HomeMy WebLinkAbout111411_MEETING_PACKET Sandi Sterker Members:
Chair Lawrence Chaffin Jr.
Brant Fuchigarni
Arryl Kaneshiro
Glen Takenouchi
Laurie Yoshida
Dirk Apao
Vice-Chair
COUNTY OF KAUAI COST CONTROL COMMISSION
NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA
Monday,November 14, 2011
1:30 p.m. or shortly thereafter
Mo'lkeha Building, Liquor Conference Room 3
4444 Rice Street, Lihue, HI 96766
CALL TO ORDER
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Regular Open Session Minutes of October 10, 2011
COMMUNICATIONS
CCC 2011-18 Communication dated 10/111/11 from Chair Sandi Sterker and Members of
the Cost Control Commission, to Wally Rezentes, Jr. requesting that a
representative from the Real Property Tax Division be present at the next
meeting to discuss the Credit Union exemption as well as other real property
tax exemptions.
BUSINESS
CCC 2011-08 Review and discussion of the County's real property tax exemptions and rate
setting procedures. (On-going)
h) Presentation by Councilmember Tim Bynum regarding issues relating to the
real property taxes of homeowners.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Next meeting: Monday, December 12, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. at the Mo'ikeha Building, Liquor
Conference Room 3.
An Equal Opportunity Etnplqyer
NOTICE OF EXECUTIVE SESSION
Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes,("H.R.S.") §92-7(a), the Commission may, when deemed
necessary,hold an Executive Session on any agenda item without written public notice if the
Executive Session was not anticipated in advance. Any such Executive Session shall be held
pursuant to H.R.S. §92-4 and §92-9 and shall be limited to those items described in
H.R.S. §92-5(a), Discussions held in Executive Session are closed to the public.
ADJOURNMENT
PUBLIC COMMENTS and TESTIMONY
Persons wishing to offer comments are encouraged to submit written testimony at least
24-hours prior to the meeting indicating:
I Your name and if applicable, your position/title and organization you are
representing
The agenda item that you are providing comments on; and
3. Whether you will be testifying in person or submitting written comment only.
4. If you are unable to submit your testimony at least 24 hours prior to the meeting,
please provide 10 copies of your written testimony at the meeting.
The length of time allocated to person(s)wishing to present verbal testimony may be limited
at the discretion of the chairperson or presiding member.
cc: First Deputy County Attorney Amy Esaki
Send written testimonv to:
Cost Control Commission
Attn: Mercedes Youn
Office Boards and Commissions
4444 Rice Street, Suite 150
Lihue. HI 96766
E-Mail: myoun(ii',kauai.gov
Phone: (808)241-4920 Fax: (808) 241-5127
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE
If you need an alternate format or an auxiliary aid to participate,please contact the Boards and
Commissions Support Clerk at(808) 241-4920 at least five(5) working days prior to the
j meeting.
2 1 Pau c
Cost Control Commission—November 14, 2011
Kaua'i County Cost Control Commission
Minutes of Meeting
OPEN SESSION
1:30 p.m.
October 10,2011
DRAFT
With a quorum being present, the regular meeting of the Cost Control Commission of the County
of Kaua'i was called to order by Chair Sandi Sterker at 1:30 p.m. at the Mo'ikeha Building,
Liquor Conference Room No. 3.
Members present:
Sandi Sterker, Chair
Dirk Apao, Vice-Chair
Lawrence Chaffin, Jr.
Laurie Yoshida
Absent/excused: Members Brant Fuchigami and Glen Takenouchi
Others in attendance included:
Gary Hen, Managing Director; Glenn Sato, Sustainability Manager; Wallace Rezentes, Jr,
Finance Director; Sally Motta, Deputy Director of Finance, Steven Hunt, Real Property Review
Officer; Amy Esak-i, First Deputy County Attorney; Boards and Commissions Office Staff•
Paula Morikami, Administrative Aide; and Mercedes Youn, Support Clerk.
Public member: Lonnie Sykos
Approval of Minutes
Open Session Minutes of August 8, 2011.
Mr. Chaffin requested that the minutes be amended on page 12; 51''paragraph to indicate a
minimum of 10 acres and not I acre.
Mr. Chaffin moved to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Apao seconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0.
Communications
CCC 2011-17 Communications dated 08/09/11 from the Cost Control Commission to Chair
Sherman Shiraishi and Members of the Charter Review Commission, responding to a request for
comments relating to the timeline as determined in Section 28.05 of the Kaua'i County Charter.
Mr. Chaffin moved to receive the communication. Mr.Apao seconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0.
Minutes of October 10,2011
Business
CCC 2011-09 Update from Gary Hen. Managing Director regarding the six(6)Cost Control
Commission*s Energv Savings Recommendations which were submitted to the County's
Administration in 2008 and 2009. (Deferred on 07/11/11, pending status report from the
Administration
Communication dated 10105111 from Glenn Sato, Sustainability Manaaer to Chair Sterker and
Members of the Cost Control Commission, regarding an ul2date on the six(6) Cost Control
Commission's Energy Savings Recommendation.
Chair Sterker: We need to add to the agenda and receive the communication dated 10A5/ll
from Glenn Sato, Sustainability Manager, regarding nu update ou the six k8 Cost Canin/|
Commission's Energy Savings Recommendations.
Mr. Chaffin move twadd and receive to the agenda the communication dated 10105111.
Mr, Apao seconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0
Mr.10xeu: Chair. may l address the County Attorney?
Chair Sterker: yom.
Ms._Esadki; Chair, the communication dated 10/05111 presented today is part of the testimony
from Mr. Sato; generally we cannot add to the agenda at the last minute. Mr. Chaffin needs to
make a second motion to withdraw the original motion, and then make a new motion to receive
the communication from Mr. Sato which is his testimony.
Chair : Thank you. May 1 have m motion to withdraw the original motion?
Mr. Chaffin moved tn withdraw the original motion. Mr. Apaoseconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0
Chair : We now need a motion to receive the communication from Mr. Sato vvhiob is his
written testimony.
Mr. Chaffin moved to receive the written testimony. Ms. Yoshida seconded the motion.
Motion carried 4/0.
Mr. Hen: Thank you Chair 8tcrkermod Commission rneoohero. For the n:unmj, my name is Gary
l/eu° Managing Director. With me is Mr. (]|cno Sato, who has appeared before this Commission
inu different capacity. Since then he has accepted the position nf the SuetmiouhilipyManager.
Mr. Sato im now mtnu Executive level and was appointed 6v Mayor Curvm|ho. So, when you
think of Glenn, you can think ofhim in u nn|e at a level similar too John imohe,Administrator of
the Boards and Commissions or Beth Tokinka CmmnrouoicmtiVou Director.
