Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, jogging Wednesday morning prior to the County Council meeting, came upon a large “Aloha, Welcome to Kona” sign.
“And under it all these people were sleeping,” Chung recounted to his colleagues. “It’s a sad commentary on how things are.”
Chung was successful getting unanimous council support for Bill 111, a measure that would tap into a special tax luxury second-home owners already pay, and earmark it for homeless programs and housing.
The bill would tap 75% of the tier 2 tax to use for county-sponsored homeless programs for five years. That’s estimated to raise $7 million to $7.5 million next year, said Finance Director Deanna Sako.
The measure passed its first of two required readings after it was amended by Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz to add the words “housing and” to the bill’s specification that the money would go toward homeless projects.
“I really want to be explicit and include the word ‘housing,’” Kierkiewicz said.
Housing Administrator Susan Kunz agreed with the change.
“The housing component is really critical to the homeless programs that we’re going to put together,” she said.
But Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder disagreed with the addition of the word, fearing it would consume all the funding and dilute the impact of the program.
“Housing needs to be paired with services,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said. “If you don’t pair services with housing, you have a lot of recidivism.”
Chung said he could accept the change as long as it’s understood that preference in housing went to those experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness or leaving homeless shelters. Chung envisions homeless shelters, wrap-around services such as for mental health and law enforcement in areas homeless people camp or linger.
“I would be very discouraged if I saw a disproportionate amount of money going to something that doesn’t have a clear nexus to our homeless population,” he said.
Chung said he’d like to see an enforcement component, “to give the public a greater sense of security,” but he’s been told there simply aren’t enough police officers to accomplish that.
Hamakua Councilwoman Heather Kimball said the county shouldn’t limit its options.
“There’s not a silver bullet solution; there’s a silver buckshot solution,” she said. “There’s all sorts of things we could have in our toolbox.”
However the money is used, it won’t be sitting around, Kunz said. She said the money would be spent only through requests for proposals, there would be public hearings and annual reports that include lists of the projects.
“My intent … is to award 100% of the funds every year,” she said. “They’re not going to do anybody any good if they’re sitting in the coffers.”
The tax, approved in 2020, imposes $13.60 tax per thousand dollars worth of property value over $2 million for property in the residential — or second home — category, compared to $11.10 in tax per thousand for the portion of the property under $2 million. In contrast, the homeowner rate is $6.15 for a primary residence.
