Testimony received from BFED Committee.

Dear Yuki Lee,
I'm Hans Michel, resident of Lahaina, Maui for 58 years, and owner of several small Kuleana Parcels in Kanaha Valley. I used to pay $2.49 in 1969, today the same Parcels are up to $400.00, land used to be agriculture zone, now its zoned conservation. All the parcels are low value due to location, size, access and no utilities. Land has only been used for grazing for goats and cows, no water for irrigation. We are self reliant but the property tax is killing us. My wife is Hawaiian and we seem to not have no benefits for these Kuleana lands. Please help find a way to lower the taxes on these Kuleana Lands. See list of tax map key numbers for reference;
T-M-K-4-5-16-1 1.99 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-16-3 2.450 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-16-7 1.152 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-4 1.33 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-5 .85 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-6 1.20 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-7 .19 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-8 .67 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-9 1.520 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-10 1.05 Ac
T-M-K-4-5-17-14 .98 Ac
Farm 4-6-17-12 4.390 Ac

Mahalo for your time
Hans F. Michel

Fiscal Year 2022
Community Budget Testimony

Agency: Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. (MEO)
Program: MEO Human Services Transportation and Paratransit Services
Name: Debbie Cabebe, CEO
Email Address: debbie.cabebe@meoinc.org
Budget Chair Keani Rawlins-Fernandez and committee members,
During this year, MEO transportation services have continued to serve our county. Our staff have been flexible and responsive to the needs of each community. We have modified operations to ensure the safety of our clients and staff. We are thankful for the support the council and administration has given our programs.
As many of you know, MEO operates two transportation programs for the county. MEO Human Services was established in 1969 as the first transit system for Maui County. MEO transportation is truly a lifeline for low-income individuals, persons with disabilities, seniors and youth, particularly those living in rural areas of Maui Island and on the islands of Molokai and Lanai.
MEO has operated the Public Transit Paratransit for the past 8 years. Paratransit services are an extension of the public transit system, serving persons with disabilities residing within ¾ miles of the fixed route system.
MEO Human Services:
MEO requests $6,200,000 to fund MEO Human Services operations for FY 2022. For fiscal year 2021, the council funded the program at $7,009,708; however due to a decrease in ridership during COVID-19, the administration allotted $5,651,728 for FY 2021 Human Services operations.
For FY 2022, the administration has proposed funding MEO Human Services at $5,800,000. We request that the budget be set at $6,200,000. This will allow us to cover the costs associated with our collective bargaining agreement and an increase in insurance and other operating costs. With many residents receiving the COVID-19 vaccination, we expect ridership to increase during the 2022 fiscal year.
Our $6,200,000 request is $809,708 less than the council’s 2021 adopted budget.
Public Transit Program:
MEO requests a 3% increase to its current billable hour rate from $78.28 to $80.62. We currently have an operating deficit of about $150,000 due to flat funding and mandated prevailing wage increases as well as additional benefits required under the collective bargaining agreement. Fiscal year 2022 will be year four of a five year contract. In the past three years, we paid mandated prevailing wage increases at an average of 6.5% in year one, 3.2% in year two and 3.2% in year three. Our current billable hourly rate is not sufficient to cover these increases.
We do not expect the change in the billable hourly rate to increase the administration’s proposed budget allotment. While this may sound counter intuitive, the reduction in ridership will offset the costs of the billable hours rate increase but still allows MEO to cover the actual cost of opertions.
We respectfully ask for your consideration and appreciate your support of all of MEO programs.