Mr. Sato now sits in on our weekly department head meetings at a cabinet level because we feet
that his position im very important and that bc needs Lobeable to communicate across all
departmental lines. Mc Sato iy also the hndh'khud who prepared the update that Ls before this
Commission which will bc part mf our testimony this afternoon.
VVu are here today basically because of the discussion that v/e started back in July which was
based on the Auditor*s Report on the implementation of recommendations of the Cost Control
Commission. What we have chosen to do with our update and our testimony is to focus on the
specific Commission recommendations from the 2UO8/2OO9 Annual Reports. Although vvewere
not specifically asked to do so, at the end of the report you will find additional energy initiative
updates just to give you a flavor for what Glenn and the rest of the team have been doim4 in the
past years relative to energy efficiency and conservation.
| think ooyclosing remarks tothe [omucnismimu last time were(inaudible) and although vve
weren't necessarily interested in doing line item report based om the County Auditor's matrix,
svc did want Vo provide�you vviiba�cncoal update based ou your previous roounomncndu1ionaoa
well as let you know n[tbe good news in toonm of all the other initiatives that we have been
moving on over the past couple of years. With that being said, | would like to turn the floor over
to Mr. Sato who will step you through the report.
Mr. Chaffin: May l interrupt for a moment please? | would encourage the Mayor and the
Managing Director and staff io focus on the things that you 600| are important, rather than just
what,/c have outlined and the reason for that is because you are doing it 0y1l-dooe, and vvc"re
doing it spasmodically. I would hate to see anything overlooked because it was not on our list of
recommendations.
: Thank you, we appreciate that.
Mr. Sato: Good afternoon Commissioners, I will just go down the list of the recommendations.
The first recommendation is from the 1-008 Annual Report, and basically the recommendation
was for the Water Department and the Wastewater Division that they be required todevelop
cost-savings opportunities for their operations through energy efficiency and conservation
rnunyunrm, and the use of alternative energy resources.
The update for that recommendation is that the Wastewater Division is going through an Energy
Savings Performance Contract. After a lengthy review and ranking process, Chevron Energy
Solutions received the highest rank out of4 competing proposals. By receiving the highest rank,
it enabled us to execute an Investment Grade Audit Contract allowing Chevron to proceed on
September i, 2011' The Chevron team is now working with personnel from Woi)uo, LTbu'c, oud
Ele`e1e Wastewater Treatment Plants tocollect n:)cvunt information to come up with udetoi}ed
proposal ou equipment retrofits and process changes tosave energy. The Investment Grade
Audit numu|tm will be presented iothe Wastewater Division, Public Works, and the
Administration.
The VVuionmu Wastewater Treatment Plant was not included in the ESPC solicitation because it's
going under major mmoorudousfbodcdbys1immu\umm000ey. The renovation includes energy
efficiency and al2Ok\Vphotovoltaic energy, system,
31 Pa -
Chair Sterker: Can you tell uSwhy the Water Department chose not&oparticipate?
Sato: There are 3 questions that one must ask before going through aPerformance
Contract- 1) Do you have the funding; 2) Do you have the internal expertise; and 3) Do you
have the time.
When first approached the VYutcr Department, they basically said yes toall three. My boss at
that time was Mr. George Costa, who also spoke to the Water Department and their decision was
to do it themselves. So, we decided to go with just the VVostsp/utcc DepucuncnL At that time we
had Wastewater, Building Division, Parks and Recreation, and Water all lumped into i 0FP.
But after reviewing Wastewater concerns they did not want to end up with a lighting or air
cooditimninacootruotoc Wastewater specializes in pumps and motor components, aovvcdecided
to split Wastewater and du a special RFp for Wastewater and another for Building Division and
Parks and Recreation, which is busica}(y |i�btsuud air conditioning.
Chair Sterker: l have uquestion. When you say that you have picked a company. dn they feel
pretty good about the fact that they can charge any amount at this point; and is there a set limit of
what they can charge?
Sato: We required a proposal from them which included a technical energy assessment
component. We had them go to all 3 Wastewater Treatment Fmui|dica and do aooe step below
investment audit. So they had 10 come up with numbers and although those figures were
preliminary, they included what Chevron considered the cost*fdoiu� vvbut they were proposing.
{|also included a profit component which is basically ou open book; they had to declare what
their marginal profit is.
The project ytadrdvvhcuthcCountyaigoeduptbrD&QS (Dcpadu,cotmf/\ccnooiiugoud
General Services)and DAGS put out a preliminary proposal asking all energy service companies
to get pre-qualified and u1 that point. D/\[}S looked o1fioonmia{ strength and the ability ofthe
company todo large projects xodtogetmpcekonuilo[thcirp/cviuusvvnrkdooe. D/\GS pre-
qualified 7energyoorvioouomopxnicaandtbu[000iyo/}{auu'ioigncduptouse that pre-
qualified list.
When we issued the KFP, wc could have taken the 7 and whittled i1 down tm3or4ifwewanted
to, but we chose not to because 7 was still a manageable amount, even if all 7 submitted
proposals. When we put out our Wastewater RFP without any restrictions of which the 7 could
apply, vvc got 4 proposals and 3 out of the 7 chose not u`respond.
Chaffin: Am I to assume that within those qualifications, who is going to be the project
leader?
Sato: Yes, naturally the energy service company is the project !c4d. What's more important
i$when p/e looked u¢their project teum'.'thu1^mvvhmnmyourbccboiun| expertise comes in.
Chevron was very impressive because they teamed up with Aqua Engineers who is very
knowledgeable in wastewater treatment p)mutm and water systems, and also the Linuitiuco Group
(environmental specialists)and Kennedy Jenks(environmental and wastewater systems
specialists)
I'vir. Chaffin: Is Aqua Engineers the only team involved?
The second recommendation from the 2008study states that all departments should be asked to
read the Energy Use Survey Guide and to follow the recommendations outlined therein. The
Energy Use Survey Guide terminology was not oca|1y clear to me, an l looked at what [ had and
assumed that the guide refers tothe l2/7/07County ofKnua'i Energy Use Study"that identifies
opportunities and programs to increase the energy efficiency ofthe Koua'( County organization.
This study was distributed to all departments by then Mayor Baptiste's Administration. Most of
the recommendations referenced in the study have been addressed in part by some of the projects
that / listed atthe end of this testimony, l tried to cover from 2OO9 through 2O/1. b 'ualsbovva
you the different projects that were initiated io those 3years. /\ lot uf the recommendations have
the ability to |ovemsgc K10C funding and ibevo is u notation next to each of the recommendations
indicating whether it qualifies for KlUC rebate funds. That is one of the reasons why vejumped
u1 the opportunity. If the rebate funds were not available, vvc would have backed offoud let d
fall under the Performance Contract.
