PONC percentage protected: Charter Commission kills ballot proposal

A fresh water spring, which the county purchased with PONC funds, leads to the ocean at Kawa Bay. (Laura Ruminski/West Hawaii Today)

HILO — A charter amendment that would have cut the annual open-space preservation set-aside from 2.25 percent of property tax revenues to 1 percent will not be on the 2020 ballot, following a failing vote Friday by the county Charter Commission.