CHARTER AMENDMENTS / MAUI
Proposal would split Maui Public Works into 2 units
WAILUKU » Voters will consider three proposed Maui County Charter amendments during the general election, including a plan to restructure the Department of Public Works and Environmental Management.
Under the County Charter, the department administrator is in charge of public works as well as waste management, including recycling and pollution-related operations.
Councilmembers who backed the proposal noted that the department's responsibility is broad and its budget is about $111.6 million annually, or about 25 percent of the county budget.
According to a Council Committee report, dividing the department would allow administrators and workers to focus on their tasks and permit more planning in the future.
The departmental split would cost an estimated $400,000 for new executives.
A second Charter amendment proposal would set aside 2 percent of real property tax revenues for an affordable-housing fund.
Councilman Michael Molina introduced the measure, saying the amendment would allocate an estimated $16 million to $20 million in four years.
The proposed amendment is intended to help low-income families obtain subsidized housing, including a first-time down payment.
The amendment, if passed, would lapse after fiscal year 2011.
The third proposed Charter amendment calls for adjusting the period for filing a notice of claim against the county to the same duration as the state.
The county corporation counsel supported the amendment, in view of a Hawaii Supreme Court decision in 2004 that upheld the state filing period.
Proposed Maui Charter amendments
1. Should the Department of Public Works and Environmental Management be divided to form two separate departments, a Department of Public Works and a Department of Environmental Management, and should the provisions of the Charter be modified by non-substantive "housekeeping" measures related to this amendment?
2. Should a minimum of two percent (2%) of the certified real property tax revenues for fiscal years 2008 through 2011 be appropriated into an affordable-housing fund to be used for the provision and expansion of affordable housing and suitable living environments for persons of very low to moderate income?
3. Should the Charter provision relating to the filing of personal injury and property damage claims against the County of Maui be changed so as to require that notices of claims be filed "within the time period as provided by law" instead of within two years after the date of injury, to conform to controlling State law, which currently provides for a period of six months?
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