Chair Sterker: 1 think that one of the things that we were looking at when we made the
recommendations is that we thought a person who works in an office setting would take charge
of what needed b>bedone. (}[course, they came back and said well rvc really don't know what
we should be doing and nobody wanted to take that responsibility. So we don`i know where we
sit with that and hopefully with you at the helm, you would be able to make it known to everyone
io each department oo what they should hodoing.
Ml. Sato: When we do a comprehensive energy efficiency program a lot of it is education. For
example, when ^e had the energy service company dn the Civil Center Complex, part ofthe
work included interactions with the department and the staffing at the facility. One mf the things
that can really hurt the project iui[vvcputincfDcieucy equipment and do efficiency measures
and the people at the facilities don't know what we're doing or don't know how to use the
equipment or retrofits property. They can negate all mf the savings that vveanticipate. All ofitis
really the human factor and that is why it's really important that after the efficiency work is
done, the people know what can and shouldn't bedone.
Chair Sterker: Education isimportant.
Mr. Sato: Right, u lot wfthe recommendations that were done io that study iu2U07 was very
broad based and generic. But most of the departments don't have the capability to follow-up oo
those recommendations and thev don't have special funding to do the measures and they are not
required to. We would like to boud)c it through an organized pozgoaoz like u Performance
Contract.
Chair Sterker: Yes. lthink that we had started saying okay maybe re could make this into x
project mthat we could reward somebody for doing it, but found that it was not agood thing to
do. What we really need is for you toeducate and make sure that everybody knows what should
be done.
Mr. Sato: Right. One of the things b> mynew position ay the Sustubodbi/dv Manager is forming
"Green Teamm" which are representatives from various agencies and offices. Wehope to get
some good and reasonable recommendations to follow-up on. And from there hiamore of
public education program with County staff. It's not only energy efficiency orenergy
conservation, [t`e jusia broader umbrella under mustuioability, so it could be efficient resource
use like trying not to use too much paper cups as much as possible or buying bottled water.
Another idea isto have filtered water from afaucet. This program will focus on education ooa
constant basis because vou have to keep re-enforcing and reminding people to save energy.
Mr._Reu: Cbair8tcrker if could interrupt Glenn fbr'ustomoment, l have Lo excuse myself for
u2"oc<uok meeting, but i[you have any specific questions for mne that you want te fire off a1this
point and time oc during the course o[Glenn's presentation, or if there are specific items that
may come up which would require my review and response I would be more than happy to
follow-up in writing and/or appear uto subsequent meeting. But 1 think that Glenn has uvery
�
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i would like to reiterate what Glenn had already shared about the"Green Teams"because it is
something that was very important tm the Mayor when it was fiosirecommended 2 years ago, and
in part because of some ofthe work that this Commission has done au well as nthr/m both in the
Administration and the Council, we were able to get this position approved in this last budget. l
think it is a great thing for us all because we are all concerned about conservation and efficiencv
and we are moving to put the resources there. It's always going to be amtrugg|c so in part by
creating this position, we all helped to remove(iouudib<c) which is resources to get this kind of
work done and focus to make sure that its being followed through.
We are in the process of reviewing Glenn's old job as a coordinator in OED, and we are looking
at how in conjunction with this new position that Glenn has taken on, how rvc can gain some
additional synergy as well looking at udovvo the road conversion of position or»c-dcmorihiogu
position in public works for their support to focus on energy conservation efficiency. Tbcmn
could potentially come a time where we would have 3 positions County wide to focus on really
good use o[our resources and this vvnu|d start at Glenn's level vvbinb vvuu|J be the highest level
usaSuotuioubi|i[yK8uoa�cr looking m1 energy amoconopoucntof the overall su�aioabUiiyefKods
within the County, and then we would have the position of economic development and
poicodx1lI describe position on public vvodcu. l vvmu)d like no keep that one ms omD and loose as
possible at this point odtime because i don't want tu over commit. But those are the ibio�m that
are beina looked at. The�owdnews }m that v,bccevvc had one pomidoupreviously focusing oo
this, now we have two, and potentially an additional one for support in the future.
Chair : Thank you Gary for being here today. Actually vvrcan feel u little pride in the
Cost Control Commission because we were the ones to sort of get this started and pushed
forward.
Okay, thank you very mucb.
Mr. Sato:
The first recommendation was: Execute u new Energy Savings 9crfbnnuncc Contract hnimprove
energy efficiency iu the County o[l{mou'i buildings and facilities. The Office ofEconomic
Development im now working uou second Energy Savings Performance Contract for the Public
Works building and the Dept.o[Parks and Recreation. The second ESPC iu expected tucover
most ofthe non-water and non-wastewater facilities.
Chair Sterke[: } have one comment onthat. l was one o[those blood donors over utthe
Convention Hall and it must have been 68 degrees inthere. There were people there who wanted
to have blankets put on them because of it being cold. There is something about that building
that is 'us1...and l would ask you nn please look into that building.
Sato: That would be with Parks and Recreation and under the second Performance Contract.
Chair : Thank you.
Mr. Sato:
The second recommendation: The County should develop cost savings opportunities for their
operations through energy efficiency and conservation measures by exploring the issuance of a
new Performance Contract proposal solicitation for County [nci|bica' Basically, the update date
is the same as the reply for Wastewater ESPC. The Office of Economic Development is now
working on 4aeoonJ Energy Savings Performance Contract for the PW-Building Division and
the Dept. of Parks and Recreation. This second ESPC is expected to cover most of the non-
Water and non-Wastewater facilities.
The third recommendation: The County should fhon aCounty Departmental Green Team to
assess work environments, identify opportunities and make recommendations to reduce waste
and improve efficiencies in tbeirdui/�p/ork.
The fourth recommendation: The County should engage and promote employee mvorcoeme,
understanding, and sense of personal and departmental responsibility among employees for how
they use energy and other resources and how they can reduce waste and improve efficiency in
their daily work bv creating on^^Emup|oycc Green Team" iu the County.
Recommendations and are similar recommendations. The County has selected me as the new
sustainability manager and right now I am in the process of forrning a Green Team, and we will
bcnoovina forward to discuss what can bedone. ) unz basically looking for Green Team
members that have the ability to observe and provide good recommendations. Right now, lhave
5 members and would like to have up to 0 members. At this point l unx working ooabasic
working draft of what the "Green Team" would be looking at and what the goals and objectives
are going to be.
Chair Sterker: | know that once you start making recommendations. you would have Nreview
them ot some point. How many times u year are you going co check|o see whether the
recommendations are being innp|cnucntcd?
