HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM. 056 May 22 1979 CHARTER REVIEW PUBLIC HEARING
Statement by Jay Malxner
of Kainaliu Hawaii
•
1 )The exact number of councilpersons is not so important to
• me as is the method of their election. I support one council-
person per district with none being elected at large. This
will better enable each councilperson to represent the needs
of thier districts. But, rather than to wait for and depend
upon the accuracy of .the 1980 Census to determine the districts
according to population, as others have suggested, I submit
the following proposal. Go to the property tax ledgers and
divide the County up into districts of equal tax contribution.
This method would not only .be accurate but would also allow
the people a say in what is done with their tax money in
direct proportion to their contribution. The tax payers are
supporting the County Agencies and the taxpayers should have
the say as to what services should be provided.
2) I support restrictive controls on the following;
a)Number of County Employees. In the past ten years the
number of County employees has increased at more than twice
the rate of the civilian population. I say that no one new •
be hired unless someone else is fired or retired. If we find
that we do legitimatly need new people in one area then move_
them from other less productive, less needed areas.
b)County Budget and County Debt. We are all painfully aware of
what spending more than we take in can do to an ecomomy as so
aptly demonstrated by our printingpress happy inflation causing
Federal Government. So, lets balance the budget and keep it
that way and help to hold inflation of property taxes down.
c).Residential and Agricultural Property taxes. A limit should
be set to prevent taxes from becoming a burden to homeowners,
farmers and ranchers. The growth of assessed value should also
be controlled,not being allowed to exceed 2% per year except
when property is sold. When sold, property assessment should
be allowed to go to market value and be taxed accordingly.
• COMM. NO. C-6
d ..
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This measure will help to prevent the current speculative
Real Estate climate from ruining those who do not wish to
participate in the boom.
3) I strongly urge the County Charter be ammended to include
the following items;
a)Initive and Referendum. This will return power of control -
of expendatures to the people, where it belongs, and not
leave it with a self-perpetuating Government.
b)The Sunset Law. This will prevent the waste of continuing
unneeded and outdated programs through periodic review.
Mahalo for listening.
Sincerely,
Mat77
(
Ja ix..n.er
P. 0. Box 749
Kealakekua, Hawaii 96750