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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0774.014 2018-2020 COUNTY CLERK P'� Counc " COUNTYOF HAWAI I $Ill Ma COMR.714 RECEIVED May 19, 2020 Time ((:040/4 By � Aloha Chair Chung and Members of the Hawaii County Council, Date MAY 1 9 2020 Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on Bill 169 Draft 2, and Bill 144. My name is Stephanie Donoho, I am a 16-year resident of Hawaii Island, and I am representing myself as a deeply concerned citizen. We are all in this together,this new normal,this COVID19 global pandemic. We see the collective impacts on our families, our economy, our governments, and our world. It is a sobering time, and also a very important wake up call. We cannot continue to operate the way we have in the past. We must learn to be nimble and flexible. Change is critical to the survival of our community. I am often disturbed when I listen to our elected officials at every level talk about these challenges. Rarely is the word "we" used. Instead, it is us versus them. We divide before we begin: Republican vs. Democrat; nationalist vs.globalist; science vs. belief;China vs.the USA; unionized government workers vs. private sector businesses. As I listened to the testimony on Bill 169, I was disheartened as individual council members crowed about the importance of creating yet another division within our community. This divisiveness must stop. I implore you to look at the entire County of Hawaii budget in terms of shared responsibility.There is a lot, directly within your control,that can be changed. Administrators often say, "65%of the budget is tied up in union agreements and commitments for retiree pensions and health care, and we can't touch those." But from direct experience I know that is not true. I worked for the county from 2006-2014 and know firsthand what furloughs, increases to my portion of health insurance expenses, suspended step movements, and programmatic cuts to my budget looked like. I believe shared sacrifices must happen again, because we are all in this together, including the nearly 40%of our island workers who are unemployed, as well as county public service workers whose salaries are paid through our collective taxes. There are so many efficiencies that can be realized. I have been an active participant in local government for 25 years, 16 on our island. I have served on task forces and working groups, as well as attended countless planning sessions, summits and workshops.Those meetings have covered a spectrum of county services:taxes, mass transit, emergency preparation and response, building permits, community development and general plans, homelessness,tourism, and economic growth. But on far too many of those projects,we have spent enormous sums of taxpayers' money hiring outside consultants, because many of the county employees involved, everyone from department and division heads,to subject matter specialists,to clerks, either did not have the skills and knowledge, or were not given the discretion and empowered to effectively implement the programs themselves.That has to change.We cannot continue to pay someone else to tell us what we need to do,while we continue to pay lucrative wages and benefit packages to our county staff. We cannot allow our status quo bureaucratic processes continue to undermine necessary improvements. Changes must be made, and they must be made now. In the private sector, if an individual does not have the skills to do her job effectively and in a timely manner,then she is coached and retrained. If she still cannot perform,she is terminated.That same accountability must hold true for the public sector. Unfortunately, it is often the norm that there are more government employees attending those meetings, representing a multitude of departments,than there are people from private industry.Why?Why must taxpayers pay for up to a dozen county staff members to all attend the same meeting?Can't a few representatives attend and take information back to their departments?Can't they share information with other departments? Comm. No. 114'14 Ref.To: P(Lbunu Ikef.Dote MAY 2.1 2020 ACkafte Val Once you've achieved those;efficiencies;,and eliminated programs and perks that are nice, but not necessary, or that create further divisions between East and West Hawaii, or the public and private sectors; if then you still find it is necessary to raise our property taxes,then I implore you to do it across the board. Shared sacrifices tell us that the need is real. Shared sacrifices build community engagement and resiliency.The Greatest Generation earned its moniker because of its shared responsibility in supporting WWII efforts and recovery.The challenge facing us now is just as -- important. Despite good intentions, anytime you divide how people are treated,there are usually negative consequences. Historically, divisions because of religion, race, education, class and wealth have not been good for society. Please do not create further divisions within our community,when what we need is unity. Creating a separate residential (non-homeowner) luxury class tax rate, based on the value of the property, is not the answer. Making 936 part-time residents(less than 1%of our island's population) cover 24%of our property tax collections is not the answer.This global pandemic is impacting everyone.Are we fiscally prepared to lose this substantial contribution to our community,should these individuals choose to no longer own property on our Island? It is fiscally irresponsible for our county to take such a risk. We also need to look at these part-time residents' contributions to our community as a whole. Because if they are taxed at what they feel are unfair rates,they may choose to pull back from their active philanthropic engagement within our community-and our local foundations, hospitals, churches, educational institutions,theaters, arts programs, and our non-profit social service partners,will very likely lose in that equation. Abolishing taxation without representation was a battle fought and won during our great nation's inception. We cannot and should not abandon those principles now. If once you've eliminated the waste and duplication,you still need to raise taxes to bridge the budget gap, based on my calculations,you could raise the same amount of money proposed under Bill 169, by raising property tax rates on everyone by 40 cents per$1,000 valuation. I know that is not popular, and that is precisely the point. As a Hawaii County homeowner my property taxes are among the lowest in the nation. I pay less in property taxes, per month,than I do for my cell phone. And yet,the homeowners'tax rate has not changed since 2013-14(7 years),while the residential tax rate was changed in 2017-2018 (3 years).And as a full-time resident, I utilize more government services than a part-time resident including:county water, roads, parks, and transfer stations. And I want to support our lifeguards, police and fire departments in case I ever have a personal need, but also because it's the right thing to do as a member of our community. It's a shared responsibility,with shared costs, and shared benefits. It's all about"we". Your vote of approval on the county's budget will indicate that you have created the leanest, most efficient, most resilient government that we can collectively envision,and that the people you serve deserve. Please step up and show that leadership. Because when you pass on any necessary increases to everyone,fairly,you create public accountability and trust.And as great as the need for a vaccine for COVID19 may be, restoring our faith in county government will be just as important, in order to reach the other side of this pandemic,together. Mahalo, Stephanie Donoho Honokaa, HI 96727 stephanie@donoho-Ilc.com