Sato: ldoo`t think that it is so much checking on people if one of the recommendations is to
have better control of the thermostats in the County facilities, I would be working with the
bui|dincydiviaion to see how the control system works and if the ncooronnendm1imo, for example,
is that the thermostat bu locked iomt72 degrees and not hc adjusted bythe employees. Ikuovv
that the human element is a factor on whether the thermostat gets adjusted or not because some
offices that l know nfare yo cold that the employees actually have space heaters under their
desks. It is a battle between employees, and I am not sure how I am going to handle that at this
point. It is something that needs to be discussed with the Mayor and the public works people.
Chair : l think that ia what`ve were seeing too when vvc made that recommendation...ne
did not see a way how we could control it and that it needed to be controlled by someone in the
deyo,toucot.
Sato: If you notice, the new 000too}a are different from the old fashion model. It's part of
the County working with Kl0C and stimulus funding. Public Works in putting more controls ou
the air handlers in the K{o`ikehu Building and they actually have the ability Lo control the air
temperature 6vcomputer. Unvvcvcr, they have not exercised total control, and that ix one thing
that we would like to discuss via the"Green Team"whether m recommendation is possible.
Another thing that | mentioned was tn look etthe possibility of providing the offices with some
kind ofwater filter for the faucets.
Chair : Has the County water been tested for impurities?
Sato: l don't know.
Chair : That might bc your first step.
Sato: {f you speak to the Water Department personnel they will tell you that the water
quality meets all standards, and 1 believe ddoes because the department provides mreport on the
water quality quite often.
Chair : Qoyou think dwould be helpful to place u thermostat that is big enough for
eve?yonctp see what the room temperature is.
Sato: That |aa good suggestion. l just want io mention that the County has hired Ken
Stokes omumustuioabi)ity consultant. and i will hrvvurkivawith him. l know that Ken has done
a lot uf training with the Administration, and he has been collecting information from the County
employees that would provide helpful information for the Green Teonu.
The rest of the update is additional Cuerg Sly information for 2OO9, 2OlO, and 20l).
If you have any questions, 1 would be happy to answer them. {f you kook at'20| l, the first
bullets relate to Uohdog retrofits, and those are the yhick1cd lights that are due tothe Sbcurnaicr
concerns which are the oodauizcredbirds. There isu cost savings component because the new
lights are more efficient than %he older ones. Those numbers are coming off of the consultant
brochures for each of those facilities. So, we got no additional benefit ufenergy savings.
Chair : That imu considerable amount uf energy savings.
Sato: Well, if you add i{all up over ten years...it's quite obit.
Chair : l have one question, where would the EVs charging stations hc |ocated7
Sato: /\t the time of procurement for the electric vehicles and the |cvc{ 11 charges, we found
out that the charging stations would cost more due toinstallation. 8ovve had to boost the budget
for the chargers and ut the same time try /o make the scope of work easier h� nnovingsonocofthe
chargers that vvmsdesignated for other f�oditiem. The in�ul/u1inucosts p/emcso high because you
had to go through so much concrete and asphalt from the power room to the charging stations.
Some of the runs were very long and that is what blew our budget. However. vvo changed the
scope to consolidate most of the chargers in four locations; we also received the second RFP
issuance, so hopefully we will get the contractor on board. But for the nest how months we are
going to have to triple charge the electrical vehicles by using a 1.10 charger.
Sato: ]uzd u little iufhunutino. The County secured ugrmnt for 5 silver 2011 Nissan Leaf
B9m and 5 Level \) chargers. l consider this u pilot program because this will �ivcumthe
opportunity to examine how the cars perform without putting any County funds into the pot. The
user agencies will include Water, Building Divimioo, Real Property, Parks` and Auto Shop.
Chair : What about the cost tm repair one of these vehicles?
Sato: The electric vehicles come with a basic 3 year warranty and the batteries have a 7 year
warranty. We purchased the cars from King Windward Nissan on O'ahu and just last week and
later learned that &uua'i Nissan has become a certified lease dealer. So now ne have uservice
outlet here onKuuu'l.
Chair : Thank you Glenn for ou outstanding comprehensive report.
Sato: You're welcome.
Chair Sterker: Our next business isCCC 2011-08 Review and discussion of the County's real
property tax exemption and rate settings procedures. (On-going)
(g) Confidential Opinion dated 08,,'I,,711,1,,I,,,,from,-Del2uty Coun!y Attorney Mona Clark, regarding
whether there are le2al restrictions in requirino-,certification by two (2) physicians to qualiA,a
person to be declared"totally disabled".
Chair : May | have o motion Vm take the Attorney's opinion out ofconfidentially?
Mr. Chaffin moved to waive the Commissions rights to confidentially and allow the
Opinion tabm publicly released. Mr. Apawseconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0
Chair : Basically the opinion states that we can do it; however,the certification process
should bc consistent for different types ofdisabilities.
Yoshida: ln other words, if you make a change one disability you have to change them all.
Chair : Right. l guess myon|�concern is that there seen�s1obenaore and onoozpeople
that are using the teuo ^"disub|cd``vvheihsrdzey are oma||y disabled or not hccmuau l ace people
running around with dogs assisting them. | know because lum one of the founders for hearing
dogs for the deaf and know what we had to go through to get a law passed so the deaf people
could have u dog with them utubusiness. | see people with dogs and they say they can't walk
straight. |just see more and more people claiming tohc disabled and that ia the only reason why
I brought this up. I think that there are people who say that they are totally disabled but if you
see them bowliug... you kind nf wonder i[they are really disabled. } uoo not against leaving it to
just one physician and maybe v/e should not to pursue this anymore.
Yoshida: Soynu`pc saying not to make the change.
Chair : Yes, l don't want to make the change. |fvvemade the change it would require for
two physicians todeclare ope,00n deaf oxblind and | think that"/care opening u can ofworms.
Yoshida: 1 understand the need for consistency. But the blind and deaf have a standard nf
tests that they need togothrough bofho: being declared legally blind or deaf. Being totally
disabled does not have that kind ufstandards and { think that's where the question onwhether
having u second physician do the certification would benecessary. ldo understand the legal
opinion nf being consistent. but there is no legal a1unduod Cobe declared totally disabled because
the criteria may bcextensive. There are ao many different ways one could bc disabled and { feel
torn beouomc and l think that the intent was that there are so many ways to be considered totally
disabled.
Chair Sterker: Sic would you please state your name for the record.
