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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-08-16 CCC Approved Minutes COUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Board/Committee: Cost Control Commission Me eting Date August 8, 2016 Location Mo`i keha Building – Liquor Conference Room No. 3 Start of Meeting : 1:30 p.m. End of Meeting : 2:13 p.m. Present Chair Joanne Nakashima ; Vice -Chair James Whitfield; Members: Tyler Rodighiero, Glen Takenouchi and Tricia L ynn Yamashita. Also present: Board & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Mercedes Omo ; Administrator Jay Furfaro; Office of the County Attorney: First Deputy County Attorney Matthew Bracken Excused Commissioner s Jan Hashizume and Laurie Yoshida Abs ent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Nakashima called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. with five (5) members present constituting a quorum. Approval of Minutes Regular Open Session Minutes of April 11, 2016. Commissioner Taken ouchi moved to approve the meeting minutes of April 11, 2016. Commissioner Rodighiero seconded the motion. The motion carried 4:0 Business: CCC 2016 -07 Presentation by Boards and Commissions Administrator Jay Furfaro on establishing the maximum salaries for certain officers and employees of the County of Kaua‘i. Jay Furfaro , Administrator for the Office of Boards and Commissions, gave a summary on a packet of information which included historical decision -making factors utilized by the Salary Commission , market comparisons, Honolulu Consumer Price Index from 2010 -2014, bargaining unit rate increases for the past seven (7) years, market comparisons and salary inversions for Police, Fire and public safety . Touching upon, the County’s payroll taxes and ben efit s associated with the bu dget as well as the County’s Capital Improvement Projects . Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session Minut es of August 8, 2016 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Administrator Furfaro stated that the Salary Commi ssion plans to meet in September to discuss the possibility of making a recommendation to increase the salaries for the other officials and employees who were not part of the recent salary increase. He shared that one of the concerns the Salary Commission had to deal was trying to evaluate the availability of funds associ ated with the salary increase s. He noted that w ith the exception of the Police and Fire Chiefs many of the other department heads did not receive a salary increase for the past seven (7) years. Administrator Furfa ro stated that the T ransient Accommodation Tax is vital to the County’s operating budge t and for the past four (4) years the State has kept a huge share of the total TAT collected , but by legislative action each of the different counties were given its share of the TAT as follows: 44 . % went to the City and County of Honolulu, 22 . % to Maui County, 18 . % to Hawai‘i County, and 14.1 % to the Kaua‘i County . He also indicated that in the past, the County’s share was $23 million but because of the cap the County ’s share decreased to $13.5 million. He added that while there may be a potential re venue prospects in the County’s share of the TAT, there remains uncertainty until the close of the next legislative session. Relative to the CIP’s, Administrator Furfaro indicated that because the County’s share of the TAT had decreased significantly certain transient related roads and bridges maintenance pro jects had to be placed on hold until the County finds more options to generate revenue to help alleviate its budget ary re straints. Chair Nakashima asked r elative to the salary increases, does the Cou nty expect the people (who wants to retire ) to remain on the job for at least a couple more years to which Administrator Furfaro replied that based on all of the good testimony the Mayor had received from the people who were there during the years when there were no salary increases, he would like to think that the Count y will still have a solid foundation. Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session Minut es of August 8, 2016 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Commissioner Rodighiero asked Administrator Furfaro if he could share his thoughts on the recent salary increases to which Admin istrator Furfaro r eplied that 2017 is expected to be another challenging year , and while there may be some potential for increase in revenues in terms of the County’s share of the TAT, the County will not know until the legislative session ends. Additionally, Commissione r Rodighiero asked if the salary increases had already gone through and what was the overall amount to which Administrator Furfaro r eplied that total amount which includes payroll, taxes an d benefits was $800,000. However , not all department heads receive d the cap, in fact some received an amount lower than the cap. Announcements Chair Nakashima asked if there were any specific items that the Commissioners wanted to see on the next agenda. C ommissioner Rodighireo stated that he would be interested in getting information on the County’s rents and l eases a long with a brief expla nation on the usage as well as information on the cost and breakdown of the County’s CIP projects relating to roads and bridges maintenance. Staff acknowledged Commissioner Rodig hiero request and would contact the appropriate agency to obtain the information for the next meeting. With no further discussion, Chair Nakashima announced the next meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 12, 2016, at the Mo’ikeha Building, Liquor C onference Room No. 3. Adjournment With no further discussion, Chair Nakashima declared the meeting adjourned at 2:13 p.m. Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session Minut es of August 8, 2016 Page 4 Submitted by: __________________________________ Reviewed and Approved by: _________________________________________ Mercedes Omo , Staff Support Clerk Joanne Nakashima , Chair (x ) Approved as circulate d on September 12, 2016 ( ) Approved as amended . See minutes of ___________ meeting.