Whatever Happened To...
An update on past news
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Group seeks signatures to protect land
Question: What ever happened to efforts to use Hawaii County property taxes to buy lands to preserve them from development?
Answer: An effort last year led by the Trust for Public Land had limited success with the Hawaii County Council.
Advocates wanted 2 percent of property taxes set aside each year to purchase environmentally and culturally important lands. That would have meant about $2.6 million a year. Instead, the Council passed a law approving $250,000 a year.
A commission set up by the same law has drawn up a list of lands the public wants preserved.
"Everyone knows that $250,000 can't buy a single property on the commission's list," said Wendy Vance, a member of a committee trying a new approach.
The Save Our Land Citizen's Committee has started a campaign to gather 10,000 signatures by the end of May that would put an initiative measure on the November ballot.
Voters would get the chance to decide whether to create a law setting aside the full 2 percent of property tax revenues that was originally proposed.
The money would be used to buy watersheds, coastal areas, cultural sites and other areas.
Already on the list of places the public wants preserved are Kawa Bay in Kau; the Waipio Valley overlook; Pohue Bay, once proposed for a "Riviera" resort; Maulua Gulch, which contains one of the three "horseshoe" highway curves on the Hamakua Coast; and parcels along the Kohala Coast.
A 2004 poll found 70 percent of the public backed the proposed spending of 2 percent of property taxes.
Mayor Harry Kim supported a land-buying program but objected to a fixed percentage being set aside.
This update was written by Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Thompson.
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