: My name imLonnie Sykos, and lanz here usu member o[the public just imwitness
democracy in action. / have twelve compressed discs and l onmlegally partially disabled. l went
through court and all of that stuff io regards tomyold injuries and I think the problem that you
are addressing is not who is fully disabled, because only the disabled have the kind of criteria as
the blind or deaf or other things that are nmmi|y measured. The problem is people who are
partially disabled. And so if you run ngumnsntof people who could legitimately be declared
fully disabled like me who choose not to, versus people who find themselves discomforted and
thus are pur } di�m��cd. D�in�d�c|ar�d /�|v disabled l don't think im going tm present a legal
challenge ambeing partially disabled. ) am just trying 10 help with the conversation. Thank you
very much.
Chair Sterker: Okay, thank you very much.
Yoshida: The disability exemption is for totally disabled and `ve don't have ocutugmrN, for
the partially disabled.
Chair Sterker: No, vvcdunot. It says totally disabled. l see in the audience the County's Deputy
Finance Director Sally Motta and Real Property Review Officer Steven Hunt. Do either one of
you care io comment on the totally disabled exemption? We have here an Opinion from Deputy
County/lbonoey Mona Clark that states that if two physicians are required for ucertification of
ioiu| disability, then two certificates should also be required for exemptions based on blindness
or deafness.
Mr. Hunt: For the record, Steven Hunt o[Real Property Assessment. |tismuy understanding that
if you were to change the criteria for any of the disabled qualifications it would have to be
similar because pve are subject to uniformity laws; it's the challenges within our code oo Bca|
Property AsmcoarucoL
Chair : lf somebody�ocotouuo�bibmluoo|o�istnndsoy that this person is blind because
the chart tells them, is it the same as going to an audiologist' Because there aren't any criteria to
determine n person totally disabled.
Mr. Hunt: I understand, and it is somewhat of a gray area, because it could be a physical or a
rncutml disability. There are other things that must be considered when determining whether u
person iocapable. However, I think what we're trying to determine is whether a person has the
ability to go out and earn a wage,and if they cannot, do they become a ward of the State which
would provide some relief for them.
Chair Sterker: I am sure that there are a lot of people who cannot even go out and work and they
consider themselves partially disabled.
Chaffin: l have great mixed emotions. l have just gone through eye surgery and the
ophthalmologist said that you're qualified to drive without glasses, | went to the DM\/
(Department of Motor Vehicles) and they said on you have ho wear glasses. Sol had togoback
to the ophthalmologist office which was closed today, so / couldn't pick up my certification
paper. |t was very frustrating.
Yoshida: | think ifI'm reading this right... | mnnreferencing tow list of exemption types and
under Disability (a|| types) there are 398 disabled people and that includes the blind, dcu[ and
totally disabled. 8o ) um right in assuming that it includes all types nfexemptions, except for the
disabled veterans?
Mr. Hunt: } believe so.
Ms. Yoshida: And | uom hgLd io assuming that the total exempt value disability (all typed is 19
million? Because looking at the exemption list. disability is one of the smaller exemptions,
Chair Sterker: You're dabt, db one o[the smaller exemptions, but isd one of those that have
the potential 6o keep growing larger and larger?
Yoshida: Well lthink it's going tu grow larger and larger automatically because :uour
population ages vm`U get more people who will get to the point of hearing loss, vision loss and
disability period.
Chair Sterker: We can drop dand leave everything asdis. However, if it's something that we
need to took utto save the county money and to acc and whether people are really misusing this
czcuzpiiou, that is the only thing that | uoz concerned vvhb.
Chair : Do you feel ibeno are people out there that are misusing it?
Mr. Hunt: That ia somewhat o[a loaded question. My expertise imio assessing property values
and not to determine vvbcibe,onrneonc is faking an injury ortuquestion a doctor for signing the
authorization acknowledging that u person iudisabled. YVo have to take their word and ifitiao
board certified physician that's signing it...who are v/ctn contest it. Do | see people who come
in that I think couid work and is maybe not as disabled as they make out to be...yes, but again I
onono expert to challenge that?
Yoshida: And the exemption is fifty thousand io addition tm the other home owner occupant.
Mr. Hunt: Correct.
Hunt: Just boclarify. it"aautuu)h/ nineteen million and it's 1.9 million iu exempt value
which im about seventy-one hundred iotaxes.
Yoshida: lyd only one from ocouple that needs tubocertified?
Hunt: A husband and wife who are both on the title are both entitled to the exemption
whether it's the husband or wife who has the disability passes. The exemption is given.
Yoshida: To me it doesn't seem like a huge number of people taking advantage, because it's
37O out mf32, OOQ. )fit starts hm grow over u period iu time, then that might beu reason for
concern. |"un thinking that those who really want to abuse the system will find a way tudo so.
Chair : That's probably true.
Yoshida: lt 'umtcreutco another hurdle for the pcnaoo who is rru}|y disabled and i don't want
that for our disabled population.
ChairSterker: Su we are just going to dismiss the idem-
: Ymo'
Chair ; Okay. L}owu need umotion?
Ms. Esaki: No,just as long as the Commissioners all agree.
Chair Sterker: Okay,
CCC 2011-16 Communication dated 08/08/11 from Sally Motta, Deputy Director of Finance. to
John Isobe, Boards and Commissions Administrator. with attached copies of two(21 proposed
ordinances m4arding changes to Chapter 5A of the County Code that is to be 12 resented to the
County Council. (Conies of the two(2) proposed ordinances are on file with the Office of
Boards and Commissions)
Chair Sterker: Mav I have a motion to receive the communication.
Mr. Apao moved to receive the communication. Mr. Chaffin seconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0
Chair Sterker: Okay, let's look at proposed Bill No. 2012,
Ms, Motta: Since the time that the bills were presented to you, a request was made to our office
to take out of the bill the portion that deals with alternative energy. I brought copies of the new
alternative energy bill that was presented to the County Council by George Costa of Economic
Development. I also brought copies of the revised proposed Bill 2012, and I apologize for the
delay, in providing you with the revised copies.
Ms. Yoshida: So we are going to replace the first copy of Bill 2012 with the new copy of Bill
2012?
Ms, Motta: Yes.
Chair Sterker: May I have a motion to receive the revised proposed Bill 2012 and the proposed
bill for the alternative energy.
Ms. Yoshida moved to receive. Mr. Apao seconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0
Chair Sterker: Okay. Would you like to tell us why this is happening?
Ms. Motta: As far as taking out alternative energy?
Chair Sterker: Yes.
Ms. Motta: The determination was made by the Administration.The actual purpose of the
energy bill is to encourage the use of sustainable energy on the island. As for removing it from
Bill 2012, it came as a request from the County Council to have it taken out and presented as a
separate bill. Once it was taken out, it was then determined that it would become an energy bill,
13111 ao e
n
which would be presented by George Costa of the Office ofEconomic Development via the
SuytaioubilkvComnmittee.
Chair Sterker.- So the alternative bill belongs tnEconomic
Ms. Motta: Correct.
