Did you know that Mayor Harry Kim would like to reduce the 2 percent Land Fund Payments to 1 percent of property taxes? ADVERTISING Did you know that Mayor Harry Kim would like to reduce the 2 percent Land Fund
Did you know that Mayor Harry Kim would like to reduce the 2 percent Land Fund Payments to 1 percent of property taxes?
The fund was introduced in 2006 to purchase parklands to preserve coastal lands, historic sites, trails and more. The fund takes only 2 percent of property taxes for the Hawaii County (approximately $4.5 million per year, which is less than 1.5 percent of the total revenue stream for the county). With land prices so high, this doesn’t go very far. Because Hawaii County has this dedicated source of funding to buy land, we get much more money from state Legacy Lands Fund than other counties and can apply for U.S. Fish and Wildlife funds to preserve habitat for endangered species. That is the “great gift” of the 2 percent land fund: the ability to attract matching funds – dollar for dollar. So far, the county has obtained 32 percent of funding from matching funds. There are other matching fund sources to explore.
Since 2006, residents have proposed 166 properties for acquisition and 12 have been purchased.
Lands saved: 4,423 acres
Kohala: Paoo, Kaiholena or Hawi Banyan Trees
Ka’u: Kawa Bay, Kahuku or Kahua Olohu
Puna: Pohoiki
Kona: Ooma and Kipapa Park/White Sands
The 2 percent land fund paid out only $27,389,268 with $8,764,000 from matching funds and $2 million from private donations.
The Public Access and Open Space Commission submits a yearly report to the mayor on its top 10 priority properties for acquisition. You can see the all the reports from 2006 to 2016 report at: https://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/1/edoc/84678/2016-12-28%20(2016%20PONC%20Annual%20Report%20to%20the%20Mayor).pdf
There is also a maintenance fund to care for these properties, which is in addition to the Parks and Recreation’s budget. When councilmember Brenda Ford and I wrote the Charter amendment, our goal was to empower the nonprofit organizations that are already caring for these properties with funding for upkeep and maintenance. Parks and Recreation also has used these funds for fences, surveys and other maintenance items.
The pathway to voter approval of the ballot measure from 2005-12 was very difficult, resulting in the Charter amendment that can only be “undone” by a vote of the people. Because Kim was against the 2 percent land fund, we collected more than 9,600 signatures in 2005 and had 6,000 disqualified by County Clerk Connie Kiriu and Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida. The County Council put the measure on the ballot anyway and 57 percent of voters approved this bill, which became part of the County Code.
Mayor Billy Kenoi suspended deposits to the fund for two years as the first piece of legislation he introduced after taking office. Kenoi eventually saw the wisdom mandated by 57 percent of voters in saving land for posterity and came to appreciate the community engagement and activities around saving Hawaii Island’s treasured places. In 2010, the Charter Commission put the amendment on the ballot at 1 percent of Hawaii County property taxes. In order to honor signers of the petition and all of you who voted to support a 2 percent land fund, the Save Our Lands Citizen’s Committee decided to work to get the measure on the ballot as the 2 percent land fund Charter amendment in 2012. Again, 57 percent of voters approved the amendment.
Please ask Harry to cut the budget elsewhere and save the 2 percent land fund to honor all of us who worked so hard to save our treasured lands. There are still many lands to save.
Mayor Kim’s email is Harry.Kim@hawaiicounty.gov. His phone is 961-8211
Debbie Hecht is the campaign coordinator for the Save Our Lands Citizens’ Committee. The full land fund report is available at https://debbiehecht.com/2017/06/03/2-land-fund-report-3-2017. Contact Debbie at hecht.deb@gmail.com.
