the university conducts research and they find a product that will fit the industry or the public, that's when the extension service would take over, to make it available to educate the public how it can be used and what is needed to make the product successful. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, then we'll talk story more about this later. I'd like to commend Research and Development coming forward with this and being able to put this forth for education; because it's not just for the education, it's also for the industries on the island. I'm going to be supporting all of this stuff because it is definitely in the right direction. And to bring—you know, everything that was touched upon. Native plants, for part of our floriculture. Taro, again, we looked at that, we only produce one-third of the taro we consume in this State—we grow. So, anything we can do to enhance all of that. The grafting techniques, I know for some of the avocado, we can expand those. We know have a market out there, if we can get the production lines up. Glenn, I commend you guys for bringing this forward. I'll be supporting whole-heartedly these coming forward. I think, going forward, we should also look for more funding in other places, because the more we can get into this, that's Research and Development, and that's what we need to do. So, with that, I yield. Page 13 FC -44 October 2, 2018 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Thank you, Mr. Sako. Anyone else? No? Alright, thank you very much for that. Council Members, all those in favor of approving Resolution 692-18 please say "aye." Vote on Res. 692-18: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 692-18 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles –1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Resolution 693-18. Res. 693-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII Provides $7,994.80 from the Department of Research and Development to the University of Hawaii to fund its "Artificial Insemination as a Tool to Improve Livestock Genetics in Hawaii County" project proposal. Funds would be used to conduct training with beef and swine producers on artificial insemination techniques, record keeping, basic herd management, and preparation of publication material. Reference: Comm. 1078 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 693-18. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. CHR. DAVID: Any discussion? Mr. Kanuha, go ahead. MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. I meant to ask a question earlier. It's kind of in general to the whole—all of these resolutions. Without these grants, is UH (University of Hawaii) still going to be doing these programs or are these grants the full funding for all of these? MR. SAKO: The University of Hawaii, unfortunately the bulk of their budget goes to the salaries and compensation for their researchers and agents. Their materials and supplies budget are quite limited. They do seek other funding. However, for these, what we considered to be small grants and which can have a short research or educational project that can be done fairly quickly, they usually will come to the County for that assistant. Page 14 FC -44 October 2, 2018 MR. KANUHA: Got it. So without the funding, some of these small little projects would be pretty much cut. It wouldn't be MR. SAKO: Yeah, that's correct. Or unless you have a new researcher, who has come on board and has given a financial package to get him started, that's where some of these funds might be utilized, if they were not able to get this grant. MR. KANUHA: Got it. Thank you, Madam Chair. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kanuha. Anyone else? Vote on Res. 693-18: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 693-18 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Resolution 694-18. Res. 694-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII Provides $12,000 from the Department of Research and Development to the University of Hawaii to fund its "Using Taro Breeding to Overcome Disease and Empower Farmers" project proposal. Funds would be used to release new taro hybrids, educate producers and the public about the new varieties and their cultivation, and to educate producers on the taro breeding process. Reference: Comm. 1079 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Vote on Res. 694-18: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of (Approved) Res. 694-18. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. Page 15 FC -44 Res. 695-18 October 2, 2018 CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Resolution 695-18. AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII Provides $7,000 from the Department of Research and Development to the University of Hawaii to fund its "Applied Research for Grafting Macadamia, Cacao, and Avocado" project proposal. Funds would be used to conduct training on four grafting techniques with macadamia nut, avocado, and cacao producers. Reference: Comm. 1080 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Vote on Res. 695-18: Ms. Poindexter moved to recommend adoption of (Approved) Res. 695-18. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, move on to Bill 190. Bill 190: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-68, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants — Housing Choice Voucher Program account ($53,293); and appropriates the same to the Voucher Rental Subsidies account for a total appropriation of $18,948,293. Funds would be used for Housing Assistance Payment subsidies Reference: Comm. 1075 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to recommend passage of Bill 190 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. CHR. DAVID: Council Members, we have Mr. Gyotoku here for questions. Mr. Gyotoku, would you come forward, please, and just give us a brief summary with this appropriation? (Note: At this time, Housing and Development Administrator Neil Gyotoku came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 16 FC -44 October 2, 2018 CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Just identify yourself. MR. GYOTOKU: Neil Gyotoku, Housing Administrator. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MR. GYOTOKU: This appropriation adds to our existing Housing Voucher program. It adds six vouchers for what we call "Mainstream" for people with disabilities but not elderly, but they have disabilities, and it helps them find permanent housing. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any questions, Council Members? No? Perfect. Thank you very much. MR. GYOTOKU: Thank you. CHR. DAVID: All those in favor of approving Bill 190 please say "aye." Vote on Bill 190: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 190 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Bill 191. Bill 191: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-68, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants — State Homeland Security Program Fiscal Year 2018 account ($120,000); and appropriates the same to the State Homeland Security Program Fiscal Year 2018 account, for a total appropriation of $720,000. Funds would be used for retrofitting hurricane shelters and key County facilities, providing upgrades to the emergency operations center, to continue coordination and collaboration with the island's community, and to provide Community Emergency Response Team training. Reference: Comm. 1076 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend passage of Bill 191 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. Page 17 FC -44 October 2, 2018 CHR. DAVID: Council Members, discussion? Ms. Sako, are you available for questions, if we have any? Do we have any questions? If not, I think we can let—okay, none. Alright, then. All those in favor of approving Bill 191—yeah, okay. Alright, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Deanna? CHR. DAVID: Ms. Sako, could you please come forward? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. RICHARDS: This looks like additional funding, of $120,000. Is this a result of all our activity this year, or is this just something that's coming normally through and this is appropriated? MS. SAKO: They may have applied for it, but I think it was prior to all of the activity happening. We get an annual grant from Homeland Security, going to actually a lot of these areas including the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training and everything, so we were gifted or granted additional dollars. So, very timely. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, very timely. MS. SAKO: I mean, definitely can be used. But I believe the process started prior to that, yeah. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, that's all. Thank you. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Deanna, on the background and justification, it mentions a breakdown of the grant, $360,000 to Retrofitting Hurricane Shelters and Key County Facilities. Have they been identified, those shelters or those facilities? MS. SAKO: I can't say all. They probably have identified them. I can't tell you what they are. There are definitely things that we've been looking at, including like, you know, like data server, IT (Information Technology) servers. MS. LEE LOY: Keaukaha gym? MS. SAKO: I'll go verify that, yes. Page 18 FC -44 October 2, 2018 MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and it doesn't have to be here, but maybe a communication to the rest of this body as to where those funds will be going. It looks like $360,000 to shelters, and it says, "Key County Facilities." And then, CERT training, you know, which communities. Or is it just like a blanket to the overall CERT body? Thank you. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Ms. O'Hara, go ahead. MS. O'HARA: And what portion of this is for CERT training? MS. SAKO: Unless it was in the communication, I'm not positive. Annually, we get roughly $600,00 to $700,000, so we're appreciative of all of that. Why this additional money? Part of it is going to CERT; I think we already have some already on the books for that, as well. MS. O'HARA: Okay, it does read "$20,000 to the continued coordination, collaboration with the whole community and CERT training for Hawaii County," so I'm not sure exactly what of that was for CERT training. MS. SAKO: Certain communities have, you know, like their CERT groups are more active than others. But they do an annual training, just to keep everybody up to date. You know, they're very helpful in all of our disasters, especially in informing the community of what's going on. MS. O'HARA: Yes, they are, and I appreciate the work they have done. I happen to have the CERT in my office right now, dispensing placards for the Leilani folks, and overheard them explaining they've donated over 5,000 hours, just in the context of giving out placards and little bit of the door-to-door actions. If the County had to pay out of pocket for those services, we'll be looking at another $100,000, so I think it's very important to keep that program well -funded. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. O'Hara. Anyone else? No? And thank you, Ms. Lee Loy, for asking that question, on what County facilities this will benefit. MS. SAKO: I'll check with Civil Defense, and we'll get back to you guys. CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much, because I think we're pretty interested if our districts will be benefiting, too. Okay, thank you very much. All those in favor of approving Bill 191 please say "aye." Page 19 FC -44 October 2, 2018 Vote on Bill 191: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 191 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Council Members, I know we need to be somewhere at 11 o'clock. I believe we have one more item on the agenda, which we'll need a little bit more time to that we have, you know. So I'm going to recess Finance, if it's okay with everyone, and take this up after the other committees this afternoon. Is that alright, Mr. Richards? Okay, great. So right now, I'm recessing Finance. Thank you. Recess: At 10:30 a.m., the Chair called for a recess, Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 3:18 p.m. CHR. DAVID: Aloha Council Members, I am taking Committee on Finance out of recess at this time. Return to Order of The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of Business. Business: CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can you please read in Resolution 616-18? Res. 616-18: AUTHORIZES A DECREASE IN THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FUEL TAX FOR FISCAL YEARS 2018-2019 AND 2019-2020 Decreases the fuel tax by 5 cents per gallon for Fiscal Year 2018-2019, bringing it to 14 cents per gallon, and by 9 cents per gallon for Fiscal Year 2019-2020, bringing it to 14 cents per gallon. Fuel taxes may be used to support the safe and efficient operation of County roads, mass transit, and highway infrastructure. Reference: Comm. 940 Intr. by: Mr. Richards Postponed: May 21, June 5, and July 24, 2018 (Note: There is a motion by Mr. Richards, seconded by Ms. Lee Loy, to recommend adoption of Res. 616-18.) CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards, go ahead. Page 20 FC -44 October 2, 2018 MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you, Chair. In light of the way our schedule has gone today, I'd like to ask that this be postponed until our next meeting, October 16'', I think, that's what I recall. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Is that a motion? MR. RICHARDS: That is. Vote on Motion to Mr. Richards moved to postpone Res. 616-18 to Postpone: October 16, 2018. Seconded by Ms. O'Hara and (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. It's been moved by Mr. Richards, seconded by Ms. O'Hara to postpone Resolution 616-18 to October 16' meeting in Kona. Any discussion on the postponement? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Bills ORDINANCES: for Ordinances. (Note: Item in this category was taken up previously, out of order.) ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 3:20 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Ruggles —1. Excused: None. Page 21 FC -44 CHR. DAVID: We are adjourned. Mahalo, Council Members. Finance Committee MD/na (Date) October 2, 2018 Page 22