Chair Sterker: And Bill 2Ol2 with the Finance Department and Real Property"
M�iJMoga: [uneoL
Chair Sterker: | have couple questions. Why were the dates moved around somuch?
: The main reason for moving the dates is hccmumc we were faced with u terrible time
crunch utthe end of the tax year. When wve were going through budget, the Administration was
trying to get all of the figures together to determine the amount of taxes that we were going to be
getting from the tax bills. From there we had to present that information to the County Council
which put them under a great deal of pressure to try to absorb all of the information and to come
uy with tax rates io order hm comply with what iain the County Code. Sohy moving the dates
up` it allowed little breathing room for the County Council and by doing so d eased the time
crunch to prevent mistakes and to nzukc it easier for everybody. We are following what the City
and County of Honolulu started many years ago to see how it has worked and apparently it
worked extremely well aovve are following suit.
Chair : So this has been done before.
Ms. Motta: Correct.
Yoshida: So all you're doing isioccdiFw the assessment for everybody.
: Correct.
Hunt: Initially the first proposed Bill 2012 was sort of a voluntary effort to move the dates
up o,00uth and the only thing by ordinance that had to ubuoge was the appeals dead(inxi, in order
for ostu certify vve had to push the dn1cm up.
The Bill for 2013 was to change not only our certification date, but also our assessment date
from January lu'no|)iug i1 back toOctober |o. However, we could not accommodate all of those
changes within this short period and act it approved with enough lead time so we would actually
be doin�un ����axmocotnwice during the 20|2 year. When October Iw rolls around, we would
have tu start with the evaluation for 2013. 9/c would actually be printing the forms before the
end of the 20l2 �cm,� |�`our�nld�bu crunch for us because p/e have to set the values for 2O|2
and get the appeals handled, and the certification must be done a month early with enough time
to turn right around and okad shooting for October Im for the next yeur,m assessment.
The other dates that we were concerned with and whnwe needed todo this over a
two year period ieU,anybody is filing for an exemption ov credits, vve would have no have that
information io order tm actually give correct me-oa/ou|adoos.
Chair Sterk-er: Okay.
Mr. Chaffin: la there u reason why the pages are not numbered?
Mr. Hunt: You would have 10 ask the Attorney who prepared the bills.
: lf you notice, it goes 6vsections.
Chair : | have o question pertaining tm Section 10. Section 5/\-4.1 and it states something
about less than 5 acres io size and must hc used for»anuhinor and livestock. What can you do
with ranching and livestock with 5 acres?
Hunt: Not awhole lot.
: } think Damien Ventura already answered that question.
Chair : Yes, but you need more than one cow.
Ms. Esaki: [believe Mr. Ventura said five oovvo. You may want to review the minutes.
Hunt: Yes, because he is our expert and the recommendations include ranching and
livestock; Damien is the person who has to enforce it, so I know he had a good reason why they
were included.
Yoshida: That's the only change; everything else was added iothere. } oocon for ranching
and livestock.
Chair : Can you explain what the Honolulu Consumer Price Index is.
Hunt: The CPI which is most commonly known msCPlQ contains mpricing structure for
bundle mfgoods. it°m about the re-price ofgasoline, bread, rent, utilities, and all the products
and essentially itisu measure ofinflation. It may differ when you have one that's aU.S
Standard CPt and then you have another by the metropolitan area. They each have their own
individual prices which may DoCtoatc depending on shipping cost which may be higher or }mp/cr
depending mo what the cost shipping im for certain goods and what's going on with our local
ctoounmy, k"su measure to keep in pace with inflation.
Chair ; Proposed Bill 2nl2 under Section 11. 5A-9'3 Permanent Home Use,Tax Limit
for Home Exemotion Property. (2) States: "If the size ofthe existing floor area(exclusive of
garages,carports, and porches) is increased, the taxes attributable to the additional floor area
shall not be limited". Does this mean that uperson can build an oddidmosi storage area&/the
existing floor area and add electricity and not betaxed?
Mr. Hunt: lom curious into the extent of that, because wedotax porches.
, garages and other
things, we don't tax gross living area. Basically what this im referring Vo is if your home burns
down and you have tore-create your home you nno"thave a step mp because d will be based on
your original home. Let me give you aoexample: i[you had a |92O"s home with 1200 square
feet of living area, and it burned down and you re-buiit it with the same 1200 square but using
2012 materials, then all of a sudden the depreciation goes way,down and it's a brand new home,
you will not bc penalized and your cap will not be affected hyreplacing your home. But ifyou
build something that's bigger and better than your original home,your cap will change.
Chair : Next question...for home exemption properties that are multi-use structures. {
thought that home exemptions are home exemptions; how are they multi-use?
Mr. Hunt: You are entitled toa home exemption if it's your primary residence. The difference
between a home use exemption and homestead classification is they are not usually exclusive.
And you can have an exemption...say that you reside in your residence 9 months out of the year,
but for ') months of the year you go on a vacation and you rent out your home for the 3 months
that you're gone and generating income, you will not be considered a homestead and will not get
the homestead exemption. But you get the home use exemption because it's your primary
residence. We have properties that are either multi-used on a time frame or multi-used by three
quarters aeuresidence. For example, l have ao office that| use for commercial purposes ocu
bed and breakfast that/ rent out. This is considered multi-used because you are not using your
home exclusively aa your primary residence.
Chair : Sou bed &t breakfast fall under this category?
Hunt: Yes.
Chair Sterker: What about if you have au auto repair st your house.
: It's illegal.
Hunt: Well. I have seen situations where there have been use permits filed for that. And
yau cannot have your residence and u use permit for mgarage facility on the same property.
We do what's call a split pit, the pit is short for Pittsburgh Coating and for residential use we call
it Pit lOOor Pit 8U0ifit was uhomestead. And industrial use in Pit 4 which would represent that
portion of that property which is used industrially. So you could have two land assessments for
the same property and you could have two tax classes for the same property.- that's what you call
u split-pit property.
Chair : How would you know if someone io your area has aaplh-pit?
16 111 a
Hunt: You would not know unless you look at the property records website to see what kind
of classification the residence has. There are use permits that are filed, and there also some that
are not approved.
: Chair. to clarity(buL we do our assessments based on vvhot,n physically on the
a
"round and we do not get involved in whether something is legal or is permitted.
Chair Sterker: } think vvcare sort of behind the ball at this point, and what we're doing is getting
information from you and it's nice that you are here to explain these bills.
Chair : 2zp\uio to nus again what the circuit breaker exemption is.
