County employee count draining all of our funds
This letter is in response to the editorial in WHT May 28.
The editorial head line was intriguing. With the tax increases this year, what do we do next year?
I cannot agree with WHT’s recommendation that the proposed Hawaii County operating budget for 2017-2018 be passed as is and then taking action on next year’s budget.
I believe when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you do is stop digging.
Hawaii County government exists strictly for the citizens and taxpayers of Hawaii Island, not the other way around.
When government grows too big and unaffordable for the people of this island, immediate action needs to be taken to balance the size of county government with the size of Hawaii Island’s population.
The primary reason for the current imbalance is that, since 2000, the cost of county government has grown at three times the rate of population growth in Hawaii County.
I submitted testimony to the Hawaii County Council on May 18. I shared it with reporters Nancy Cook Lauer and Tom Callis.
For the record, Hawaii County employs 2,801 full time and 206 part-time permanent employees for a total of 3,007. In addition, Hawaii County employs 273 temporary employees making a total of 3,280 county employees.
The number of new positions the mayor is asking for in next year’s operating budget is 10 plus six positions converted from grant funding and temporary for a total of 16 new county funded positions.
If no significant action is taken this year, the problem will be worse next year. What happens if, heaven forbid, there is a recession next year?
Fred Housel
Kailua-Kona
Highway headache a real pain
Traffic is backing up on Queen Kaahumanu Highway! Since the new light signal has been installed at Hukiloa Drive and the Queen Kaahumanu Highway, northbound traffic is seriously backed up for miles.
Friday at 1:30 p.m. the backup extended from Hukiloa Drive almost to the Old Dump Access Road near the police station. I would hate to be northbound between 3-6 p.m., our rush hour. Will we have to endure this daily traffic backup until the “sometime in 2018” highway widening project is completed?
Ron Raridon
Kailua-Kona
Government acting too big to fail
The county government is too big and not affordable. During Mayor Kim’s first two terms the county budget was increased by $228 million. Now the mayor is increasing it again.
There are four new highly paid government positions in his budget. There are also highly paid consultants that appear to be hired frequently. The Hilo golf course is losing money. I have been told the homeless are using the Kona pool to shower.
Very few of us have time to go to the pool or play golf. There are roughly 35,000 properties paying a minimum property tax. When fire chiefs are placed on leave the lawsuit calls for overtime pay that they think they are entitled to whether they work or not. The people in Kona are paying for the services used throughout the whole island, even though they are not using them. The county council wants $100,000 for each member to spend as they please.
This appears as a government that is too big and is out of control. There appears to be no desire to get the government spending under control or to fund the budget equitably so that the people who use the services pay for them.
Michael Wilson
Captain Cook