Posted on: Thursday, May 5, 2005

Land-buying bill advances

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A bill to set aside 2 percent of all Big Island property-tax collections to buy land and preserve scenic and culturally important areas advanced yesterday in a close Hawai'i County Council vote.

If the bill wins final council approval later this month, it would be the most ambitious effort yet by any of the state's counties to bank money for land purchases to preserve open space.

Based on current tax collections, the measure would earmark $3 million a year for acquisition of Big Island properties, and supporters said the new fund would attract far more money in matching contributions from the state and federal government and private donors.

Kaua'i adopted a similar bill to set aside one-half of 1 percent of property-tax collections for land acquisition, and Maui's version sets aside 1 percent of tax collections, said Joshua Stanbro, project manager for The Trust for Public Land.

More than a dozen supporters of Bill 78 urged the council to adopt the measure yesterday and create the "Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund." They said the county needs a pool of money it can tap into quickly to buy and protect coastal or mountain areas when large parcels are offered for sale.

"If they're developed, we won't get them back," said Ka'u resident Dave Vance.

Some council members worried the bill would be vetoed by Mayor Harry Kim, who has said the 2 percent figure is too high.

Kim said yesterday he has not decided if he would veto the bill. In general, he said, he supports buying select lands to preserve open space and has worked to secure money for those kinds of purchases, including a recent effort to use county, state and federal money to buy land at Honu'apo.

"Absolutely, there is total agreement in regards to doing this for the island of Hawai'i," Kim said.

However, the mayor wrote to the council last month to warn that there are so many other county responsibilities and priorities that setting aside a fixed percentage of property-tax revenues would not be advisable. He instead proposed that the council establish a fund to buy land and contribute $100,000 annually to it. The money could then be combined with borrowed money from county bond floats to make purchases, he told the council.

All of those who testified before the council yesterday were in favor of the bill, but others have expressed doubts. Kailua resident Josephine Keliipio wrote to the council last month to question the measure because "the county never seems to have enough money to provide the services needed by the public."

Keliipio also worried that the council would be buying property "in a sellers' market when land prices are severely inflated."

The measure passed on a 5-4 vote, with Stacy Higa, Jimmy Arakaki, Fred Holschuh and Donald Ikeda dissenting.

In a similar measure passed this week by the state Legislature, 10 percent of conveyance tax collections would be set aside for land conservation through what would be known as the Legacy Lands Trust. The program would net about $3.6 million annually, providing money to the state, counties or other agencies seeking to purchase land that has environmental, cultural or other value.

Staff writer Gordon Pang contributed to this report. Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.