Hunt: The circuit breaker exemption was intended to break the ties between the market
value and the 1asca paid and there were certain areas on l{uua'i that are depreciating faster than
others and County Council has adopted an ordinance that essentially sets the taxes at what they
paid in2OUl or3Y6o[their adjusted gross income.
The Bill was crafted by adding language based on what the taxes were or would have been which
heounmc very problematic for us. Because now it forces usto recalculate retroactively what the
taxes would have been in 2001, even though there might not have been a dwelling on the
propervyora sub-divided lot. The application is more challenging than others because vvchave
io replicate what the taxes would have been inZU0). |i does allow usbx make adjustments. For
instance, if a property had a cottage on it and they built a mansion as a second home or a
replacement for the cottage, they could still file u circuit breaker.
So we have to look at what our cost tables were and then re-cost it in that file. Sn you can see
the oonu»/csidca; the more we get, the huoJor b gets io administer this because we have to
annually took at any changes to the property and calculate hypothetically what taxes would have
been iuthose years. And h"s 'umt become unattainable for us. Our proposal isbmgrandfather
those that had the exemptions nr the circuit breaker credits from 2OO|, put dio their PHQ
calculation and terminate the program. This would allow them to n`uiuiuin their credits but, no
more through the door. / am a little concerned heouuuc this is the first time that ) uco ao|oul|y
going oo tape, but since it's ou the agenda l will expand more. For a long time | complained ou
the risks of this because what i[all |3,0UO homeowners come iu and say | want mmy2OO{ taxes;
vvhut"o that going tu do to the tax base not to mention the time it would take to try to O9urc out
what the old taxes were o1 that time. We would need u lot of staff members todothat, 2001 was
a fixed number and it may have been relative to that time but it doesn't move; itjust stays at
20O\when everything else continues to move on. Sout this point vvc just don't see its usefulness.
The alternative energy bill ia for Commercial/Industrial means. Thimim6oc
homeowners that may create energy for themselves just for their own use or is selling twenty-
five percent of the energy,
Chair : /u that twcnty-6ve percent of what there are generating?
Hunt: Yes.
Chair Sterker: Soifyou had u windmill and its generates so many kilowatt hours per day say
two hundred kilowatt hours per day and you're using 150 kilowatts-. ,does the rest goback.
Hunt: The intent for the hi() was to ynamoo/c self-use. For example, if you have an
agricultural piece andyou want io augment your/\gby powering your own dairy oryour
buildings, you are doing itao self sustaining and you would retain the Agexemption. But ifyou
are producing energy to me|L we have this @i)} to say that this is no longer self contained;this is
uu actual business.
Chair : | have nconcern about all of this paper being used for the bills.
: If you all had computers in bnn1 of you or tablets in front of you we could do that,
but since you don`t, vvc really dm not have any other option. YVedm send everything over to
County Council through the inteoneL
Chair : Mavbc that should boa requirement tobcmCommissioner that you have&ohave
mcomnputcc
Mr. Chaffin: Let the County furnish the tablets.
Chair : Let's look m1 proposed Bill 2O|3.
Ms. Motta: This one has not been changed o1all.
Chair : For Section |Q. Sub section 5}\-Q.l (o)The Director shall cause the fee simple
fair market value of all taxable real property..... Fee simple versus what?
Hunt: We have people who come to us that don't own a fee simple property; they own a
leasehold interest.. ....projects like Kiobuou where they buy only |eoa:ho|d interest and within
their agreement, it states that the |cesec is responsible for the taxes on the land. We don't split
the assessment fee because of what their agreement say...we don't care what their agreement
says; we are still going io assess the fee. How you arrange to make payments onthe land is
separate. V/e wanted to onukc it clear that what vvc are appraising nrassessing is the
unencumbered fee simple interest oo the property.
Chair : Okay. For How doyou know when
momncdbin� im twenty percent ornoorcummnp)cncd7
Mr. Hunt, We actually have a component sheet that we look through when we mark up when a
project has its fbooduiiou and its framing and its roof structure at twenty percent. We also have
components for electric and plumbing.
!=hag Sterkerz Section 6. 5A-6.'),,Reat Property Tax; Determination of Rates. subsection (c). (2)
states"The percentage oy revenue to be raised from net taxable real property within each class
shall be multiplied hv the total revenue to be raised from all real property iu order 0udetermine
the amount o[revenue tnbe derived from that xksn".
Mr. Hunt: This is essentially saying that through the budgeting process, it's the Administration
and ultimately the Council who decides how much revenue by class, because we have different
classes ofproperty. \Vecuocnt|y have residential, single-family residential, apartment,
commercial, industrial, agricultural, conservation, rcaort/butcL and homestead classes. And
n/ifbio them, we have a break down of what tbcir anosmvulua1ion, exemption and if there is an
appeal amount are. lf there ison amount io their appeal, vvc are allowed iobudget fifty percent
of that in revenue and then you come up with your total net assessable value. And to that you're
supposed to assign u tax break and that tax break should correspond with how much revenue you
should garner from that particular class ofproperty.
Chair Sterker: Section 14. 5A-8.1, subsection(.!�) Land leased or held under a revocable Vermi
from the State of Hawai'i. Please give an example of this.
Mr. Hunt: Kokcc
Chair Sterker: Where dothe sugar mills fit in.
Hunt: The actual sugar nuii1 site is o\osmifiwd as an industrial-, most ofthem are situated on
Ag lands but itisun industrial function of that/\g.
Chair : Wbr would somebody who has uu exemption not want the exemption?
Hunt: 1 don't know.
CbairSterkec There imo lot of stuff iu here about...(f you don't want the exemption.
Mr. Hunt: | know that under the permanent home use was one that you're enrolled into the
pvo�r4o� and you must let um know ifyou don't want to be in the program; ! think that v/um
actually carry-over language from one that was adedicated p»ugoucn. it was s ten year
dedication.
Chair Sterker: Okay. "Real property which has ahome
owner's exemption under this section shall be entitled to an additional exemption not to exceed
$80,000, provided that the annual income of the owner-occupant does not exceed 80%of the
Kaua'i Median Household Income as set forth in the Kaua'i County Housing Agency Affordable
Kcutm| Housing Guideline for the calendar year preceding the year in vvbioh the application is
filed". !s that every year that you have todothat?
Mr. Hunt: Yes. that's correct and we'|/ always be chasing u year because p/chave to make our
application available for a person who wants tm apply for next year.
Chair : 8oif you sold some property and that one year your income goes up and you had
a permanent exemption. then YOU Wouldn't have that exemption that year.
Mr. Hunt: Correct and that would be adjusted to our base. The main �i���is � ��n�
the median household income for 1-0 10 for Kaua'i was $70,500 and so we would be taking 80%
of that amount which { he}k:vc is $56,000. l just got the 2011 update to and right now d,oupio
S75,200 which is |iU|c perplexing because } thought it would bc going the other direction.
Chair : Okay. [ think that was the end o[mmy questions and l thank you both for being
very patient. la there anyone else who has qucsti000?
Ms._Motta: If there are any further questions, please let us know because I know it's pretty hard
to absorb.
Chair : Mr. Sykos would you like bmspeak?
: l would like 10 thank you very much for being here and doing the tremendous public
service that you do. One of the reasons why [ came down today is that| will be slowly going to
all of the Boards and Commissions and encourage you to petition the appropriate entities of
government Fo put this ootelevision. Right now the public can never know what you dounless,
if I understand you correctly. we asked to get an audio copy which often times is not clear. We
cannot even Qoou the iotcoact and listen tn the meetings. And i[you think about it, without the
pictures to associate the voices with the face iL could become very complicated na figure out who
says what without a video microphone. The public should bc here participating because you
represent us and yet we have to go to work and so we really cannot come down here. Thus, we
are prevented from participating io this very important activity of Cost Control as well as all of
the other important activity done by all of the Boards and Connmnioaioom 'uattom]dressw/hythis
would be important toyou. | oco not moelectrician but 1 du understand little hit. lf the County
has n220 volt cbargiug system and they have ol \Q system, the )l0 system costs twice oomuch
per amp than what the 22O volt does. So we are paying twice ua much ho charge the cars uavve
need to. VVbinb im not what the Administration told us;they (nid um that they dido`t know what
the cost differential yvum.
l attended Maui Community College io the late X0`s and all of the buildings that were built iuthe
80's and onwards all have computerized environmental and security systems. This imold
technology although retrofitting is very problematic, but the entire issue of controlling cost
through controlling building environments im old technology with obviously new ones coming
out. The question that l have about controlling the cost of the buildings isafailure to have
measurable successes pvkboui having o written description of this in what vve want to accomplish.
All you ever have is a general conversation about less and more but no description; did we
actually save monev? f\ number of the issues that were addressed regarding different people in
an office handling Che thermostat are au(uu({y a Uuonun Resources issue. It actually has rules that
govern how you determine what an environment is in an office and especially in buildings that
have different zones and all of the issues they discussed about air flow. And so, | would
encourage you not to try to re-invent the v/bucl;this ism Human Desmorocu haociioo and some of
it is also the function of the loss prevention service that vvc don't quite have yet. Loss prevention
is not just safety; it's the loss of anything of value and so )omm prevention has o hand io
environmental control. HR has a hand in environmental control and until those departments are
up and running, our civics process is corrupted and will not function properly, because they are
the authorities that should bm handling portions ofthese. And your observation uu the county
providing tablets...I would say that it's absurd that you do not have the county supply tablets.
It's absolutely absurd that vvc paying printing companies or running our own printing oOfiVutm
keep printing these enormous documents all through the county. lfp/c access them through u
tablet, and that would require the county having wireless access, but if you have wireless, all of
this will be at everybody's finger tips and you would all be on the same page. b'aho save money
straight up. This is like a no brainer for the accounting department to figure out what the paper
costs and what the tablets cost and the training for the tablets is ouioinox| compare io the training
to figure out how tn wade through hundreds and hundreds ofpaper.
And last but not least. there was an editorial that was printed in the Garden Island Newspaper
that l believe was written by Mc. Stoomel. In the editorial the writer said that they have
approached Mr. Bynum regarding this entire issue on property taxes. i think that our property 1uu
system iaabsurd. According to the writer of the article, we have more pages of tax codes per
dollar collected than the federal government. His suggestion was toeliminate all 12 different
classifications ouwell as the requirement todothe property and the building separate from each
other, go to a single classification in which homeowners would�etu5O percent break and the
elderly would get another 10 percent. All of the adjustments are fair and will eliminate thousands
of pages of documents and would focus ou simplifying the tax system. l believe that the writer
of the article is talking to Mr. Bynum about this now. My suggestion to you as the Cost Control
Commission is for the county to embark down u path on vbe1 is being presented to you. You
should goio the Mayor and say are ne nuts; vve got another 50 pages mf tax codes that vvchave
to absorb into the system for the next to 3 years. It's time now to simplify things and that
would save an enormous amount of money and paper. Thank you very much for your efforts in
trying to save oumoney.
Chair : Thank you for your comments.
: l will bc more than happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Chair Sterker: That's okay because the Sunshine Lovv prohibits the Commission to yobnad
anything ioyou.
: Okay, that's correct because lamu not oo the agenda.
Chair Sterker: | have some items that l would like to discuss at the Commission's next meeting:
Tax exemptions for Credit Unions, and we would need someone here from the Department of
Finance Keu| Property Division. I)uca anybody have anything else for the Energy Savings? |
think that vvc should 'uo1 koov,that(}|ono can back sometime next year for another update.
Chaffin: l will not be kco: for tbc'Novcoobermeeting.
Chair Sterker: | would still like to address the age 60exemption.
Ms. Yoshida: We need to settle that; it's either we are going to ask for the changes or drop it all
together. Right now it's in limbo.
Announcements:
Chair Sterker: The next Cost Control Commission is scheduled for Monday, November 14.
2011, at 1:30 p.m.at the Mo'ikeha Building in Liquor Conference Room No.3.
Adiournment:
Chair Sterker: May I have a motion to adjourn?
Mr. Chaffin moved to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Yoshida seconded the motion.
Motion carried 4:0.
Submitted bv:
Mercedes Youn, Staff
Reviewed and approved:
Sandi Sterker, Chair
Approved on:
22 1 f a c
Sandi Sterker Members.,
Chair Lawrence Chaffin Jr.
Brant Fuchigarni
Dirk Apao Glen Takenouchi
Vice Chair t Laurie Yoshida
COUNTY OF KAUAI COST CONTROL COMMISSION
TO: Wally Rezentes, Director of Finance
Cc: Sally Motta, Deputy Director of Finance
Steven Hunt, Real Property Review Officer
Gary Heu, Managing Director
FROM: Sandi Sterker, Chair Cost Control Commission
Via: John Isobe, Administrator, Office of Boards and Commis
DATE: October 11, 2011
SUBJECT: Request for Attendance
The Cost Control Commission,at its meeting on October 10,2011 has requested that Steve Hunt
be present at its next meeting scheduled for Monday, November 14, 2011 at 1:34 pm.
The Commission will be continuing its review and discussion of the County's real property tax
exemptions and rate setting procedures. The Commission will be specifically discussing the
credit union exemption as well as other exemptions Commission members may want to discuss.
If you have any questions, please call Paula Morikarni at 241-4922.
Thank you.
.4n Equal Opportunity Employer
CCC 2011 -18